Memory score discrepancies by healthy middle-aged and older individuals: The contributions of age and education

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 963-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDRA ECONOMOU

AbstractThe aim of this study was to examine discrepancies between immediate/delayed recall and recall/working memory in middle-aged and older persons by age and education. Participants were 322 healthy individuals from the community who were stratified into three age and three education groups. Immediate and delayed recall distributions of WMS-III Logical Memory (LM) scores approximated normal curves, and LM savings scores showed a significant, but small, effect of age. LM (immediate, delayed) and Letter-Number Sequencing (LNS) discrepancies varied as a function of age and education. The difference between LM and LNS was not significant in the younger and less educated participants, but increased with age in the most educated group, and in the oldest group LNS exceeded LM (immediate and delayed). The results indicate deterioration in encoding and retrieval, rather than storage, with age, and show a differential, but small, effect of age and education on the memory measures. Working memory was resistant to age-related decline relative to immediate and delayed recall in the oldest, most educated group. Delayed recall–working memory discrepancy is relatively stable with age and education and may be a useful index of the onset of memory pathology across different ages and levels of education.(JINS, 2009,15, 963–972.)

Brain ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (9) ◽  
pp. 2733-2741
Author(s):  
Tanuja Chitnis ◽  
Greg Aaen ◽  
Anita Belman ◽  
Leslie Benson ◽  
Mark Gorman ◽  
...  

Abstract Incomplete relapse recovery contributes to disability accrual and earlier onset of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. We sought to investigate the effect of age on relapse recovery. We identified patients with multiple sclerosis from two longitudinal prospective studies, with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score within 30 days after onset of an attack, and follow-up EDSS 6 months after attack. Adult patients with multiple sclerosis (n = 632) were identified from the Comprehensive Longitudinal Investigations in Multiple Sclerosis at Brigham study (CLIMB), and paediatric patients (n = 132) from the US Network of Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis Centers (NPMSC) registry. Change in EDSS was defined as the difference in EDSS between attack and follow-up. Change in EDSS at follow-up compared to baseline was significantly lower in children compared to adults (P = 0.001), as were several functional system scores. Stratification by decade at onset for change in EDSS versus age found for every 10 years of age, EDSS recovery is reduced by 0.15 points (P < 0.0001). A larger proportion of children versus adults demonstrated improvement in EDSS following an attack (P = 0.006). For every 10 years of age, odds of EDSS not improving increase by 1.33 times (P < 0.0001). Younger age is associated with improved recovery from relapses. Age-related mechanisms may provide novel therapeutic targets for disability accrual in multiple sclerosis.


Author(s):  
Jiying Qi ◽  
Yang Su ◽  
Qianqian Song ◽  
Zhaojun Ding ◽  
Min Cao ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction The HbA1c has been considered as the ‘gold standard’ in diabetes diagnosis and management, however, age, gender and body mass index (BMI) might have certain effects on HbA1c. We are aiming to further investigate the correlation between age and HbA1c, and whether it was affected by gender and BMI. Methods A cross-sectional survey including 135,893 nondiabetic individuals who took the physical examination between 2013 and 2017 was conducted. The subjects were grouped by gender, age and BMI, and the interactive and independent effects of the 3 factors on the HbA1c were detected. The median and 95% confidence interval (CI) of HbA1c levels were calculated. Results The HbA1c levels gradually increased along with age, both in female and male, and there is a positive association between BMI and the HbA1c. The difference on HbA1c in gender was associated with both age and BMI, the age-related increase in HbAlc was accentuated in the subgroup with higher BMI, and there was a marked accentuation of the positive association between BMI and HbA1c as age increased. In almost all the young and middle-aged (aged 20–59) subgroups, the 97.5th percentiles of HbA1c levels were lower than 6.5%, suggesting that the single HbA1c cutoff value is probably not applicable to the young and middle-aged population. Conclusions We recommend that the effects of age, gender and BMI should be taken into consideration when using HbA1c for the diagnosis and management of diabetes, especially in the young and middle-aged population.


