OSCR

Protecting the aging mind: how cognitive reserve and lifestyle factors relate to executive functions and long-term memory.

Overview

Authors: Giulia Scotti1, Greta Caprara2, Chiara Penserini1, Lucilla Titta2, Valeria Cuccarini3, Manuela Berlingeri1, Cristina Rosazza1
  1. Department of Humanities (DISTUM), Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
  2. Department of Experimental Oncology, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
  3. Department of Neuroradiology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
Institutions: University of Urbino (Italy); European Institute of Oncology (Italy); Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta (Italy)
Journal: Aging clinical and experimental research, volume 38, issue 1, article 118
Dates: received 29 September 2025; accepted 23 February 2026; published online 26 March 2026; in print 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.1007/s40520-026-03362-y · PMID 41886157 · PMCID PMC13139212 · OpenAlex W7140771219
Open access: hybrid, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: data only (how the code is found and verified)
Categories: behavior only (modality), human (organism), cognitive (subfield)
Methods: Smoothing, state filtering, decompositions, Statistics, fMRI & imaging
Keywords: Aging and active aging, Cognitive reserve, Physical activity, Healthy diet, Sleep, Executive functions
MeSH: Aging*, Cognitive Reserve*, Executive Function*, Life Style*, Memory, Long-Term*, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet, Exercise, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Sleep (* major topic)
Topic: Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research (Psychiatry and Mental health, Medicine), according to OpenAlex
Funding: Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo
Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 84 references in the paper

Abstract

Background: With an aging population, identifying factors that support brain health and mitigate cognitive decline has become increasingly important. Among these, modifiable lifestyle factors such as cognitive reserve, physical activity, diet and sleep play a key role in healthy aging. However, the specific contribution of each factor and their role in the different cognitive domains remain unclear.

Aims & methods: We investigated the role of four lifestyle factors -cognitive reserve, lifelong physical activity, dietary habits, and sleep duration- on executive functions and long-term memory in a sample of 204 cognitively healthy older adults. In this cross-sectional study, participants were assessed remotely through individual online sessions, including neuropsychological testing and standardized questionnaires. Confounding variables (sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, and number of chronic conditions) were controlled for in additive and moderation models, implemented through hierarchical general linear models.

Results: The results revealed differential effects across cognitive domains: lifestyle factors predicted executive functioning, while their association with long-term memory was limited. Individuals who adopted all four lifestyle behaviors exhibited executive function performance higher than 65% of the sample. Significant interactions emerged in the executive domain, indicating that the benefits of physical activity and a healthy diet were stronger among individuals with lower cognitive reserve, suggesting a compensatory rather than enhancing effect. Among all predictors, cognitive reserve explained the largest proportion of variance, followed by physical activity, diet, and sleep.

Discussion & conclusions: Our findings emphasize the cumulative and interactive role of lifestyle factors in supporting cognition in aging, particularly executive functions, with differential associations between cognitive reserve and lifestyle factors.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40520-026-03362-y.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

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Data can be found at the open science framework (https://osf.io/yd9kq).

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 30 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 7 authors, 6 keywords, 16 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 79 references.

Cite

This paper

Scotti, G., Caprara, G., Penserini, C., Titta, L., Cuccarini, V., Berlingeri, M., & Rosazza, C. (2026). Protecting the aging mind: how cognitive reserve and lifestyle factors relate to executive functions and long-term memory. Aging clinical and experimental research, 38(1), 118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-026-03362-y

BibTeX

@article{scotti2026protecting,
author = {Scotti, Giulia and Caprara, Greta and Penserini, Chiara and Titta, Lucilla and Cuccarini, Valeria and Berlingeri, Manuela and Rosazza, Cristina},
title = {{Protecting the aging mind: how cognitive reserve and lifestyle factors relate to executive functions and long-term memory}},
journal = {Aging clinical and experimental research},
year = {2026},
month = mar,
volume = {38},
number = {1},
pages = {118},
publisher = {Springer Science+Business Media},
issn = {1594-0667},
doi = {10.1007/s40520-026-03362-y},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-026-03362-y},
pmid = {41886157},
pmcid = {PMC13139212}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Scotti, Giulia
AU - Caprara, Greta
AU - Penserini, Chiara
AU - Titta, Lucilla
AU - Cuccarini, Valeria
AU - Berlingeri, Manuela
AU - Rosazza, Cristina
TI - Protecting the aging mind: how cognitive reserve and lifestyle factors relate to executive functions and long-term memory
T2 - Aging clinical and experimental research
J2 - Aging Clin Exp Res
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/03/26
VL - 38
IS - 1
SP - 118
SN - 1594-0667
PB - Springer Science+Business Media
DO - 10.1007/s40520-026-03362-y
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-026-03362-y
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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