When The Mind Outlasts the Brain

How To Build "Cognitive Reserve"

Sister Nicolette, 94, (center) and fellow subjects at the School Sisters of Notre Dame convent in 2001. Steve Liss/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images

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There is a strange anomaly in studies of the ageing brain. Alzheimer’s disease marks the brain physically in ways that are visible with a microscope. Clumps of protein fragments (amyloid plaques) get stuck between neurons, disrupting signals between cells. Neurons also get tangled up internally, which stops them getting the nutrients they need to survive. As the disease progresses, the brain visibly shrinks.

In theory, scientists ought to be able map this physical deterioration on to the cognitive abilities of the person who owns it. Yet they can’t, at least not very neatly. Some individuals with brains pockmarked by Alzheimers don’t exhibit symptoms. This is puzzling.