Cognitive Reserve Can Be Induced Through Environmental Enrichment in Aged Organisms: Testing the Hypothesis in Animal Models

Author(s): Edvaldo Soares, Luã Carlos Valle Dantas, Rafael Antonio Peres Borba, Alex Bacadini França

We tested whether cognitive reserve, assessed using a spatial memory paradigm, is limited to early life and maintained throughout the lifespan, or whether environmental enrichment applied only during aging can also induce cognitive reserve in animal models. Using Wistar albino rats (n = 48) randomly distributed into four groups (control 1 and 2, and experimental 1 and 2), experimental group 1 was subjected to environmental enrichment only during childhood, and experimental group 2 only during aging, while their respective control groups did not receive environmental enrichment. After two phases of spatial memory assessment using the Morris Water Maze (MWM), the groups exposed to an enriched environment outperformed their respective controls, with experimental group 1 showing a slight advantage over experimental group 2. These findings reinforce the cognitive reserve hypothesis, supporting the importance of early cognitive development, but also demonstrating that cognitive reserve can be induced even in aged organisms.