The strong connection between sensory and cognitive performance in old age: Not due to sensory acuity reductions operating during cognitive assessment.

Cognitive aging research has documented a strong increase in the covariation between sensory and cognitive functioning with advancing age. In part, this finding may reflect sensory acuity reductions operating during cognitive assessment. To examine this possibility, the authors administered cognitive tasks used in prior studies (e.g., Lindenberger & Baltes, 1994) to middle-aged adults under age-simulation conditions of reduced visual acuity, auditory acuity, or both. Visual acuity was lowered through partial occlusion filters, and auditory acuity through headphone-shaped noise protectors. Acuity manipulations reduced visual acuity and auditory acuity in the speech range to values reaching or approximating old-age acuity levels, respectively, but did not lower cognitive performance relative to control conditions. Results speak against assessment-related sensory acuity accounts of the age-related increase in the connection between sensory and cognitive functioning and underscore the need to explore alternative explanations, including a focus on general aspects of brain aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Well-being affects changes in perceptual speed in advanced old age: Longitudinal evidence for a dynamic link.

This study examined competing hypotheses about dynamic cross-domain associations between perceptual speed and well-being in advanced old age. We applied the bivariate dual change score model (J. J. McArdle & F. Hamagami, 2001) to 13-year incomplete longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study (P. B. Baltes & K. U. Mayer, 1999; N = 516, 70-103 years at T1, M = 85 years). Reports of well-being were found to influence subsequent decline in perceptual speed (time lags of 2 years). No evidence was found for a directed effect in the other direction. None of the potential covariates examined (initial health constraints, personality, and social participation) accounted for these differential lead-lag associations. Our results suggest that well-being is not only a consequence of but also a source for successful aging. The discussion focuses on conceptual implications and methodological considerations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neurocognitive functions and everyday functions change together in old age.

Objective: Although neurocognitive functions are known to decline normatively with adult age, there is a common belief that everyday functions (e.g., paying bills, following medication instructions, making change, looking up telephone numbers in a phone book) are unaffected by these changes. Method: This hypothesis was examined by applying longitudinal growth models to data from a community-based sample of 698 adults (ages 65 to 94 years and living independently at baseline) who were repeatedly measured over five years on neurocognitive tests of executive reasoning, episodic memory, and perceptual speed, and on a number of tasks that adults should be reasonably expected to be able to perform in their day-to-day lives. Results: Individual differences in changes in neurocognitive performance were strongly correlated with individual differences in changes in performance on the everyday tasks. Alternatively, changes in self-reports of everyday functions were only weakly correlated with changes in performance on the neurocognitive tests and the everyday tasks. Conclusions: These results together suggest that normative neurocognitive aging has substantial consequences for the daily lives of older adults and that both researchers and clinicians should be cautious when interpreting self-reports of everyday functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the specificity of face cognition compared with general cognitive functioning across adult age.

Face cognition is considered a specific human ability, clearly differentiable from general cognitive functioning. Its specificity is primarily supported by cognitive-experimental and neuroimaging research, but recently also from an individual differences perspective. However, no comprehensive behavioral data are available, which would allow estimating lifespan changes of the covariance structure of face-cognition abilities and general cognitive functioning as well as age-differences in face cognition after accounting for interindividual variability in general cognition. The present study aimed to fill this gap. In an age-heterogeneous (18–82 years) sample of 448 adults, we found no factorial dedifferentiation between face cognition and general cognition. Age-related differences in face memory were still salient after taking into account changes in general cognitive functioning. Face cognition thus remains a specific human ability compared with general cognition, even until old age. We discuss implications for models of cognitive aging and suggest that it is necessary to include more explicitly special social abilities in those models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress-related cognitive interference predicts cognitive function in old age.

Both subjective distress and cognitive interference have been proposed as mechanisms underlying the negative effects of stress on cognition. Studies of aging have shown that distress is associated with lower cognitive performance, but none have examined the effects of cognitive interference. One hundred eleven older adults (Mage=80) completed measures of working memory, processing speed, and episodic memory as well as self-report measures of subjective distress and cognitive interference. Cognitive interference was strongly associated with poorer performance on all 3 cognitive constructs, whereas distress was only modestly associated with lower working memory. The results suggest that cognitive process related to stress is an important predictor of cognitive function in advanced age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dynamic links between memory and functional limitations in old age: Longitudinal evidence for age-based structural dynamics from the ahead study.

This study examined competing substantive hypotheses about dynamic (i.e., time-ordered) links between memory and functional limitations in old age. We applied the Bivariate Dual Change Score Model to 13-year longitudinal data from the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old Study (AHEAD; N = 6,990; ages 70 – 95). Results revealed that better memory predicted shallower increases in functional limitations. Little evidence was found for the opposite direction that functional limitations predict ensuing changes in memory. Spline models indicated that dynamic associations between memory and functional limitations were substantively similar between participants aged 70–79 and those aged 80–95. Potential covariates (gender, education, health conditions, and depressive symptoms) did not account for these differential lead–lag associations. Applying a multivariate approach, our results suggest that late-life developments in two key components of successful aging are intrinsically interrelated. Our discussion focuses on possible mechanisms why cognitive functioning may serve as a source of age-related changes in health both among the young-old and the old-old. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implications of within-person variability in cognitive and neuropsychological functioning for the interpretation of change.

Samples of adults across a wide age range performed a battery of 16 cognitive tests in 3 sessions within an interval of approximately 2 weeks. Estimates of within-person variability across the 3 assessments were relatively large and were equivalent in magnitude to the cross-sectional age differences expected over an interval of 15-25 years. These findings raise questions about the precision of assessments based on a single measurement and imply that it may be difficult to distinguish true change from short-term fluctuation. Because there were large individual differences in the magnitude of this variability, it is proposed that change might be most meaningfully expressed in units of each individual's own across-session variability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Orthographic error monitoring in old age: Lexical and sublexical availability during perception and production.

Previous research suggests that older adults suffer declines in producing accurate spellings but retain the ability to accurately detect misspellings. The preservation of perception in the face of impaired production has been used to support a model of aging in which age impairs access to linguistic representations under specific circumstances, while representations themselves remain intact. The current research tests two predictions of this Transmission Deficit Hypothesis (TDH): first, that the differential effect of age on perception and production occurs when tasks are equated on response requirements and underlying representations, and second, that both word and spelling frequency interact to determine the effect of age on performance. Results of two error monitoring tasks supported the predictions of the TDH, demonstrating age-related production impairments that interacted with both word and spelling frequency, but no impairment of older adults' spelling perception, even for low frequency words or spellings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive decline in old age: Separating retest effects from the effects of growing older.

Repeated administration of cognitive tests improves test performance, making it difficult for researchers to gauge the true extent of age-related cognitive decline. The authors examined this issue using data from the Rush Religious Orders Study and linear mixed-effects models. At annual intervals for up to 8 years, more than 800 older Catholic clergy members completed the same set of 19 cognitive tests from which previously established composite measures of cognitive domains were derived. Retest effects on some measures were substantial and continued to accumulate even after 8 annual test readministrations, but effects on other measures were minimal. Across cognitive measures, retest effects were not related to age, sex, or education. Individual differences in retest effects were substantial but not consistent across cognitive measures. The results suggest that retest-based improvement in cognitive test performance can be substantial and persistent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decline in life satisfaction in old age: Longitudinal evidence for links to distance-to-death.

Using 12-year longitudinal data from deceased participants of the Berlin Aging Study (N = 414; age 70-103 years, at first occasion; M = 87 years, SD = 8.13), the authors examined whether and how old and very old individuals exhibit terminal decline in reported life satisfaction at the end of life. Relative to age-related decline, mortality-related decline (i.e., distance-to-death) accounted for more variance in interindividual differences in life satisfaction change and revealed steeper average rates of decline, by a factor of 2. By applying change-point growth models, the authors identified a point, about 4 years before death, at which decline showed a two-fold increase in steepness relative to the preterminal phase. For the oldest old (85+ years), a threefold increase was observed. Established mortality predictors, including sex, comorbidities, dementia, and cognition, accounted for only small portions of interindividual differences in mortality-related change in life satisfaction. The authors conclude that late-life changes in subjective well-being are related to mechanisms predicting death and suggest routes for further inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Latent Growth Curve Analysis of Late-Life Sensory and Cognitive Function Over 8 Years: Evidence for Specific and Common Factors Underlying Change.

Correlations among rates of change in sensory and cognitive functioning in adulthood were evaluated. Measures of Vision, Hearing, Memory, Speed and Verbal ability were obtained in 1992, 1994, and 2000 in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging (N=2,087 at baseline). Data from 1,823 participants who undertook at least 1 clinical assessment were analyzed using latent growth curve models. A significant moderate-sized association between rates of change in Memory and Vision was found. This remained after statistically controlling for the effects of age, gender, education, self-rated health, medical conditions, and depressive symptoms. Rate of change in Hearing was weakly associated with rate of change in Memory. The results support a theory incorporating a major role for unique factors in addition to common factors underlying sensory and cognitive change in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smarter in middle age, faster in old age: A cross-lagged panel analysis of reaction time and cognitive ability over 13 years in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study.

Participants in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study performed reaction time tasks and took the Alice Heim 4 Part 1 test (AH4) of intelligence twice, 13 years apart. Cross-lagged associations between speed of processing and AH4 were examined using latent variables in structural equation modeling. The stability coefficients of the latent traits of processing speed and of AH4 score across 13 years were .49 and .89, respectively. There was a significant association (?.21) between AH4 score at age 56 and speed of processing at age 69 but not vice versa. The results fail to support the theory that processing speed is a foundation for successful cognitive aging but support a hypothesis that suggests that higher general intelligence might be associated with lifestyle and other factors that preserve processing speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The fate of cognition in very old age: Six-year longitudinal findings in the Berlin Aging Study (BASE).

The authors report full-information longitudinal age gradients in 4 intellectual abilities on the basis of 6-year longitudinal changes in 132 individuals (mean age at T? = 79.27, age range = 70-100) from the Berlin Aging Study. Relative to the cross-sectional parent sample (N = 516, mean age at T? = 84.92 years), this sample was positively selected because of differential mortality and experimental attrition. Perceptual speed, memory, and fluency declined with age. In contrast, knowledge remained stable up to age 90, with evidence for decline thereafter. Age gradients were more negative in old old (n = 66, mean age at T? = 83.04) than in old (n = 66, mean age at T? = 73.77) participants. Rates of decline did not differ reliably between men and women or between participants with high versus low life-history status. They conclude that intellectual development after age 70 varies by distance to death, age, and intellectual ability domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latent variable analyses of age trends of cognition in the Health and Retirement Study, 1992-2004.

The present study was conducted to better describe age trends in cognition among older adults in the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study (HRS) from 1992 to 2004 (N = 17,000). The authors used contemporary latent variable models to organize this information in terms of both cross-sectional and longitudinal inferences about age and cognition. Common factor analysis results yielded evidence for at least 2 common factors, labeled Episodic Memory and Mental Status, largely separable from vocabulary. Latent path models with these common factors were based on demographic characteristics. Multilevel models of factorial invariance over age indicated that at least 2 common factors were needed. Latent curve models of episodic memory were based on age at testing and showed substantial age differences and age changes, including impacts due to retesting as well as several time-invariant and time-varying predictors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes related to gait velocity: Results from the Einstein aging study.

The authors examined the relationship between cognition and gait velocity, performed with and without interference, in elderly participants. Neuropsychological test scores from 186 cognitively normal elders were submitted to factor analysis that yielded 3 factors: Verbal IQ, Speed/Executive Attention, and Memory. Regression analyses revealed that these factors were significant predictors of variance in gait velocity, but the relationship varied as a function of task condition. All 3 factors predicted gait velocity without interference. However, the Speed/Executive Attention and Memory factors but not Verbal IQ predicted gait velocity in the interference condition. These findings suggest that gait velocity and cognitive function may have both shared and independent brain substrates. Future studies should explore gait velocity and cognitive function as predictors of dementia and falls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of sensory modality in age-related distraction: A critical review and a renewed view.

