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Articles by Roger A. Dixon in JoVE
JoVE Neuroscience
Сканирование мозга Исследование нейронных коррелятов эмоций правил
1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 4Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 5Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 6Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 7Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Мы представляем протокол, который позволяет исследовать нейронные корреляты преднамеренной и автоматического регулирования эмоций, с помощью функциональной магнитно-резонансной томографии. Этот протокол может быть использован в здоровых участников, и молодых, и пожилых, а также в клинических больных.
Other articles by Roger A. Dixon on PubMed
Variability in Reaction Time Performance of Younger and Older Adults
Age differences in three basic types of variability were examined: variability between persons (diversity), variability within persons across tasks (dispersion), and variability within persons across time (inconsistency). Measures of variability were based on latency performance from four measures of reaction time (RT) performed by a total of 99 younger adults (ages 17--36 years) and 763 older adults (ages 54--94 years). Results indicated that all three types of variability were greater in older compared with younger participants even when group differences in speed were statistically controlled. Quantile-quantile plots showed age and task differences in the shape of the inconsistency distributions. Measures of within-person variability (dispersion and inconsistency) were positively correlated. Individual differences in RT inconsistency correlated negatively with level of performance on measures of perceptual speed, working memory, episodic memory, and crystallized abilities. Partial set correlation analyses indicated that inconsistency predicted cognitive performance independent of level of performance. The results indicate that variability of performance is an important indicator of cognitive functioning and aging.
Use of Memory Compensation Strategies is Related to Psychosocial and Health Indicators
Research has shown that psychosocial and health characteristics may affect older adults' cognitive performance, self-referent beliefs, and general adaptive resilience. Are such characteristics related specifically to older adults' reported efforts to compensate for memory losses? The Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ) measures 5 mechanisms of everyday memory compensation as well as 2 general aspects of compensatory motivation and awareness. Correlates were derived from indicators of specific health conditions, subjective health ratings, personality, well-being, and memory self-efficacy (MSE). All measures were administered to a cross-sectional sample of 528 healthy older adults between 55 and 94 years of age from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. Specific health composites (i.e., infirmities, respiratory illness), several personality dimensions (e.g., agreeableness, neuroticism), negative affect, and low MSE were associated with more frequent use of everyday memory compensation strategies. Linking healthy older adults' cognitive resilience with individual characteristics is an important contribution to emerging conceptions of adaptation and success in late life.
Selective Adult Age Differences in an Age-invariant Multifactor Model of Declarative Memory
Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test competing models of declarative memory. Data from middle-aged participants provided support for a model comprised of 2 2nd-order (episodic and semantic memory) and 4 1st-order (recall, recognition, fluency, and knowledge) factors. Extending this model across young-old and old-old participants established support for age invariance. Tests of group differences showed an age deficit in episodic memory that was more pronounced for recall than for recognition. For semantic memory, there was an increase in knowledge from middle to young-old age and thereafter a decrease. Overall, the results support the view that episodic memory is more age sensitive than semantic memory, but they also indicate that aging has differential effects within these 2 forms of memory.
Stability and Change in Adult Personality over 6 Years: Findings from the Victoria Longitudinal Study
Data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study were used to examine the 6-year longitudinal stability of personality in older adults. Personality was measured with the NEO Personality Inventory. The longitudinal sample consisted of 223 adults initially ranging from 55 to 85 years of age. Longitudinal confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the stability of individual differences in change over time, and the stability of the longitudinal factor structure. The results indicated both substantial stability at the level of individual differences in change, as well as significant individual differences in change that were related to age and gender. Finally, the factor structure of personality was invariant over time but did not approximate simple structure for the five dimensions of personality. Our study of 6-year personality development provided both (a). a confirmation of early significant stability findings and (b). unique evidence for significant individual differences in late adulthood.
Age-related Slowing of Digit Symbol Substitution Revisited: What Do Longitudinal Age Changes Reflect?
A previous investigation reported that cross-sectional age differences in Digit Symbol Substitution (DSS) test performance reflect declines in perceptual processing speed. Support for the tenability of the processing speed hypothesis requires examining whether longitudinal age-related change in DSS performance is largely mediated by changes in speed. The present study used data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study to examine patterns and predictors of longitudinal change in DSS for 512 older adults (M(age) = 68.37 years, SD = 7.43). On the basis of multilevel modeling, baseline DSS performance was poorer for older participants and men, with longitudinal declines more pronounced with increasing age and decreasing speed. In contrast to the present cross-sectional findings, statistical control of change trajectories in perceptual speed using the same data did not substantially attenuate age changes. These discrepancies suggest different sources of variance may underlie cross-sectional age differences and longitudinal age changes for DSS.
Self-reported Memory Compensation: Similar Patterns in Alzheimer's Disease and Very Old Adult Samples
Evidence pertaining to self-reported use of memory compensation techniques was collected using the Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ). Five forms of everyday memory compensation were evaluated: (a) external memory aids, (b) internal mnemonic strategies, (c) investing and managing processing time, (d) applying more effort, and (e) reliance on human memory aids. The sample was derived from the Kungsholmen Project in Stockholm, Sweden, and consisted of (n = 85) healthy older adults (M age = 81.80 years; M MMSE = 28.34) and (n = 21) diagnosed Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients (Mage = 81.80 years; M MMSE = 23.55). Participants were tested on two occasions, 6 months apart. Results showed that the MCQ was a largely reliable instrument in these two groups. Moreover, we observed substantial sample similarity in frequency of using the five forms of everyday memory compensation techniques. The healthy sample reported using the external techniques more than the AD sample. Over the 6-month interval, however, AD patients differentially increased their use of others to assist them in everyday memory performance. Results are interpreted in terms of insight into changes in memory skills and inthe implementation of effective memory support systems.
Performance Variability is Related to Change in Cognition: Evidence from the Victoria Longitudinal Study
Performance variability across repeated task administrations may be an important indicator of age-related cognitive functioning. In the present investigation, the authors examined whether age differences and change in inconsistency were related to 6-year (3 occasion) cognitive change. Inconsistency scores were computed from 4 reaction time tasks performed by 446 older adults (54-89 years). Replicating previous cross-sectional results, greater inconsistency was observed for older participants even after controlling for differences in response speed. New longitudinal results demonstrated (a) associations between inconsistency at baseline measurement and 6-year change in cognitive performance; (b) longitudinal change in inconsistency; and (c) intraindividual covariation between 6-year change in inconsistency and 6-year change in level of cognitive function. These findings support the view that performance variability serves as a marker of cognitive aging.
Latent Change Models of Adult Cognition: Are Changes in Processing Speed and Working Memory Associated with Changes in Episodic Memory?
The authors used 6-year longitudinal data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) to investigate individual differences in amount of episodic memory change. Latent change models revealed reliable individual differences in cognitive change. Changes in episodic memory were significantly correlated with changes in other cognitive variables, including speed and working memory. A structural equation model for the latent change scores showed that changes in speed and working memory predicted changes in episodic memory, as expected by processing resource theory. However, these effects were best modeled as being mediated by changes in induction and fact retrieval. Dissociations were detected between cross-sectional ability correlations and longitudinal changes. Shuffling the tasks used to define the Working Memory latent variable altered patterns of change correlations.
The Effect of Perceptual Distinctiveness on the Prospective and Retrospective Components of Prospective Memory in Young and Old Adults
In two experiments, the effect of perceptual distinctiveness of cues on prospective memory performance was examined. Young and older adults completed a visual search task with embedded prospective memory instructions. On each trial, participants were asked to indicate the position of a target letter in a letter string, unless either of two letters previously identified as prospective memory cues was presented. Each prospective cue was associated with a specific response. Perceptual distinctiveness was manipulated by spatially displacing a single letter. The prospective component (successful detection of the cue) and the retrospective memory component (recalling the correct response when a cue is detected) were measured separately. Perceptual displacement of cues modulated performance of the prospective component but not the retrospective component. Young adults successfully detected a larger proportion of cues (prospective component) than older adults. However, there were minimal effects of age and no effect of cue displacement on participants' ability to recall the intention once they detected a cue (retrospective component performance). Results are discussed within the context of current theoretical models of prospective memory.
Interrelations Between Subjective Health and Episodic Memory Change in Swedish and Canadian Samples of Older Adults
Recent research has documented associations between subjective health ratings and objective indicators of disease and death. Less is known about relations between subjective health ratings and level of cognitive performance in older adults. In this study, we explored whether subjective health ratings are related to episodic memory performance, both concurrently and across a three-year longitudinal interval. Persons aged 75-84 years, and participating in the Swedish Kungsholmen Project (n = 105) or the Canadian Victoria Longitudinal Study (n = 71), were examined. Results showed that in both samples, while the cross-sectional relationship was non-significant, longitudinal change in perceptions of subjective health were related to change in episodic memory performance. Next, the two samples were combined in additional analyses. Here, results further revealed that the associations between longitudinal change in subjective health and memory performance generalized across samples independently of demographic, changing physical health status, and subjective memory decline differences. Thus, the present findings suggest that subjective health may be added to the growing number of individual-difference variables that are predictive of episodic memory change in very old age.
Episodic Memory Change in Late Adulthood: Generalizability Across Samples and Performance Indices
Younger adults recall more information from episodic memory tasks than do older adults. Because longitudinal studies are rare and often incompatible, the extent of actual late-life memory change is not well established. We assemble two different longitudinal samples of normal older adults, each of which is tested twice at a 3-year interval, using a large battery of episodic memory indicators. Together, two-wave data from both the Victoria Longitudinal Study in Canada (n = 400) and the Kungsholmen Project in Sweden (n = 168) cover a 40-year span of adulthood, ranging from 54 to 94 years of age. Principal memory tasks include categorizable word lists, story recall, and random word lists, as well as indicators of cognitive support. Overall, an examination of performance on sets of common and complementary episodic tasks reveals that, for both samples, actual 3-year changes are modest and that, when decline occurs, it is gradual. The exception-greater decline for more supported tasks-suggests that these may be especially sensitive to late-life changes.
Biological Age and 12-year Cognitive Change in Older Adults: Findings from the Victoria Longitudinal Study
Although recent cross-sectional findings indicate that markers of biological age (BA) mediate chronological age (CA) differences in cognitive performance, little is known about their influence on actual cognitive changes.
Confirmatory Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Memory Compensation Questionnaire
Recent research with the Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ) has examined changes, functions, and correlates of compensatory strategy use in older adults. The twofold aim of this study was to test (a) the hypothesized structure of the MCQ and (b) structural equivalence across age, gender, and time. The 7-scale MCQ was designed to measure 5 compensatory mechanisms and 2 general aspects of compensatory awareness. The authors assembled a 3-wave (6-year) sample (N = 521; age = 55-85 years) from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. The results of structural equation modeling supported (a) the a priori structure of the MCQ and (b) the inference of measurement invariance across the 3 dimensions. Accordingly, the MCQ is available for measuring self-reported efforts to compensate for everyday memory losses.
Performance on the Hayling and Brixton Tests in Older Adults: Norms and Correlates
The individualized nature of the aging process underlines the need to have neuropsychological tests that are sensitive enough to distinguish normal changes associated with aging from those that are pathological. However, these measures are only useful if adequate normative data are available. Normative data are presented for two new executive functioning tasks, the Hayling and Brixton tests, which were administered as part of a neuropsychological battery to 457 typically aging older adults (53-90 years). Advancing age was associated with poorer performance on both the Hayling and Brixton tests. Results showed that fluid intelligence accounts for some but not all of the age-related variance on these tasks.
Structure of Four Executive Functioning Tests in Healthy Older Adults
The authors examined the factor structure of 4 indicators of executive functioning derived from 2 new (i.e., Hayling and Brixton) and 2 traditional (i.e., Stroop and Color Trails) tests. Data were from a cross-sectional sample of 55- to 85-year-old healthy adults (N=427) from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. Confirmatory factor analysis (LISREL 8.52) tested both a 2-factor model of Inhibition (Hayling, Stroop) and Shifting (Brixton, Color Trails) and a single-factor model. The 2-factor model did not fit the data because the covariance matrix of the factors was not positive definite. The single-factor model fit the data well, chi(2)(2, N=427)=0.32, p=.85, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA)=.00, comparative fit index (CFI)=1.00, goodness-of-fit index (GFI)=1.00. Moreover, the single-factor structure of executive functioning was invariant (configural and metric) across gender, and invariant (configural with limited metric) across age. Structural relations showed that poorer executive functioning performance was related to older age and lower fluid intelligence, chi(2)(11, N=418)=23.04, p=.02, RMSEA=.05, CFI=.97, GFI=.98.
How Do Health and Biological Age Influence Chronological Age and Sex Differences in Cognitive Aging: Moderating, Mediating, or Both?
Much research on cognitive competence in normal older adults has documented age and sex differences. The authors used new cross-sectional data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) (n=386; age 61 to 95 years) to examine how health and biological age influence age and sex differences in cognitive aging. The authors found evidence for both moderating and mediating influences. Age differences were moderated by health status, such that the negative effects of age were most pronounced among participants of relatively better health. Sex differences were moderated by health and were more pronounced among participants reporting comparatively poorer health. Although health mediated a notable amount of age-related cognitive variation, BioAge mediated considerably more variance, even after statistical control for differences in health. A complex pattern emerged for the mediation of sex differences: Although BioAge accounted for sex-related variation in cognitive performance, health operated to suppress these differences. Overall, both health and BioAge predicted cognitive variation independently of chronological age.
Neurocognitive Markers of Cognitive Impairment: Exploring the Roles of Speed and Inconsistency
A well-known challenge for research in the cognitive neuropsychology of aging is to distinguish between the deficits and changes associated with normal aging and those indicative of early cognitive impairment. In a series of 2 studies, the authors explored whether 2 neurocognitive markers, speed (mean level) and inconsistency (intraindividual variability), distinguished between age groups (64-73 and 74-90+ years) and cognitive status groups (nonimpaired, mildly impaired, and moderately impaired). Study 1 (n = 416) showed that both level and inconsistency distinguished between the age and 2 cognitive status (not impaired, mildly impaired) groups, with a modest tendency for inconsistency to predict group membership over and above mean level. Study 2 (n = 304) replicated these results but extended them because of the qualifying effects associated with the unique moderately impaired oldest group. Specifically, not only were the groups more firmly distinguished by both indicators of speed, but evidence for the differential contribution of performance inconsistency was stronger. Neurocognitive markers of speed and inconsistency may be leading indicators of emerging cognitive impairment.
Intraindividual Variability in Neurocognitive Speed: a Comparison of Parkinson's Disease and Normal Older Adults
We examined whether intraindividual variability of neurocognitive speed, or inconsistency, is greater in stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) as compared to a matched group of normal older adults. Intraindividual variability was assessed using four reaction time (RT) (simple and complex) tasks. We examined three sets of correlates: executive functioning (Stroop (interference index), Trail Making Test (Part B), and Digit Ordering Test), finger tapping speed, and gait speed. The participants were matched on age, sex, and education, and did not differ in global cognitive functioning. There were 50 patients with a clinical diagnosis of idiopathic PD (29 men and 21 women) who ranged from 65 to 84 years (M=71.5, S.D.=4.7) and 48 matched healthy older adults who ranged from 65 to 84 years (M=71.5, S.D.=4.9). Multiple analyses of variance showed that the PD patients were slower on all three complex RT tasks, and more inconsistent than healthy older adults on the most complex (eight-choice) RT task. Individuals with advanced disease had slower neurocognitive speed and more inconsistency than patients with earlier stage PD. Poorer executive functioning was associated with slower neurocognitive performance in healthy older adults, mild PD patients, and especially severe PD patients. Greater inconsistency in speed was related to poorer executive functioning in late stage PD (for the most complex task) and in healthy older adults (for the simplest task), indicating that motor and cognitive domains have functional coupling (i.e., as one becomes compromised so does the other). Intraindividual variability was not correlated with tapping speed and gait speed in any group. Executive functioning and neurocognitive speed may be valid and distinct clinical markers of disease progression in PD.
Mild Memory Deficits Differentially Affect 6-year Changes in Compensatory Strategy Use
The authors examined memory compensation techniques used by older adults from 2 memory status groups, not impaired control (NIC) and mild memory deficit (MMD), both at baseline and across a 6-year (3-wave) interval. The groups were derived from a parent sample of 55- to 85-year-old adults from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (NIC baseline, n = 276; memory > parent sample mean; MMD baseline, n = 79; memory > 1 standard deviation below parent sample mean). Multilevel modeling was used to test 3 research questions concerning differences in initial use of, and 6-year changes and variability in, memory compensation. Initial group differences were observed for both a memory compensation technique and a general compensation indicator. Significant differences in 6-year change patterns were observed for 2 memory compensation techniques (recruitment of human memory assistance, investment of extra effort in memory tasks). Interactions of group status and wave showed that older adults with MMD declined in their use of memory compensation strategies, whereas initially NIC older adults increased their use of compensatory techniques over the 6 years.
It's Never Too Late to Engage in Lifestyle Activities: Significant Concurrent but Not Change Relationships Between Lifestyle Activities and Cognitive Speed
Little is known about potential longitudinal relationships between participation in social, physical, and intellectual activities and later cognitive performance. Data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (n = 530) were used to test whether baseline and change in lifestyle engagement were related to corresponding indicators of cognitive speed (measured by mean-level and intraindividual variability). Regressions based on random effects model estimates showed that cross-sectional activity participation predicted corresponding values of both mean-level and intraindividual variability, but few longitudinal relationships were significant. Overall, a higher frequency of participation in cognitively complex activities was related to faster response times and lower intraindividual variability. Findings suggest that activity level at one point in time may be a more important predictor of cognition than an individual's changes in activity level.
Exploring Cognitive Effects of Self Reported Mild Stroke in Older Adults: Selective but Robust Effects on Story Memory
Relatively little systematic information is available regarding patterns of cognitive effects of mild stroke in older adults. We explored this problem with a series of two independent samples from the Victoria Longitudinal Study data archives. In Study 1, self-reported mild stroke and neurologically intact matched controls were (a) confirmed as similar on a set of neurocognitive speed, basic cognition, and awareness indicators, and (b) compared for differences on a set of episodic, semantic, and working memory tasks. The mild stroke group was selectively worse on the language intensive story memory task. This effect was partially attributable to a deficit in remembering the most thematic information. Study 2 closely replicated these procedures and results. In addition, Study 2 follow-up analyses, comparing provisional right-hemisphere damaged and left-hemisphere damaged (LHD) participants, revealed that the thematic story memory deficit for mild stroke participants could be due to the selective impairment of LHD participants.
Predicting Impending Death: Inconsistency in Speed is a Selective and Early Marker
Among older adults, deficits in both level and variability of speeded performance are linked to neurological impairment. This study examined whether and when speed (rate), speed (inconsistency), and traditional accuracy-based markers of cognitive performance foreshadow terminal decline and impending death. Victoria Longitudinal Study data spanning 12 years (5 waves) of measurement were assembled for 707 adults aged 59 to 95 years. Whereas 442 survivors completed all waves and relevant measures, 265 decedents participated on at least 1 occasion and subsequently died. Four main results were observed. First, Cox regressions evaluating the 3 cognitive predictors of mortality replicated previous results for cognitive accuracy predictors. Second, level (rate) of speeded performance predicted survival independent of demographic indicators, cardiovascular health, and cognitive performance level. Third, inconsistency in speed predicted survival independent of all influences combined. Fourth, follow-up random-effects models revealed increases in inconsistency in speed per year closer to death, with advancing age further moderating the accelerated growth. Hierarchical prediction patterns support the view that inconsistency in speed is an early behavioral marker of neurological dysfunction associated with impending death.
