Healthy aging: the key role of cognitive and emotional reserve

Education, stimulating work experiences and free time full of activities contribute to maintaining healthy cognitive abilities in the over 65s, promoting greater effectiveness in verbal expression and better performance. But emotions also play an important role: the way we recognize them and the ability to interpret them can influence the efficiency of cognitive processes in aging. This is highlighted by two studies conducted by Raffaella Rumiati's laboratory at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, published in the journals Neuropsychology and Brain Sciences.

The studies analyzed the responses to stimuli of a group of adults over 65 "to identify the factors that contribute to maintaining mental abilities for longer", as Rumiati indicates. The first authors of the two works, Elisabetta Pisanu and Stefania Lucia, studied the role of cognitive reserve, i.e. the resources accumulated over the course of life through education, professional experiences and activities carried out in free time. The results of the first study confirm that greater cognitive reserve is associated with better language performance and greater ability to express oneself and find the right words. Positive emotions also help improve our linguistic performance. Cognitive reserve (the second study) is also important for improving "working memory", i.e. the ability to remember, process and use information.

Here too, emotions come into play: they make us more efficient and define our responses. High emotional intelligence, that is, recognizing, understanding and using emotions to guide thoughts and behaviors and relationships, greatly influences responses to stimuli. In short, an intellectually active life keeps our brain healthy and cognitive and emotional resources work together to support healthier and more efficient aging.

The two studies were carried out as part of the "Age-It: Aging Well in an Aging Society" project. The tests "evaluated what happens in the first ten seconds, when we have to find the right words to express our thoughts", a time "sufficient to highlight the effects of aging and cognitive reserve on linguistic performance", explain Elisabetta Pisanu and Stefania Lucia. If there is "a decline in performance in subjects over 65", "cognitive reserve can help a lot". Furthermore, "in older people it is easier to find words linked to positive emotions than to negative ones".

Rumiati recalls that "Italy is one of the longest-lived countries in the world, together with Japan", an achievement which "is accompanied by a growing demand for health and social care.

Understanding how to preserve cognitive abilities means improving people's quality of life and contributing to the sustainability of the health and social system."