Investigating Links Between Technology Use and Cognitive Reserve
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating Links Between Use of Information Technology and Cognitive Reserve in Older Adults
IRAS ID
160651
Contact name
Dorota Chapko
Contact email
Research summary
The goal of the study is to determine whether technology use amongst the elderly population is a significant contributory factor in cognitive reserve (CR) - a moderator which enables an individual to preserve cognitive functions despite any brain pathology. To date, no previous CR studies have addressed how the long-term use of technology, and particularly use in later life, contributes to the formation and retention of CR.
The study explores a range of indicators: early versus late adoption of technology, social networks and communication, behavioural change via information gain, exercise of cognitive systems through online games, etc. It will utilise the 1936 Aberdeen Birth Cohort by linking existing Cohort data on brain pathology and cognitive tests with new information on technology use that we will collect using questionnaires and interviews. We will use questionnaire data to determine the profiles of individuals within the Cohort who use or do not use technology. This will involve taking an existing, validated, questionnaire (see: http://www.create-center.org/) with additional questions for our specific purposes. We will also conduct interviews to identify any urban-rural divide in the context of technology use and the opportunities and barriers within each region type. Finally, we will perform the linkage between the cognitive and brain pathology variables with our new data to determine whether various aspects associated with technology make one resilient to cognitive decline despite common age-related brain pathology.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
14/NS/1030
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion