ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Cognition
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Cognitive Reserve Assessment: Multidisciplinary Approaches and MethodologiesView all articles
Redefining cognitive testing: the impact of cognitive reserve and sex from early to late adulthood
Provisionally accepted
- University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Introduction: Cognition involves interconnected functions which may overlap across tasks. Thus, neuropsychological assessment should be optimized in tests, while integrating socio-demographic and socio-cultural factors like Sex and Cognitive Reserve (CR). This study aims to (1) determine whether a global cognitive factor can be identified from a comprehensive battery and whether it remains detectable after removing redundant tests; and (2) examine the combined effects of Age and Cognitive Reserve (CR) on performance across sexes. Methods: 1,001 healthy individuals (599 females) aged 18 to 99 underwent a battery of tests and the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire (CRIq) was administered to estimate CR. Results: Reducing the number of overlapping tests revealed a single Cognition factor representing overall performance. Performance remained relatively stable up to the age of 60, then a marked decline was observed. Overall, test scores tended to be higher in males, and in most tasks, the higher CR the better the performance. However, when CR was considered, sex differences were no longer evident in most tasks. Notably, CR had a strong impact on female performance -especially CR gained through workrelated activities. Discussion: Reducing the number of redundant tests enhances the efficiency of the assessment. High CR reduces decline and slows its progression. Differences in sex-related performance seem to depend on CR, mainly in relation to occupation, which may differentially benefit males in terms of cognitive performance. This underscores the importance of promoting cognitively enriching life experiences for both sexes and equal career opportunities across the lifespan to support cognitive health in ageing.
Keywords: Aging, cognitive functioning, Cognitive Reserve, Sex, testing
Received: 29 Oct 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Montemurro, Bovo, Sebastianutto, Boccuzzo and Mondini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sonia Montemurro
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