Ozioma Okonkwo, PhD, assistant professor, Geriatrics and Gerontology, assembled and guest-edited a special issue of the journal Brain Imaging and Behavior (Vol 11, No. 2, April 2017) on “Reserve and Resilience in Alzheimer's Disease.”

According to the journal's editorial summary, Brain Imaging and Behavior is a peer-reviewed journal that targets clinicians and researchers in fields focused on human brain-behavior relationships, such as neuropsychology, psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, rehabilitation, and cognitive neuroscience. 

In an introductory editorial article for the special issue, Dr. Okonkwo and co-author and fellow guest editor Prashanthi Vemuri, PhD (not pictured), associate professor, Mayo Clinic described why the concepts of "reserve" and "resilience" have such importance in Alzheimer's disease. These terms refer to a disconnect between the level of observable brain pathology an individual exhibits and their level of cognitive impairment. "Individuals with high levels of reserve and resilience remain cognitively normal even at high levels of AD pathology whereas those with lower levels of reserve and resilience are cognitively impaired at the same level of AD pathology," wrote the authors. 

For the issue, Drs. Okonkwo and Vemuri selected research that used advanced brain imaging methodologies to bring together key aspects of resilience and reserve. 

Resources:

• Okonkwo O, Vemiri P. 2017. Stemming the Alzheimer tsunami: introduction to the special issue on reserve and resilience in Alzheimer’s disease. Brain Imaging Behav. 11:301-303.
• Brain Imaging and Behavior, Vol. 11, No. 2.