Evidence for bilingualism as a cognitive reserve factor in biomarker-confirmed Alzheimer's disease
Grasso, S. M.; Bao, W.; Marques-Kiderle, S. K.; Casart Munoz, N.; Calabria, M.; Sala, I.; Sanchez-Saudines, M. B.; Vera-Campuzano, E.; Selma-Gonzalez, J.; Videla, L.; Vaque-Alcazar, L.; Bejanin, A.; Garcia-Castro, J.; Rodriguez-Baz, I.; Zhu, N.; Arranz, J.; Maure-Blesa, L.; Rubio-Guerra, S.; Barroeta, I.; Illan-Gala, I.; Carmona-Iragui, M.; Belbin, O.; Alcolea, D.; Fortea, J.; Lleo, A.; Santos Santos, M. A.
Show abstract
INTRODUCTION: Bilingualism is a proposed cognitive reserve factor that delays symptom onset in Alzheimer's disease (AD), though current evidence lacks biomarker confirmation. This retrospective study examined bilingualism's association with symptom onset across AD clinical stages, including biomarker-confirmed cases. METHODS: Participants from the Sant Pau Memory Unit spanning amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), amnestic dementia, and biomarker-confirmed AD were analyzed, with balanced representation of active and passive Spanish-Catalan bilinguals. Linear regression models evaluated associations between bilingualism and reported age at symptom onset, controlling for education, sex, and disease severity. RESULTS: Active bilingualism was associated with delayed symptom onset in amnestic MCI (2.21 years), amnestic dementia (1.42 years), and biomarker-confirmed AD (1.45 years; ps < .05). Higher education was associated with earlier onset, likely representing healthcare seeking behavior. DISCUSSION: Bilingualism protects against earlier symptom manifestation in MCI and AD, supporting bilingualism as a contributor to cognitive reserve.
Matching journals
The top 4 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.
Similar papers in this journal
- White matter integrity is associated with cognition and amyloid burden in older adult Koreans along the Alzheimer’s disease continuum 96%
- Medial temporal lobe atrophy patterns in early- versus late-onset amnestic Alzheimer's disease 95%
- Plasma biomarkers identify brain ATN abnormalities in a dementia-free population-based cohort 95%
Similar papers in this journal
Similar papers in this journal
- Sex Differences in Cognitive Performance in Alzheimer's Disease: Insights from the ADAS-Cog-13 94%
- Association between motor task acquisition and hippocampal atrophy across cognitively unimpaired, amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease individuals 94%
- Quantitative longitudinal predictions of Alzheimer's disease by multi-modal predictive learning 93%
Similar papers in this journal
- Delayed primacy recall performance predicts post mortem Alzheimers disease pathology from unimpaired ante mortem cognitive baseline 97%
- Self-reported word-finding complaints are associated with cerebrospinal fluid beta-amyloid and atrophy in cognitively normal older adults 95%
- Association of Item-Level Responses to Cognitive Function Index with Tau Pathology and Hippocampal volume in The A4 Study 95%