Assessment ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1310-1319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Morales Ortiz ◽  
Aaron Fernández

Theoretical models of active ageing and cognitive reserve emphasize the importance of leading an active life to delay age-related cognitive deterioration and maintain good levels of well-being and personal satisfaction in the elderly. The objective of this research was to construct a scale to measure cognitively stimulating activities (CSA) in the Spanish language. The sample consisted of a total of 453 older persons. The scale was constructed from a list of 28 items and validated using structural equation models. The scale obtained showed a negative correlation with age and a positive correlation with education and physical activity. Using hierarchical regression models, CSAs were found to have a significant effect on attention when controlling for the effect of age and education. Likewise, a significant interaction between age and CSA was found on the measure of episodic memory. The validated CSA scale will enable the relationships between changes in cognitive functions and stimulating activities to be studied.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Fakhri ◽  
Hajir Sikaroodi ◽  
Farid Maleki ◽  
Mohammad Ali Oghabian ◽  
Hosein Ghanaati

Purpose:To evaluate patterns of activation, convergence and divergence of three functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Working Memory (WM) tasks in two different age groups. We want to understand potential impact of task and subjects’ age on WM activations as well as most important areas with regard to WM functions.Materials and methods:Thirty-five healthy volunteers completed visual, verbal, and novel auditory WM tasks. The subjects were selected from age extremes to depict possible impact of normal aging. The General Linear Model was used to report significant activations and the effect of age group. Contrasts revealed differences in activation between tasks, and Combined Task Analysis was performed to determine common regions of activation across tasks.Results:Most of the observed differences between the tasks were seen in areas that were responsible for feature processing. Frontal regions were mainstay activation areas, regardless of the utilized stimulus. We found an age-related reduction in activity of visual (in visually-presented tasks) and auditory (in auditory task) cortices but an age-related increase in prefrontal cortex for all tasks.Conclusion:Regardless of the type of the task stimuli, frontal regions are the most important activation areas in WM processing. These areas are also main targets of age-related changes with regard to activation patterns. Our results also indicate that prefrontal overactivity in working memory might be a compensatory effort to mask age-related decline in sensory processing.


Author(s):  
Sujeet Kumar Sinha ◽  
Anuj Kumar Neupane ◽  
Krithika Gururaj

Abstract Introduction Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss being a cumulative effect of aging on hearing, is a progressive and irreversible bilateral symmetrical sensorineural loss. In older individuals, one of the most important structures which undergo changes due to aging is the middle ear. There is a dearth of studies in Indian population regarding the tympanometric characteristics in older individuals. Thus, this study was taken up with an objective to report the different tympanometric characteristics in elderly individuals (aged above 50 years) who reported with ear- or hearing-related complaints to the Department of Audiology, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore, Karnataka, India. Materials and Methods A register-based analysis was conducted where immittance tests were performed. Results There was no effect of age on static admittance, ear canal volume, and tympanometric peak pressure values. Also, there was no gender effect on tympanometric findings. Conclusion The result of the present study helps in understanding the different middle ear mechanisms in older adults.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-133
Author(s):  
Jake A. Melaro ◽  
Ramzi M. Majaj ◽  
Douglas W. Powell ◽  
Paul DeVita ◽  
Max R. Paquette

Aging is associated with a distal-to-proximal shift in joint kinetics during walking. This plasticity of gait is amplified rather than attenuated in old adults with high physical capacity. Because running is associated with greater kinetic demands at the ankle, older individuals with more versus less lifetime running exposure may retain a larger proportion of their ankle kinetics. The purpose of the study was to compare lower-extremity joint kinetics during walking between middle-aged runners with high and low lifetime running exposure. Eighteen middle-aged runners (9 per group) participated. Joint kinetics were calculated from kinematic and ground reaction force data during overground walking at 1.3 m·s−1 and compared between groups. High exposure runners produced 50% greater positive hip work (P = .03; Cohen d = 1.02) during walking compared with low exposure runners, but ankle kinetics were not different between groups. No other differences in joint kinetics or kinematics were observed between groups. These findings suggest that the age-related increase in hip joint kinetics during walking could be a compensatory gait strategy that is not attenuated by lifetime running exposure alone. Finally, the amount of lifetime running exposure did not affect ankle kinetics during walking in middle-aged runners.


Author(s):  
Keerthi Chadam Venkatesulu ◽  
Shaik Habeeb Jan ◽  
Harika Sree Gaddam

With the increase, the spread of COVID-19 its effect can be seen on health care systems seek innovative treatment ways as the need of the hour. The suspected leading cause of COVID-19 is due to the response to inflammations and the cytokine storm, which majorly damages the lung tissue. The difference in response to the vaccine can be seen due to different sex. Moreover, age-related decrease in sex steroid hormones like Estrogen as well as testosterone can promote pro-inflammatory raise in older individuals which in turn increases the risk of COVID-19 related adverse outcomes. Such sex hormones have the capacity of mitigating inflammatory response and can also provide promising therapeutic benefits for patients suffering from COVID-19. Moreover, over above the effects of on any ERS, these drugs showed useful ancillary properties. Most showed to highlight broader roles in mitigating viral replication by the ER-independent mechanisms as mentioned. Data simplifies ER modulation an apt pharmacological approach for restricting storm and thus prevents the inflammation due to COVID-19. Mainly the application of or tissue-selective estrogen complex can provide a pharmacological response. Such treatment options can be fruitful for both sexes in the early phase of such disease condition to prevent further progression of the disease to severe forms.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis A. Uresti-Cabrera ◽  
Rosalinda Diaz ◽  
Israel Vaca-Palomares ◽  
Juan Fernandez-Ruiz

