The research, published in the European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry journal, has been promoted by the IDIBAPS research groups in Multimodal neuroimaging in high-risk and early psychosis and Child adolescent psychiatry and psychology.
Cognitive reserve is the brain's ability to cope with alterations or pathologies. This depends on factors such as IQ, educational level, academic performance, sociability and interpersonal relationships. Until now, this concept had been studied mainly in neurodegenerative diseases, but the role it plays in brain development in young people at psychiatric risk was little known.
To address this issue, the research team analysed data from the young children of patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and from young controls over twelve years. The study combines brain magnetic resonance imaging with repeated clinical and cognitive evaluations, allowing the respective study of brain evolution and estimation of cognitive reserve over time.
The results show that a higher cognitive reserve is associated with a higher intracranial volume in young controls and in descendants of patients who do not develop symptoms from the psychotic spectrum. On the other hand, in young people who do develop these symptoms, the opposite pattern is observed: a greater cognitive reserve is associated with a lower brain volume.
According to Patricia Camprodon-Boadas, first author of the study, and Gisela Sugranyes, senior author of the work, and group leader at IDIBAPS, both researchers assigned to CIBERSAM: “This pattern suggests that cognitive reserve can act differently depending on stage of the disease: as a protective factor in people without any symptoms, and as a compensatory mechanism in those who do develop them. In all cases, however, a greater cognitive reserve is related to better psychosocial functioning.”
This dual function is in line with previous studies in other diseases, such as Alzheimer's, where cognitive reserve can both help to protect the brain and compensate for its deterioration.
For her part, Josefina Castro-Fornieles, also a senior author of the study, points out that "these results reinforce the importance of enhancing cognitive reserve from childhood and adolescence, especially among young people presenting greater vulnerability". She adds that many of the factors that contribute, such as education and sociability, can be modified, which opens the door to preventive interventions.
Overall, the results suggest that cognitive reserve can help to identify young people who are at a higher risk of suffering from serious psychiatric disorders and to guide early intervention strategies. In the long term, this knowledge could contribute to the development of programmes aimed at enhancing cognitive reserve and improving mental health from the earliest stages of life.
Study of reference
Camprodon-Boadas, P., De la Serna, E., Ortuño, M. et al. Brain correlates of cognitive reserve in offspring of patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03071-x
