Relationship of cognitive strategy use to prospective memory performance in a diverse sample of nondemented older adults with varying degrees of cognitive complaints and impairment

Although older adults typically have better performance on prospective memory (PM) tasks carried out in naturalistic settings, a paucity of research directly assesses older adults’ use of compensatory strategies on such tasks. The current study investigates external memory strategy use during performance of a clinical PM test that features both short-term (in laboratory) and long-term (out of laboratory) subtasks (i.e., the Royal Prince Alfred Prospective Memory Test – RPA-ProMem. Nondemented, community-dwelling older adults (n = 214; mean age = 80.5; 68.2% female; 39.7% non-white) with mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive decline, and healthy controls completed the RPA-ProMem while external strategy use was permitted and recorded. Overall, participants utilized external strategies 41% of the time on the RPA-ProMem. Increased utilization of external memory strategies was significantly associated with better PM performance. Additionally, better performance on executive functioning tasks was associated with increased use of external memory strategies. Results are discussed in relation to how memory strategy use can be enhanced to improve everyday memory ability in older adults at risk for dementia.     

Age-related differences in idea generation and selection for propositional language

Conceptual preparation mechanisms such as novel idea generation and selection from amongst competing alternatives are critical for language production and may contribute to age-related language deficits. This study investigated whether older adults show diminished idea generation and selection abilities, compared to younger adults. Twenty younger (18–35 years) and 20 older (60–80 years) adults completed two novel experimental tasks, an idea generation task and a selection task. Older participants were slower than younger participants overall on both tasks. Importantly, this difference was more pronounced for task conditions with greater demands on generation and selection. Older adults were also significantly reduced on a semantic, but not phonemic, word fluency task. Overall, the older group showed evidence of age-related decline specific to idea generation and selection ability. This has implications for the message formulation stage of propositional language decline in normal aging.     

Prospective memory and frontal lobe function

The study sought to examine the role of frontal lobe functioning in focal prospective memory (PM) performance and its relation to PM deficit in older adults. PM and working memory (WM) differences were studied in younger aged (n = 21), older aged (n = 20), and frontal injury (n = 14) groups. An event-based focal PM task was employed and three measures of WM were administered. The younger aged group differed from the other two groups in showing significantly higher scores on PM and on one of the WM measures, but there were no differences at a statistically significant level between the older aged group and the frontal injury groups on any of the memory measures. There were, however, some differences in correlations with a WM measure between groups. It is concluded that there are similarities and differences in the deficits in PM between older adults and patients with frontal lobe injury on focal as well as nonfocal PM tasks.     

How age affects memory task performance in clinically normal hearing persons

The main objective of this study is to investigate memory task performance in different age groups, irrespective of hearing status. Data are collected on a short-term memory task (WAIS-III Digit Span forward) and two working memory tasks (WAIS-III Digit Span backward and the Reading Span Test). The tasks are administered to young (20–30 years, n = 56), middle-aged (50–60 years, n = 47), and older participants (70–80 years, n = 16) with normal hearing thresholds. All participants have passed a cognitive screening task (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)). Young participants perform significantly better than middle-aged participants, while middle-aged and older participants perform similarly on the three memory tasks. Our data show that older clinically normal hearing persons perform equally well on the memory tasks as middle-aged persons. However, even under optimal conditions of preserved sensory processing, changes in memory performance occur. Based on our data, these changes set in before middle age.     

Age effects on different components of theory of mind

The effects of aging on the cognitive and affective dimensions of theory of mind (ToM), and on the latter’s links with other cognitive processes, such as information processing speed, executive functions and episodic memory, are still unclear. We therefore investigated these effects in young (n = 25), middle-aged (n = 20) and older adults (n = 25), using separate subjective and objective assessment tasks. Furthermore, a novel composite task probed participants’ abilities to infer both cognitive and affective mental states in an interpersonal context. Although age affected the objective ToM tests, results revealed a direct aging effect on the second-order ToM, but an indirect one on the first-order cognitive ToM, mediated mainly by age-related declines in executive functions. This study supports the notion of an age-related distinction between subjective and objective assessments of ToM, and confirms that ToM is a complex mental ability with several characteristics reliant to some extent on executive processes.     

