"Cognitive Reserve: Theory and Applications"
Presented by Yaakov Stern, Ph.D.
Professor, Clinical Neuropsychology in Neurology and Psychiatry,
Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Division of the Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute at Columbia University Medical Center.
Friday, April 20, 2007, 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Thomson Hall, 19 South 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-3097 www.collphyphil.org

Abstract: The concept of cognitive reserve suggests that the differences in how individual's process tasks can provide a reserve against brain pathology, or age-related changes. Epidemiologic studies have found that individuals with greater cognitive reserve - as indicated by higher IQ, education, occupational attainment or participation in leisure activities Ñ experience slower age-related cognitive decline and a reduced risk for Alzheimer's disease. Imaging studies have begun to identify the neural basis for cognitive reserve, and may prove helpful in the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The concept of cognitive reserve is applicable to any condition that affects brain function and has important consequences for clinical diagnosis and characterization. In the future, enhancing cognitive reserve may help forestall age-related changes in the brain and the clinical onset of neurodegenerative disease.

Learning Objectives: By participating in this workshop, participants will be able to:

Define cognitive reserve, and explain how it moderates between clinical presentation and underlying brain changes
Describe the epidemiologic evidence for cognitive reserve
Relate the concept of cognitive reserve to underlying neuroanatomic and neurophysiologic mechanisms
Integrate the concept of cognitive reserve into the clinical practices of diagnosing and evaluating patients.

Click here for registration form. http://www.pns-pa.org/spring07colloq.pdf