Remembering and Retelling Stories in Individual and Collaborative Contexts
Collaborative cognition, in which two or more people work together on a cognitive task, may be typical of everyday life, and may even represent an important aspect of everyday cognitive adaptation for older adults. We examined collaborative memory for stories by comparing younger (n = 64) older (n = 66) individuals and dyads with collaborative performance produced by married spouses and stranger dyads. Overall, across four collaborative recall products (two positive and two negative performance indicators), some evidence for our hypothesis of general or selective collaborative effectiveness was observed. Moreover, such evidence was obtained at both an immediate and delayed recall episode. Discussion includes applications, limitations and suggestions for future research.
Short-term Longitudinal Trends in Cognitive Performance in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is associated with cognitive deficits, although inconsistently across neuropsychological domains. We examined 3-year longitudinal data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study, comparing diabetes (n = 28) and control (n = 272) older adults on a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Assessing potential change and stability, we found that (a) baseline diabetes group deficits in semantic speed and speed-intensive executive function were preserved, (b) new average deficits for reaction time and nonspeeded executive function appeared, and (c) no differential short-term change was observed. It is clinically and theoretically important to examine sequential change in multiple domains over time.
Exploring Effects of Type 2 Diabetes on Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults
Type 2 diabetes may be associated with exacerbated aging-related declines in cognitive neuropsychological performance. The authors examined whether such effects are systematic (i.e., broadly distributed across domains or domain-specific) or moderated by age (i.e., varying across age within older adults). The authors assembled recent cross-sectional data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) Sample 3 (Wave 1; initial n = 570; initial age = 53-90 years). Using a comprehensive, multidimensional spectrum of cognitive neuropsychological tests, the authors examined performance differences by diabetes status (diabetes group vs. healthy controls) and age (young-old vs. old-old). Our results showed that healthy controls significantly outperformed the diabetes group only on markers of executive functioning and speed. Notably, the diabetes-related effects were robust across the two late-life age groups. Future research examining longitudinal changes is recommended.
Characterizing Executive Functioning in Older Special Populations: from Cognitively Elite to Cognitively Impaired
The authors examined the structure and invariance of executive functions (EF) across (a) a continuum of cognitive status in 3 groups of older adults (cognitively elite [CE], cognitively normal [CN], and cognitively impaired [CI]) and (b) a 3-year longitudinal interval. Using latent variable analyses (LISREL 8.80), the authors tested 3-factor models ("Inhibition": Hayling [Burgess & Shallice, 1997], Stroop [Regard, 1981]; "Shifting": Brixton [Burgess & Shallice, 1997], Color Trails [D'Elia et al., 1996]; and "Updating": Reading and Computational Span [Salthouse & Babcock, 1991]) and 1-factor models within each group. Participants (initial N = 570; 53-90 years) were from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (Sample 3, Waves 1 and 2). Cross-sectionally, the authors observed a 3-factor EF structure especially for the CE group and 1-factor solutions for all 3 groups. Longitudinally, temporal invariance was supported for the 3-factor model (CE and CN groups) and the 1-factor model (CI and CN groups). Subgroups with higher cognitive status and greater 3-year stability performed better on EF factors than corresponding groups with lower cognitive status and less stability. Studies of EF structure, performance, dedifferentiation, and dysfunction will benefit from considering initial cognitive status and longitudinal stability.
Testing Covariates of Type 2 Diabetes-cognition Associations in Older Adults: Moderating or Mediating Effects?
The general goal of this study was to advance our understanding of Type 2 diabetes (T2D)-cognition relationships in older adults by linking and testing comprehensive sets of potential moderators, potential mediators, and multiple cognitive outcomes.
Tracking Cognition-health Changes from 55 to 95 Years of Age
Among the key targets of inquiry in cognitive aging are (1) the description of cognitive changes with advancing age and (2) the association of such cognitive changes with modulating factors in the changing epidemiological context.