Lifespan Differences in a Self Determination Theory Model of Eudaimonia: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Younger,Middle-Aged,and Older Adults

Despite the myriad physical, cognitive, and social losses that are increasingly common as we age, a growing body of evidence suggests that aging is positively associated with mental health and well-being. The majority of this evidence is in the form of mental health, personality, and subjective/hedonic well-being outcomes; far less is known about lifespan differences in eudaimonic well-being. The objective of this study was to examine differences across three age groups in a relatively recent model of eudaimonia informed by self-determination theory that focuses on the process of living well, but also acknowledges outcomes of that process. In comparison to young (n = 66) and middle-aged adults (n = 66), older adults (n = 66) were especially likely to be living eudaimonically (i.e., to have intrinsic aspirations, goal autonomy, mindfulness, and basic psychological need fulfillment). The effect of age on well-being outcomes was mixed; the oldest group reported the highest levels of life satisfaction (hedonic well-being) but the lowest levels of purpose and growth (eudaimonic well-being) in comparison to their younger counterparts. As predicted by the model, basic psychological need fulfillment mediated the relationship between motivational constructs and well-being outcomes. Furthermore, the model applied equally well to younger, middle-aged, and older adults. Our results are consistent with recent theoretical models emphasizing the socioemotional benefits of aging, as well as potential challenges to well-being that exist in later life.     

Intraindividual reaction time variability predicts prospective memory failures in older adults

This study investigated the relationship between intraindividual variability (IIV) in reaction time and prospective memory errors in older adults using data from the Zurich Longitudinal Study of Cognitive Aging (n = 336 individuals aged 66–81 years). The results indicated that increased IIV measured from independent tasks was associated with a greater proportion of prospective memory errors. These significant findings were not influenced by age and did not vary according to prospective memory cue type. Variability is thought to reflect fluctuations in attentional and executive control and these attentional processes may also impact on prospective memory through failure to detect the target cue. The findings suggest, therefore, that measures of variability may have some potential in the identification of older persons who are more vulnerable to everyday errors such as prospective memory failures.     

Sleep disruption explains age-related prospective memory deficits: implications for cognitive aging and intervention

The high prevalence of sleep disruption among older adults may have implications for cognitive aging, particularly for higher-order aspects of cognition. One domain where sleep disruption may contribute to age-related deficits is prospective memory—the ability to remember to perform deferred actions at the appropriate time in the future. Community-dwelling older adults (55–93 years, N = 133) undertook assessment of sleep using actigraphy and participated in a laboratory-based prospective memory task. After controlling for education, sleep disruption (longer awakenings) was associated with poorer prospective memory. Additionally, longer awakenings mediated the relationship between older age and poorer prospective memory. Other metrics of sleep disruption, including sleep efficiency and wake after sleep onset, were not related to prospective memory, suggesting that examining the features of individual wake episodes rather than total wake time may help clarify relationships between sleep and cognition. The mediating role of awakening length was partially a function of greater depression and poorer executive function (shifting) but not retrospective memory. This study is among the first to examine the association between objectively measured sleep and prospective memory in older adults. Furthermore, this study is novel in suggesting sleep disruption might contribute to age-related prospective memory deficits; perhaps, with implications for cognitive aging more broadly. Our results suggest that there may be opportunities to prevent prospective memory decline by treating sleep problems.     

Beyond rhyme or reason: ERPs reveal task-specific activation of orthography on spoken language

Metaphonological tasks, such as rhyme judgment, have been the primary tool for the investigation of the effects of orthographic knowledge on spoken language. However, it has been recently argued that the orthography effect in rhyme judgment does not reflect the automatic activation of orthographic codes but rather stems from sophisticated response strategies. Such a claim stands in sharp contrast with recent findings using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in lexical and semantic tasks, which were taken to suggest that orthographic information occurs early enough to affect the core process of lexical access. Here, we show that the electrophysiological signature of the orthography effect in rhyme judgment is indeed different from the one obtained in online lexical or semantic tasks. That is, we did not find the orthography effect in the 300-350 ms time window which has previously been shown to process lexical information in the lexico-semantic tasks, but the effect appeared within the 175-250 ms and the 375-750 ms time-windows which we interpreted to reflect segmentation and decisional process, respectively. We conclude that the interactions between phonology and orthography are task-specific. Metaphonological tasks appear of limited use for studying the core processes and interactions that underlie lexical access.     