Objective. To evaluate the effect of age-related cognitive changes in a visuomotor learning task that depends on strategic control and contrast it with the effect in a task principally depending on visuomotor recalibration.Methods. Participants performed a ball throwing task while donning either a reversing dove prism or a displacement wedge prism, which mainly depend on strategic control or visuomotor recalibration, respectively. Visuomotor performance was then analysed in relation to rule acquisition and reversal, recognition memory, visual memory, spatial planning, and spatial working memory with tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB).Results. The results confirmed previous works showing a detrimental effect of age on visuomotor learning. The analyses of the cognitive changes observed across age showed that both strategic control and visuomotor recalibration had significant negative correlations only with the number of errors in the spatial working memory task. However, when the effect of aging was controlled, the only significant correlation remaining was between the reversal adaptation magnitude and spatial working memory.Discussion. These results suggest that spatial working memory decline across aging could contribute to age-dependent deterioration in both visuomotor learning processes. However, spatial working memory integrity seems to affect strategic learning decline even after controlling for aging.


2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 1364-1378
Author(s):  
Hannah E Roome ◽  
John N Towse ◽  
Maria M Crespo-Llado

Measures of working memory capacity (WMC) are extremely popular, yet we know relatively little about the specific processes that support recall. We focused on children’s and adults’ ability to use contextual support to access working memory representations that might otherwise not be reported. Children ( N = 186, 5-10 years) and adults ( N = 64) completed a listening span task and a delayed recall task with semantic probes or cues. Clear age-related increases in listening span were evident. All age groups benefitted from contextual support to retrieve degraded target memoranda, particularly on listening span tasks when the cues provided semantic support for processing events, in comparison to cues associated specifically with memoranda. Response latencies suggested a developing efficiency in children’s use of contextual support for delayed recall correlated with listening span performance. These probe tasks support accounts of working memory that recognise reconstructive and cued search processes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (03) ◽  
pp. 220-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle T. Neidleman ◽  
Ilse Wambacq ◽  
Joan Besing ◽  
Jaclyn B. Spitzer ◽  
Janet Koehnke

Background: Background noise has been found to negatively affect working memory. Numerous studies have also found that older adults perform more poorly on working memory tasks than young adults (YA). Hearing status has often been a confounding factor in older individuals. Therefore, it would be beneficial to investigate working memory functions in adverse listening conditions early in the aging process (i.e., middle-age), when hearing function is relatively unaffected. Purpose: The focus of this study was to determine the influence of background babble on working memory in YA and middle-aged adults (MA) with normal hearing. Research Design: Before testing was begun, we established that all participants could correctly identify words in a degraded experimental testing environment with 100% accuracy. Then, the participants listened to lists composed of five pairs of words in quiet and in 20-talker babble. After the final word pair, the participants were cued with the first word of one of the previous five word pairs. The participants were required to write down the second word of the pair. The percent correct scores for each of the five serial positions were analyzed comparing the two listening conditions for YA and MA. Ten YA and ten MA with normal hearing between 250–8000 Hz and a score of at least 26/30 on the Mini-Mental State Examination participated in the study. As different cognitive processes are used for initial, middle, and final serial positions, averaged scores were obtained for Positions 2 and 3 and for Positions 4 and 5. Subsequently, repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted on mean scores of correctly recalled word pairs with serial positions (initial, middle, and final) and listening condition (quiet, babble) as the within-participant variables and age group (YA, MA) as the between-participant independent variable. This OMNIBUS repeated-measures ANOVA was then followed up with separate repeated-measures ANOVAS for the initial, middle, and final positions. Results: Correct recall scores were lower for early positions compared with the latter positions, irrespective of listening condition. For Position 1, YA—but not MA—performed significantly better in babble than in quiet. For the middle positions (Positions 2 and 3), MA performed significantly more poorly than the YA irrespective of listening condition. For the final positions (Positions 4 and 5), no age differences or effects of listening condition were found. Conclusions: The results indicate that both YA and MA have trouble recalling earlier pieces of information in quiet and in babble. However, MA exhibited significantly poorer recall scores than YA in babble for Position 1, which suggest that cognitive processes related to memory encoding and retrieval are different in background babble for MA and YA.


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