Aging and the Shape of Cognitive Change Before Death: Terminal Decline or Terminal Drop?
Relative to typical age-related cognitive decrements, the terms "terminal decline" and "terminal drop" refer to the phenomenon of increased cognitive decline in proximity to death. Given that these terms are not necessarily synonymous, we examined the important theoretical distinction between the two alternative trajectories or shapes of changes they imply.
Are Neurocognitive Speed and Inconsistency Similarly Affected in Type 2 Diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a disease of aging with indirect but detectable and cumulative neurological implications. We systematically tested whether neurocognitive speed (mean rate) or inconsistency (intraindividual variability) was the more sensitive clinical marker of T2D. Three of four research questions used a cross-sectional wave of the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) divided into T2D (age 55-81 years) and control (age = 53-91 years) groups. The fourth question addressed relative two-wave longitudinal changes. Each of four speeded tasks produced intraindividual mean rate (IM) and intraindividual standard deviation (ISD) scores. First, the T2D group performed more slowly than the controls. Second, this deficit extended to inconsistency, but less uniformly. Third, based on logistic regression analyses, IM was the more effective predictor of T2D status. Fourth, we observed similar longitudinal change patterns for IM and ISD. Results are linked to the theoretical location of T2D on an adjusted neural vulnerability continuum.
The Intention Interference Effect
Intentions have been shown to be more accessible (e.g., more quickly and accurately recalled) compared to other sorts of to-be-remembered information; a result termed an intention superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993). In the current study, we demonstrate an intention interference effect (IIE) in which color-naming performance in a Stroop task was slower for words belonging to an intention that participants had to remember to carry out (Do-the-Task condition) versus an intention that did not have to be executed (Ignore-the-Task condition). In previous work (e.g., Cohen et al., 2005), having a prospective intention in mind was confounded with carrying a memory load. In Experiment 1, we added a digit-retention task to control for effects of cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the memory confound in a new way, by comparing intention-related and control words within each trial. Results from both Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an IIE suggesting that interference is very specific to the intention, not just to a memory load.
Linking Biological and Cognitive Aging: Toward Improving Characterizations of Developmental Time
Chronological age is the most frequently employed predictor in life-span developmental research, despite repeated assertions that it is best conceived as a proxy for true mechanistic changes that influence cognition across time. The present investigation explores the potential that selected functional biomarkers may contribute to the more effective conceptual and operational definitions of developmental time.
Education Does Not Slow Cognitive Decline with Aging: 12-year Evidence from the Victoria Longitudinal Study
Although the relationship between education and cognitive status is well-known, evidence regarding whether education moderates the trajectory of cognitive change in late life is conflicting. Early studies suggested that higher levels of education attenuate cognitive decline. More recent studies using improved longitudinal methods have not found that education moderates decline. Fewer studies have explored whether education exerts different effects on longitudinal changes within different cognitive domains. In the present study, we analyzed data from 1014 participants in the Victoria Longitudinal Study to examine the effects of education on composite scores reflecting verbal processing speed, working memory, verbal fluency, and verbal episodic memory. Using linear growth models adjusted for age at enrollment (range, 54-95 years) and gender, we found that years of education (range, 6-20 years) was strongly related to cognitive level in all domains, particularly verbal fluency. However, education was not related to rates of change over time for any cognitive domain. Results were similar in individuals older or younger than 70 at baseline, and when education was dichotomized to reflect high or low attainment. In this large longitudinal cohort, education was related to cognitive performance but unrelated to cognitive decline, supporting the hypothesis of passive cognitive reserve with aging.
