Occupational Complexity and Cognitive Reserve in a Middle-Aged Cohort at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease.

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Higher occupational attainment has previously been associated with increased Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology when individuals are matched for cognitive function, indicating occupation could provide cognitive reserve. We examined whether occupational complexity (OCC) associates with decreased hippocampal volume and increased whole-brain atrophy given comparable cognitive function in middle-aged adults at risk for AD. Participants (n = 323) underwent structural MRI, cognitive evaluation, and work history assessment. Three complexity ratings (work with data, people, and things) were obtained, averaged across up to 3 reported jobs, weighted by years per job, and summed to create a composite OCC rating. Greater OCC was associated with decreased hippocampal volume and increased whole-brain atrophy when matched for cognitive function; results remained substantively unchanged after adjusting for several demographic, AD risk, vascular, mental health, and socioeconomic characteristics. These findings suggest that, in people at risk for AD, OCC may confer resilience to the adverse effects of neuropathology on cognition.

Related collections

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Arch Clin Neuropsychol

Title: Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists

ISSN: 0887-6177

ISSN (Print): 0887-6177

Publication date (Electronic): Nov 2015

Volume: 30

Issue: 7

Affiliations

[1 ] Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI 53705, USA Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA.

[2 ] Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI 53705, USA Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, RJ 24220, Brazil.

[3 ] Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705, USA.

[4 ] Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA Department of Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA.

[5 ] Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI 53705, USA Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705, USA.

[6 ] Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA.

[7 ] Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI 53705, USA Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705, USA.

[8 ] Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705, USA.

[9 ] Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI 53705, USA Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705, USA ozioma@medicine.wisc.edu.

Article

Publisher Item ID: acv041

DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acv041

PMC ID: 4605365

PubMed ID: 26156334

SO-VID: b33f643f-fdf3-4d53-a792-502430fc137c

History

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease,Cognition,Cognitive reserve,Hippocampus,Imaging,Occupation

Data availability:

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Cognition, Cognitive reserve, Hippocampus, Imaging, Occupation

Occupational Complexity and Cognitive Reserve in a Middle-Aged Cohort at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease.

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

China Occupational Medicine

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Article

History

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 199

Cited by 57