Placing inspection time, reaction time, and perceptual speed in the broader context of cognitive ability: The VPR model in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

A long-standing idea is that people who do well on intelligence tests might be better at some basic psychological processes, such as mental speed, which is also called processing speed. Smarter people might have faster brains, and their intelligence might follow from that. ‘Are smarter people faster?’ considers the West of Scotland Twenty-07 study, which reported on the correlation between reaction time and intelligence, and the Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936, which measured processing speed using inspection time. These studies show medium to strong levels of correlation between choice reaction time and general intelligence and that people with higher intelligence tended to make more correct decisions about the inspection time stimuli.

Download Full-text

Supplemental Material for Retrospective Validation of WTAR and NART Scores as Estimators of Prior Cognitive Ability Using the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1037/a0033623.supp ◽

2013 ◽

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Ability ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort

Download Full-text

Apolipoprotein E genotype does not moderate the associations of depressive symptoms, neuroticism and allostatic load with cognitive ability and cognitive aging in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0192604 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. e0192604 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zander Crook ◽

Tom Booth ◽

Simon R. Cox ◽

Janie Corley ◽

Dominika Dykiert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Apolipoprotein E ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Cognitive Aging ◽

Allostatic Load ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort ◽

Apolipoprotein E Genotype

Download Full-text

Longitudinal Associations Between Loneliness and Cognitive Ability in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gby086 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 74 (8) ◽

pp. 1376-1386 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Judith A Okely ◽

Ian J Deary

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Ability ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Processing Speed ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Birth Cohort Study ◽

Visuospatial Ability ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort ◽

Longitudinal Associations ◽

Reciprocal Associations

Abstract Objectives Loneliness is associated with poorer cognitive function in old age; however, the direction of this association is unknown. We tested for reciprocal associations between loneliness and the cognitive ability domains of processing speed, visuospatial ability, verbal memory, and crystallized ability. Method We used three triennial waves of longitudinal data from the Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936, and tested for cross-lagged associations between loneliness and cognitive abilities using cross-lagged panel models. Results Better processing speed, visuospatial ability, or crystallized ability at age 73, was associated with less positive changes in loneliness between ages 73 and 76; however, these associations were not replicated between ages 76 and 79. Loneliness at ages 73 and 76 did not predict subsequent changes in cognitive abilities. Discussion Our findings indicate an association between cognitive ability and loneliness, such that individuals with lower cognitive abilities at age 73 may be at a slightly higher risk of becoming lonely. However, we did not find support for the hypothesis that loneliness causes a decline in cognitive health.

Download Full-text

Characterisation of an inflammation-related epigenetic score and its association with cognitive ability

10.1101/802009 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Anna J. Stevenson ◽

Daniel L. McCartney ◽

Robert F. Hillary ◽

Archie Campbell ◽

Stewart W. Morris ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Chronic Inflammation ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Large Scale ◽

Acute Infection ◽

Plasma Concentrations ◽

Generation Scotland ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort ◽

Serum Crp

ABSTRACTResults from large cohort studies investigating the association between inflammation and cognition have been mixed, possibly due to methodological disparities. However, a key issue in research utilising inflammatory biomarkers is their typically phasic responses. C-reactive protein (CRP) is widely used to investigate the association between chronic inflammation and cognition, but its plasma concentrations can markedly deviate in response to acute infection. Recently a large-scale epigenome-wide association study identified DNA methylation correlates of CRP. DNA methylation is thought to be relatively stable in the short term, marking it as a potentially useful signature of exposure. Here, we generate an epigenetic CRP score and investigate its trajectories with age, and associations with cognitive ability, in comparison to serum CRP in two cohorts: a longitudinal study of older adults (the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, n=889) and a large, cross-sectional cohort (Generation Scotland, n=7,028).We identified differing trajectories of serum CRP across the cohorts, with no homogeneous trends seen with age. Conversely, the epigenetic score was consistently found to increase with age, and to do so more rapidly in males compared to females. Higher levels of serum CRP were found to associate with poorer cognition in Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, but not in Generation Scotland. However, a consistent negative association was identified between cognition and the epigenetic score in both cohorts. Furthermore, the epigenetic score accounted for a greater proportion of variance in cognitive ability.Our results suggest that epigenetic signatures of acute inflammatory markers may provide an enhanced signature of chronic inflammation, allowing for more reliable stratification of individuals, and thus clearer inference of associations with incident health outcomes.

Download Full-text

The association between cognitive ability across the lifespan and health literacy in old age: The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Intelligence ◽

10.1016/j.intell.2011.04.001 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 178-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Catherine Murray ◽

Wendy Johnson ◽

Michael S. Wolf ◽

Ian J. Deary

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Old Age ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort

Download Full-text

Serum cholesterol and cognitive functions: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610214001197 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 439-453 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Janie Corley ◽

John M. Starr ◽

Ian J. Deary

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Function ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Old Age ◽

Serum Cholesterol ◽

Processing Speed ◽

Verbal Ability ◽

Older Age ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort ◽

Statin Use

ABSTRACTBackground:We examined the associations between serum cholesterol measures, statin use, and cognitive function measured in childhood and in old age. The possibility that lifelong (trait) cognitive ability accounts for any cross-sectional associations between cholesterol and cognitive performance in older age, seen in observational studies, has not been tested to date.Methods:Participants were 1,043 men and women from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 Study, most of whom had participated in a nationwide IQ-type test in childhood (Scottish Mental Survey of 1947), and were followed up at about age 70 years. Serum cholesterol measures included total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and cholesterol:HDL cholesterol ratio. Cognitive outcome measures were age 70 IQ (using the same test as at age 11 years), general cognitive ability (g), processing speed, memory, and verbal ability.Results:Higher TC, higher HDL-C, and lower triglycerides were associated with higher age 70 cognitive scores in most cognitive domains. These relationships were no longer significant after covarying for childhood IQ, with the exception a markedly attenuated association between TC and processing speed, and triglycerides and age 70 IQ. In the fully adjusted model, all conventionally significant (p < 0.05) effects were removed. Childhood IQ predicted statin use in old age. Statin users had lower g, processing speed, and verbal ability scores at age 70 years after covarying for childhood IQ, but significance was lost after adjusting for TC levels.Conclusions:These results suggest that serum cholesterol and cognitive function are associated in older age via the lifelong stable trait of intelligence. Potential mechanisms, including lifestyle factors, are discussed.

Download Full-text