Cognitive reserve is the idea of building up additional
abilities to compensate for the possibility of declining memory
or thinking. Think of it as over-training to run a race. The
race itself may be a 10 kilometer race, but you might practice
by running 12 kilometers to build up your endurance and
strength. In the same way, you could build up your cognitive
reserve by keeping your brain active through mental exercises,
social interaction, and other brain-stimulating activities.
Passive (Brain) and Active (Cognitive) Reserve In 2009, Yaakov
Stern outlined his research on cognitive reserve and highlighted
two different type of cognitive reserve: passive and active.
Passive reserve (also referred to as brain reserve) was defined
as the physical size of the brain and number of neurons in the
brain. Some research has shown that larger brains are correlated
with less cognitive decline. The term passive is used because we
can't actively change the size of our brains. Active reserve
(cognitive reserve) is thought of