Schedule and Presentation 2009
This year’s theme will be “Cognitive Reserve”, and will focus on variables that moderate the influence of neuropathology on cognitive function. The data will come from the Memory and Aging Project from the Rush University Alzheimer’s Disease Center. This is a longitudinal study that recruits educationally and culturally diverse elders who are non-demented at the time of enrollment and agree to annual evaluation and brain autopsy. The data are from over 1200 individuals who have been followed for up to 12 years. Available data include results from a detailed neuropsychological test battery, with neuropathology results for over 200 cases. In addition, there is extensive data on life experience including exposure to cognitively stimulating activities that might protect against effects cognitive effects of neuropathology and exposure to resources that would promote cognitive development. The principal investigator of the study, David Bennett, M.D., will attend the meeting in Friday Harbor, as will Yaakov Stern, PhD and other experts on cognitive reserve and aging.
The central concept underlying cognitive reserve is that the cognitive expression of neuropathology is variable and that there are individual differences (either in brain structure or brain function) that modify the relationship between neuropathology and cognition. The overall training goal for the 2009 workshop is to convey concepts and methods underling cognitive reserve research. Specific training areas for 2009 include: 1) use of IRT and SEM methods to evaluate dimensional structure of neuropsychological test results and to create composite scores that will have known psychometric properties and will be sensitive to change over time; 2) random effects mixed model regression analyses and latent growth models; 3) advanced path analysis and SEM estimation techniques.
Like in the previous conferences, part of the workshop will be organized around workgroups that will perform analyses related to scientific manuscripts. Our goal will be to substantially complete analyses during the week and then organize the workgroups for further interactions to complete the manuscripts.