Pathway analysis of cognitive resilience factors and cognitive function in the Long Life Family Study (LLFS)

Abstract

Objective: Familial longevity, educational attainment, and engagement in cognitively stimulating activities are independently protective for cognitive aging, yet little is known about how these factors relate with one another. We explored the interplay between familial longevity, life exposures that confer cognitive resilience, and cognitive function in the Long Life Family Study.

Method: A series of Bayesian hierarchical regression models was used to examine the associations among familial longevity, educational attainment, participation in cognitively stimulating activities, and neuropsychological test performance in several cognitive domains in an ancillary observational study of Long Life Family Study family members and a referent cohort (N = 314, M = 75.7, SD = 14.6 years). Models were adjusted by age, sex, and upstream variables along the regression pathway (i.e., cognitive activity, education, and familial longevity), and incorporated a random intercept for family relatedness.

Results: Referents had greater engagement in cognitive activities, and in turn, those with higher levels of education and cognitive activity exhibited better neuropsychological performance. Greater cognitive activity was specifically associated with better executive functioning, episodic memory, and language scores. Although Long Life Family Study family members engaged in cognitive activities less often than referents, they performed better on tests of episodic memory, and matched performance on tests of executive function, language, and visuoconstruction.

Conclusions: These results suggest that familial longevity and engagement in cognitively stimulating activities represent two distinct pathways that contribute to preserved cognition in older adulthood, though these findings should be replicated in more diverse samples. Furthermore, these unique pathways differ across tests and cognitive domains. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).