Neurofunctional (re)organization underlying narrative discourse processing in aging: evidence from fNIRS

Relatively few studies have analyzed the mechanisms underlying the cognitive changes that affect language in the elderly, and fewer have done so for narrative discourse. The goal of this study was to explore the neurofunctional changes associated with aging for different components of narrative discourse. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and behavioral data on 10 younger adults and 10 healthy elderly participants were collected. Ten younger adults in a non-proficient second language condition were included to explore the possibility that the age-related neurofunctional reorganization partly expresses demanding resource allocation. Results show within- and across-hemispheric differences in the neurofunctional pattern of activation in the older participants with reference to the younger ones, partially shared with the low-proficiency young adults, providing support for the recognized mechanisms underlying neural reserve and compensation. fNIRS was shown to be appropriate for studying the age-related neurofunctional reorganization of complex cognitive abilities.     

The effects of HIV disease and older age on laboratory-based,naturalistic, and self-perceived symptoms of prospective memory: does retrieval cue type and delay interval matter?

There is a rising prevalence of older HIV+ adults who are at risk of deficits in higher order neurocognitive functions and associated problems in everyday functioning. The current study applied multiprocess theory to examine the effects of HIV and aging on measures of laboratory-based, naturalistic, and self-perceived symptoms of prospective memory (PM). Participants included 125 Younger (48 with HIV, age = 32 ± 4.6 years) and 189 Older (112 with HIV, age = 56 ± 4.9 years) adults. Controlling for global neurocognitive functioning, mood, and other demographics, older age and HIV had independent effects on long-delay time-based PM in the laboratory, whereas on a naturalistic PM task older HIV? adults performed better than older HIV+ adults and younger persons. In line with the naturalistic findings, older age, but not HIV, was associated with a relative sparing of self-perceived PM failures in daily life across longer delay self-cued intervals. Findings suggest that, even in relatively younger aging cohorts, the effects of HIV and older age on PM can vary across PM delay intervals by the strategic demands of the retrieval cue type, are expressed differently in the laboratory and in daily life, and are independent of other higher order neurocognitive functions (e.g., retrospective memory).     

The ironic effect of guessing: increased false memory for mediated lists in younger and older adults

Younger and older adults studied lists of words directly (e.g., creek, water) or indirectly (e.g., beaver, faucet) related to a nonpresented critical lure (CL; e.g., river). Indirect (i.e., mediated) lists presented items that were only related to CLs through nonpresented mediators (i.e., directly related items). Following study, participants completed a condition-specific task, math, a recall test with or without a warning about the CL, or tried to guess the CL. On a final recognition test, warnings (vs. math and recall without warning) decreased false recognition for direct lists, and guessing increased mediated false recognition (an ironic effect of guessing) in both age groups. The observed age-invariance of the ironic effect of guessing suggests that processes involved in mediated false memory are preserved in aging and confirms the effect is largely due to activation in semantic networks during encoding and to the strengthening of these networks during the interpolated tasks.     

Creative Interpretations of Novel Conceptual Combinations in Aging

Conceptual combinations may be interpreted by 3 main strategies: by attributing a feature of the modifying (head) noun into the modified noun (property interpretation); by establishing a relation between the 2 concepts (relational interpretation); or by combining properties of both nouns into a concept with new identity (hybridization). There exists limited evidence regarding the quality of interpretations older adults provide to novel conceptual combinations, and especially to novel metaphoric phrases. This study aimed to evaluate and compare age differences in strategies adopted for comprehending conceptual (noun noun) combinations. The aim of this study was, therefore, to examine the impact of aging on the ability to generate novel and creative semantic interpretations to unfamiliar word pairs. Participants included 41 healthy younger (mean age = 25.1) and 40 healthy older adults (mean age = 75.3). Participants were asked to write interpretations to novel metaphoric and meaningless noun-noun phrases. Relative to young adults, older participants generated more creative (hybridization) interpretations to novel metaphor and meaningless combinations. The second finding indicated that older adults generated fewer relational interpretations to the meaningless compounds. The results suggest that, relative to young adults, older adults generate more creative and highly integrative interpretations to conceptual combinations.     