Do Changes in Lifestyle Engagement Moderate Cognitive Decline in Normal Aging? Evidence from the Victoria Longitudinal Study
Objective: Do lifestyle activities buffer normal aging-related declines in cognitive performance? The emerging literature will benefit from theoretically broader measurement of both lifestyle activities and cognitive performance, and longer-term longitudinal designs complemented with dynamic statistical analyses. We examine the temporal ordering of changes in lifestyle activities and changes in cognitive neuropsychological performance in older adults. Method: We assembled data (n = 952) across a 12-year (5-wave) period from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. Latent change score models were applied to examine whether (and in which temporal order) changes in physical, social, or cognitive lifestyle activities were related to changes in three domains of cognitive performance. Results: Two main results reflect the dynamic coupling among changes in lifestyle activities and cognition. First, reductions in cognitive lifestyle activities were associated with subsequent declines in measures of verbal speed, episodic memory, and semantic memory. Second, poorer cognitive functioning was related to subsequent decrements in lifestyle engagement, especially in social activities. Conclusions: The results support the dual contention that (a) lifestyle engagement may buffer some of the cognitive changes observed in late life, and (b) persons who are exhibiting poorer cognitive performance may also relinquish some lifestyle activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).
The Dutch Memory Compensation Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties and Regression-based Norms
The Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ) is a psychometrically sound instrument that assesses the variety and extent to which an individual compensates for actual or perceived memory losses. Until now, only an English version of the MCQ has been psychometrically evaluated. The aim of the present study was to establish a Dutch version of the MCQ and evaluate its psychometric properties. The MCQ data of N = 556 cognitively healthy adults (61.8% females) aged between 50.1 and 95.3 years (M = 73.9 years, SD = 8.0) were analyzed. The results showed that the factor structure of the Dutch version of the MCQ corresponded well with that of the English version of the MCQ. The reliabilities of the scales of the Dutch version of the MCQ were all high (all Cronbach's αs ≥ .77). Demographic variables (especially age and gender) affected most of the MCQ scale scores. Regression-based normative data that take these demographic influences into account were established, and a user-friendly computer program was provided to facilitate the scoring and norming of the MCQ.
Evaluating Everyday Competence in Older Adult Couples: Epidemiological Considerations
Among older adults, everyday competence is often expressed in the context of other participating individuals. Although this active human context may be occasionally comprised of mere acquaintances, long-term partners (such as couples) often act as a unit in engaging in everyday actions or reporting on familiar domains. This special section reflects an important movement in aging research to examine couples as an alternative but normatively common unit of analysis. My discussion focuses on 2 main issues. First, I sketch the rationale, logic, expectation and evidence that long-term couples might develop and display unique advantages in everyday competence. Second, I explore the possibilities that epidemiological principles - thus far applied primarily to individual-level aging, decline and disease - may provide concepts or models for research on long-term changes in couple-level adaptation.
Mild Cognitive Impairment is Associated with Selected Functional Markers: Integrating Concurrent, Longitudinal, and Stability Effects
Objective: We examined functional performance on multiple indicators for two cognitive status groups: (a) not impaired controls (NIC) and (b) mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We identified functional markers associated with differences, changes, and stability in cognitive status. Method: In the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) we examined cognitive status group effects in (a) cross-sectional functional performance, (b) longitudinal stability, (c) longitudinal functional performance change, and (d) functional marker prediction of later cognitive status. We assembled markers from five continuous clusters of MCI-related functional factors: biological vitality, activity lifestyle, psychosocial affect, subjective health, and global cognition. We used a cross-sectional sample and a two-wave longitudinal sample, stratified by age (mid-old, old-old) and cognitive status (MCI, NIC). Results: First, cross-sectional results showed that eight markers differentiated MCI and NIC adults, with the latter performing uniformly better. The groups differed on diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, positive and negative affect, MMSE, and the lifestyle indicators of self-maintenance, travel, and novel cognitive activities. Second, Wave 1 to Wave 2 stabilities in cognitive status classification were high. Third, several markers differentiated the stable (NIC-to-NIC, MCI-to-MCI) from the unstable (NIC-to-MCI, MCI-to-NIC) cognitive status groups. Fourth, five relevant markers for identifying older adults at risk for cognitive status changes were: diastolic blood pressure, self-maintenance activities, novel cognitive activities, positive affect, and global cognitive status. Conclusion: Selected risk and protective factors differentiate persons classified with MCI from those not currently cognitively impaired, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