Selective attention requires the ability to focus on relevant information and to ignore irrelevant information. The ability to inhibit irrelevant information has been proposed to be the main source of age-related cognitive change (e.g., Hasher & Zacks, 1988). Although age-related distraction by irrelevant information has been extensively demonstrated in the visual modality, studies involving auditory and cross-modal paradigms have revealed a mixed pattern of results. A comparative evaluation of these paradigms according to sensory modality suggests a twofold trend: Age-related distraction is more likely (a) in unimodal than in cross-modal paradigms and (b) when irrelevant information is presented in the visual modality, rather than in the auditory modality. This distinct pattern of age-related changes in selective attention may be linked to the reliance of the visual and auditory modalities on different filtering mechanisms. Distractors presented through the auditory modality can be filtered at both central and peripheral neurocognitive levels. In contrast, distractors presented through the visual modality are primarily suppressed at more central levels of processing, which may be more vulnerable to aging. We propose the hypothesis that age-related distractibility is modality dependent, a notion that might need to be incorporated in current theories of cognitive aging. Ultimately, this might lead to a more accurate account for the mixed pattern of impaired and preserved selective attention found in advancing age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

News of cognitive cure for age-related brain shrinkage is premature: A comment on Burgmans et al. (2009).

The extant longitudinal literature consistently supports the notion of age-related declines in human brain volume. In a report on a longitudinal cognitive follow-up with cross-sectional brain measurements, Burgmans and colleagues (2009) claim that the extant studies overestimate brain volume declines, presumably due to inclusion of participants with preclinical cognitive pathology. Moreover, the authors of the article assert that such declines are absent among optimally healthy adults who maintain cognitive stability for several years. In this comment accompanied by reanalysis of previously published data, we argue that these claims are incorrect on logical, methodological, and empirical grounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Estimating Retest Effects in Longitudinal Assessments of Cognitive Functioning in Adults Between 18 and 60 Years of Age.

Several analyses were conducted on data from samples of adults between 18 and 58 years of age who completed the same cognitive tests after an interval ranging from less than 1 week to 35 years. Because the retest interval varied across individuals, it was possible to determine the length of time needed before the gains associated with a retest decreased to 0 and to obtain simultaneous estimates of the magnitude of effects associated with increased age and a prior assessment. The results indicated that for adults within this age range, 7 or more years were needed before positive retest effects were no longer detectable. Age effects in longitudinal comparisons could be interpreted in terms of large positive effects associated with a prior assessment and negative effects associated with age that were comparable in magnitude to those observed in cross-sectional comparisons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scaling of visuospatial attention undergoes differential longitudinal change as a function of APOE genotype prior to old age: Results from the NIMH BIOCARD Study.

The effect of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype on longitudinal cognitive decline in midlife was investigated with attentional scaling. Healthy individuals (mean age 59.6 years) genotyped for APOE were tested at 3 12-month intervals on a cued visual search task. A random effects model revealed significant interaction in effect of precue size on search speed between APOE-ε4 gene dose and assessment, with longitudinal increases in noncarriers and heterozygotes but longitudinal decreases in homozygotes. Association of APOE-ε4 with cognitive decline in midlife is consistent with an Alzheimer's disease (AD) prodrome, albeit a decade or more before average age of AD diagnosis. However, cognitive decline in midlife associated with a gene modulating neuronal response to insult argues that the concept of an AD prodrome includes factors that allow as well as cause AD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive predictors of achievement growth in mathematics: A 5-year longitudinal study.

The study's goal was to identify the beginning of 1st grade quantitative competencies that predict mathematics achievement start point and growth through 5th grade. Measures of number, counting, and arithmetic competencies were administered in early 1st grade and used to predict mathematics achievement through 5th (n = 177), while controlling for intelligence, working memory, and processing speed. Multilevel models revealed intelligence and processing speed, and the central executive component of working memory predicted achievement or achievement growth in mathematics and, as a contrast domain, word reading. The phonological loop was uniquely predictive of word reading and the visuospatial sketch pad of mathematics. Early fluency in processing and manipulating numerical set size and Arabic numerals, accurate use of sophisticated counting procedures for solving addition problems, and accuracy in making placements on a mathematical number line were uniquely predictive of mathematics achievement. Use of memory-based processes to solve addition problems predicted mathematics and reading achievement but in different ways. The results identify the early quantitative competencies that uniquely contribute to mathematics learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)