Thus, the evidence on whether cognitive reserve can be “trained” or used as a preventive strategy, such as by learning to play a musical instrument or other forms of “brain training,” is highly conflicted and not conclusive—although neither of these can hurt, so why not? The evidence suggests that tasks or activities that present more varied challenges, requiring more nimble thinking and processing, are more productive at building and maintaining cognitive reserve. Simply doing a crossword puzzle every day, on the other hand, seems only to make people better at doing crossword puzzles. The
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