Exploring connectedness as a source of cognitive resilience in Black middle‐aged and older adults: Social support, plasma <i>p</i> ‐tau217, and cognition

Greater availability of a key resource, social support, predicted better episodic memory but not speed and flexibility within this small, Black cohort. In contrast, p-tau217, a biomarker of AD pathology, was related to greater speed and flexibility but not episodic memory. Supportive social relationships may act on recall abilities independent of Alzheimer's-specific pathology: social support did not associate with p-tau217. Facilitating social connection may be a promising nonpharmacological intervention strategy in Black communities but future studies must examine the role for additional dementia pathologies, and in larger samples.