Contribution of Bilingualism to Cognitive Reserve of an Italian Literature Professor at High Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Lombardi, Gemma^{a; *} | Polito, Cristina^b | Berti, Valentina^b | Bagnoli, Silvia^a | Nacmias, Benedetta^a | Pupi, Alberto^b | Sorbi, Sandro^{a; c}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy | [b] Department of Biomedical, Experimental and Clinical Sciences “Mario Serio”, Nuclear Medicine Unit, University of Florence, Florence, Italy | [c] IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Florence, Italy

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Gemma Lombardi, PhD, Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini 6, 50139 Florence, Italy. Tel.: +39 055 7948910; E-mail: glombardi@unifi.it.

Abstract: Bilingualism is an independent component of cognitive reserve that permits to delay dementia onset up to 5 years. We describe a case of a bilingual Italian man affected by mild cognitive impairment with high cognitive reserve that, despite the presence of multiple risk factors (ApoE ɛ4/ɛ4 genotype, older age, untreated Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, AD-like biomarker alterations) did not convert to Alzheimer’s disease up to 5 years follow-up. The present case confirms the role of bilingualism as a strong protective factor for dementia, even in the occurrence of multiple risk factors.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, bilingualism, cognitive reserve, obstructive sleep apnea, prevention

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-180736

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 66, no. 4, pp. 1389-1395, 2018