Executive function subcomponents and their relations to everyday functioning in healthy older adults

IntroductionThe major issues in cognitive literature related to memory and aging concentrate on the different methodological issues in research examining the effectiveness of memory training programs in improving memory performance of older adults along with the clinical implications of this kind of research.ObjectivesThe review will address how researchers differ within their collection of participants, the various aspects of memory intervention programs by a systematic review on recent researches.AimsThe present study aims to review the cognitive literature related to memory and aging through a meta-analysis in recent years.MethodMeta-analysis was conducted of researches on memory training interventions for cognitively normal/healthy older adults published in 1995–2014. Computerized databases (e.g PsychInfo) were searched using combinations of these key words in English: memory, mnemonic, rehabilitation, older adult, aging, elderly and impairment. All participants must be at least 55 years old at the time of training/intervention. Due to the fact and Studies must have used a non-pharmacological approach toward memory or memory problems. Between-study heterogeneity was quantified using χ2 and I2 statistics. All analyses were performed utilizing the CMA2.ResultsEffect sizes with 95% confidence intervals for each study indicated that the overall pre-post training gain was 0.37 SD (95% CI: 0.18, 0.47) and the mean retest effect among control groups was 0.11 SD (95% CI: −0.11, 0.16) and this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001).ConclusionThe key challenge of memory training studies is that they often don’t train abilities that generalize to everyday functioning. These results have numerous clinical and practical implications.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Download Full-text

Prospective Memory Is a Key Predictor of Functional Independence in Older Adults

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617718000152 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 24 (6) ◽

pp. 640-645 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Alexandra Hering ◽

Matthias Kliegel ◽

Peter G. Rendell ◽

Fergus I.M. Craik ◽

Nathan S. Rose

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Prospective Memory ◽

Processing Speed ◽

Daily Living ◽

Functional Independence ◽

Behavioral Performance ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Prospective Remembering ◽

Linear Regressions

AbstractObjectives: Prospective memory (PM), the ability to execute delayed intentions, has received increasing attention in neuropsychology and gerontology. Most of this research is motivated by the claim that PM is critical for maintaining functional independence; yet, there is a dearth of empirical evidence to back up the claims. Thus, the present study tested whether PM predicts functional independence in older adults using validated behavioral performance measures for both PM and functional independence. Methods: Fifty-eight healthy older adults performed a computerized PM paradigm, the Virtual Week task, as well as a timed version of an instrumental activities of daily living (TIADL) task. Furthermore, we assessed vocabulary, processing speed, and self-reported prospective remembering. Results: TIADL scores correlated significantly with performance in the Virtual Week task, vocabulary, and processing speed. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that vocabulary and Virtual Week performance were significant predictors for TIADL. However, self-reported PM scores did not predict everyday functioning. Conclusions: The findings indicate that PM is an important cognitive ability for successful and independent everyday life beyond vocabulary. Moreover, the results show a substantial incremental contribution of intact PM performance for the prediction of everyday functioning by using objective PM measures. (JINS, 2018, 24, 640–645)

Download Full-text

Executive Function and Everyday Functioning in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e347032004-001 ◽

2003 ◽

Author(s):

Laurie Darling

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

Download Full-text

Verbal intelligence is a more robust cross-sectional measure of cognitive reserve than level of education in healthy older adults

Alzheimer s Research & Therapy ◽

10.1186/s13195-021-00870-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

R. Boyle ◽

S. P. Knight ◽

C. De Looze ◽

D. Carey ◽

S. Scarlett ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Cognitive Outcome ◽

Verbal Intelligence ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Occupational Complexity

Abstract Background Cognitive reserve is most commonly measured using socio-behavioural proxy variables. These variables are easy to collect, have a straightforward interpretation, and are widely associated with reduced risk of dementia and cognitive decline in epidemiological studies. However, the specific proxies vary across studies and have rarely been assessed in complete models of cognitive reserve (i.e. alongside both a measure of cognitive outcome and a measure of brain structure). Complete models can test independent associations between proxies and cognitive function in addition to the moderation effect of proxies on the brain-cognition relationship. Consequently, there is insufficient empirical evidence guiding the choice of proxy measures of cognitive reserve and poor comparability across studies. Method In a cross-sectional study, we assessed the validity of 5 common proxies (education, occupational complexity, verbal intelligence, leisure activities, and exercise) and all possible combinations of these proxies in 2 separate community-dwelling older adult cohorts: The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA; N = 313, mean age = 68.9 years, range = 54–88) and the Cognitive Reserve/Reference Ability Neural Network Study (CR/RANN; N = 234, mean age = 64.49 years, range = 50–80). Fifteen models were created with 3 brain structure variables (grey matter volume, hippocampal volume, and mean cortical thickness) and 5 cognitive variables (verbal fluency, processing speed, executive function, episodic memory, and global cognition). Results No moderation effects were observed. There were robust positive associations with cognitive function, independent of brain structure, for 2 individual proxies (verbal intelligence and education) and 16 composites (i.e. combinations of proxies). Verbal intelligence was statistically significant in all models. Education was significant only in models with executive function as the cognitive outcome variable. Three robust composites were observed in more than two-thirds of brain-cognition models: the composites of (1) occupational complexity and verbal intelligence, (2) education and verbal intelligence, and (3) education, occupational complexity, and verbal intelligence. However, no composite had larger average effects nor was more robust than verbal intelligence alone. Conclusion These results support the use of verbal intelligence as a proxy measure of CR in cross-sectional studies of cognitively healthy older adults.

Download Full-text