The term<unk>  describes the brain's resilience to neuropathological damage.  There are two models that can be used when exploring the concept of<unk> : brain<unk>  and<unk> .  These terms, albeit often used interchangeably in the literature, provide a useful way of discussing the models.  Using a computer analogy brain<unk>  can be seen as hardware and<unk>  as software.  All these factors are currently believed to contribute to global<unk> .<unk>  is commonly used to refer to both brain and<unk> s  in the literature.
In 1988 a study published in Annals of Neurology  reporting findings from post-mortem examinations on 137 elderly persons unexpectedly revealed that there was a discrepancy between the degree of Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology and the clinical manifestations of the disease.  This is to say that some participants whose brains had extensive Alzheimer’s disease pathology clinically had no or very little manifestations of the disease.  Furthermore, the study showed that these persons had higher brain weights and greater number of neurons as compared to age-matched controls.  The investigators speculated with two possible explanations for this phenomenon: these people may have had incipient Alzheimer's disease but somehow avoided the loss of large numbers of neurons, or alternatively, started with larger brains and more neurons and thus might be said to have had a greater<unk> ’.  This is the first time this term is used in the literature in this context.
The study sparked off interest in this area and to try to confirm these initial findings further studies were done.  Higher<unk>  was found to provide a greater threshold before clinical deficit appears.  Furthermore those with higher capacity once they become clinically impaired show more rapid decline, probably indicating a failure of all compensatory systems and strategies put in place by the individual with greater<unk>  to cope with the increasing neuropathogical damage.
Cognitive reserve
Dementia pathophysiology
Homeostasis
Personality disorder pathophysiology
Accommodative insufficiency
Amnesia pathophysiology
Schizophrenia pathophysiology
Psychological mindedness