Have you looked into "cognitive reserve"?
For example...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28520675
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25701915
It's interesting that cognitive reserve is apparently very helpful in staving off damage -- or, rather, making the damage have no effect on how well your mind functions. Would also explain why some people can take a lot of punches and be okay, while others get punch-drunk very early in their careers.
But your cognitive reserves are used up as you age, and that's why the decline can be shockingly fast as people get older.
No I hadn't looked into it, but it's very interesting and makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the links!
Seems like CR can help starve off damage, but only improves the efficacy of neural plasticity in severe mTBI recovery. That's just initial research though, so it'll be interesting to see what the prospects are. Can't really do anything about the genetic aspect, but the epigenetic one is interesting. As IQ, including working memory, verbal affluence and execute function, is used as a proxy for CR, you could hypothesize that working on those things, and neural processing, could have a protective effect. Well, it's not exactly news that stimulating neurogenesis (the formation of new neurons) helps with cognitive functions, but it's interesting to get something more definitive down on paper!
It also leds into why stress, anxiety and depression can be a precurser to mTBI and worsen outcomes as well. Stress lowers Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) which is a facilitator for neurogenesis and can even slow the rate of formation and kill neurons. Anxiety especially hinders the formation of new neurons in the Hippocampus, which is responsible for your memory retention. Exercising on the other hand improves BDNF in most instances.
Basicly, lowering stress, having a good social network, positive attitude, eating healthy, being in good shape and working out, learning new motor skills, playing instruments, enjoying music and rhythms, actively using your memory, doing cognitive tasks, staying away from too much blue light screens, reading books, relaxing, meditating, visualising and so on are all brain stimulating and protective things both for recovery and prevention. This seem to be the same with TBIs and neurogenerative diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons alike.
Anyway, thanks again for the links! I'll definitely read up on it more!