cognitive reserve

American  

[kahg-ni-tiv-ri-zurv] / ˈkɑg nɪ tɪv rɪˈzɜrv /

noun

plural

cognitive reserves

1. the brain's capacity to compensate for injury or deterioration and continue functioning, especially from damage relating to age or disease.

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Example Sentences

At the bookstore, he reads up on Alzheimer’s disease and hatches a plan to build up the cognitive reserve of all his grandparents by feeding them spinach and keeping them mentally engaged.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2025

Cognitively stimulating and enriching life experiences and behaviours such as higher educational attainment, complex jobs, continued physical and leisure activities, and healthy social interactions help build cognitive reserve.

From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2024

“You are starting out from a somewhat weaker position than in your 30s and 40s, with less cognitive reserve to fall back on.”

From Washington Post • Nov. 2, 2022

With my mother, there was something known as cognitive reserve.

From Salon • May 9, 2022

In combination, these state actions in service of public health are believed by most experts—including the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention—to have enhanced the cognitive reserve of today’s older adults.

From Scientific American • Aug. 25, 2021