Home › Research › Risk factors
Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer's disease
Yaakov Stern. The Lancet Neurology, 2012-10-15
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
We do not hold a plain-English summary of this study yet. Use the links to the original below for its abstract and findings.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Stern, Y. (2012). Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer's disease. The Lancet Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70191-6
Vancouver
Stern Y. Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer's disease. The Lancet Neurology. 2012. doi:10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70191-6. PMID: 23079557.
BibTeX
@article{stern2012-23079557,
author = {Stern, Yaakov},
title = {{Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {The Lancet Neurology},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70191-6},
pmid = {23079557},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70191-6}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- The concept of cognitive reserve provides an explanation for differences between individuals in susceptibility to age-related brain changes or pathology related to Alzheimer's disease, whereby some people can tolerate more of these changes than others and maintain function.
- Epidemiological studies suggest that lifelong experiences, including educational and occupational attainment, and leisure activities in later life, can increase this reserve.
- The risk of developing Alzheimer's disease is reduced in individuals with higher educational or occupational attainment.
- Reserve can conveniently be divided into two types: brain reserve, which refers to differences in the brain structure that may increase tolerance to pathology, and cognitive reserve, which refers to differences between individuals in how tasks are performed that might enable some people to be more resilient to brain changes than others.
Why it matters
Discusses cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer's disease. The focus is a concept for making sense of differences between people, rather than a treatment or a prevention method.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Risk factors, ranked →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 62/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The Lancet Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | The Lancet Neurology: journal h-index 457 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 7 / 7 | Cited 3,544 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 221.5 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 57.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 5 / 6 | Cited by 134 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 1,043 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Yaakov Stern: h-index 162 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Columbia University: institution h-index 1,824 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 23079557) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 62 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/s1474-4422(12)70191-6
- PubMed: 23079557
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
134 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.
Related studies in Risk factors
Also tagged “controlled”
1,116 studies in the library carry the topic tag “controlled”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,116 tagged studies.