Naming speed as a predictive diagnostic measure in reading and attentional problems

This study aimed to describe and compare naming speed abilities in children diagnosed with either Reading Learning Difficulties (RLD) or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), or comorbidity for both (ADHD+RLD). To examine the explanatory power of naming speed and ADHD symptomatology in predicting group associations (while controlling for gender and age), the “Rapid Automatized Naming and Rapid Alternating Stimulus Tests” (RAN/RAS) were utilized. A sample of 101 children (age range = 5–16 years) was divided into four groups: RLD (n = 14), ADHD (n = 28), comorbid (n = 19), and control (n = 40). There were statistically significant differences in RAN/RAS results among the diagnostic groups. Moreover, discriminant analysis revealed that naming speed tasks significantly predicted reading and attentional problems, especially at earlier ages. These results demonstrate the potential usefulness of RAN/RAS in the diagnosis of reading and attentional problems, particularly if the children are aged from 5 to 9.     

Social cognition is not associated with cognitive reserve in older adults

Social and general cognitive abilities decline in late life. Those with high cognitive reserve display better general cognitive performance in old age; however, it is unknown whether this is also the case for social cognition. A total of 115 healthy older adults, aged 60–85 years (m = 44, f = 71) were assessed using The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT-R; social cognition), the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ; cognitive reserve), and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II; general cognitive ability). The LEQ did not predict performance on any TASIT-R subtest: Emotion Evaluation Test (β = -.097, p = .325), Social Inference – Minimal (β = -.004, p = .972), or Social Inference – Enriched (β = -.016, p = .878). Sensitivity analyses using two alternative cognitive reserve measures, years of education and the National Adult Reading Test, supported these effects. Cognitive reserve was strongly related to WASI-II performance. Unlike general cognitive ability, social cognition appears unaffected by cognitive reserve. Findings contribute to the emerging understanding that cognitive reserve differentially affects individual cognitive domains, which has implications for the theoretical understanding of cognitive reserve and its brain correlates. Cognitive measures unbiased by cognitive reserve may serve as best indicators of brain health, free of compensatory mechanisms.     

Basic visual perceptual processes in children with typical development and cerebral palsy: The processing of surface,length, orientation,and position

The present study aims to assess how the processing of basic visual perceptual (VP) components (length, surface, orientation, and position) develops in typically developing (TD) children (n = 215, 4–14 years old) and adults (n = 20, 20–25 years old), and in children with cerebral palsy (CP) (n = 86, 5–14 years old) using the first four subtests of the Battery for the Evaluation of Visual Perceptual and Spatial processing in children. Experiment 1 showed that these four basic VP processes follow distinct developmental trajectories in typical development. Experiment 2 revealed that children with CP present global and persistent deficits for the processing of basic VP components when compared with TD children matched on chronological age and nonverbal reasoning abilities.     

Age-related influences on lexical selection and orthographic encoding during homophone spelling

Two experiments investigated age differences in how semantic, syntactic, and orthographic factors influence the production of homophone spelling errors in sentence contexts. Younger and older adults typed auditorily presented sentences containing homophone targets (e.g., blew) that were categorized as having a regular spelling (EW) or an irregular spelling (UE). In Experiment 1, homophones were preceded by an unrelated word, a semantic prime that was congruent with the target's meaning in the sentence (e.g., wind), or a semantic prime incongruent with the target's meaning (e.g., sky) and instead related to the competitor homophone. Experiment 2 manipulated the target's part of speech, where target and competitor homophones shared or differed in part of speech. For both age groups, significant semantic priming occurred, where homophone errors decreased following congruent semantic primes and increased following incongruent primes. However, priming only occurred when homophones shared part of speech. Further, both age groups made more errors on homophones with an irregular than a regular spelling, and this regularity effect was smaller for older adults when homophones shared part of speech. Contrary to many spoken production tasks, older adults made fewer errors overall than younger adults. These findings demonstrate age preservation in lexical selection but age differences in orthographic encoding, resulting in older adults producing fewer errors because of reduced activation to competitor homophones. These findings also illustrate that syntactic factors, such as part of speech, can influence the spellings of individual words.     

Contribution of NIRS to the study of prefrontal cortex for verbal fluency in aging

Healthy aging is characterized by a number of changes on brain structure and function. Several neuroimaging studies have shown an age-related reduction in hemispheric asymmetry on various cognitive tasks, a phenomenon captured by Cabeza (2002) in the Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Older Adults (HAROLD) model. Although this phenomenon is supported by a range of neuroimaging data on memory and inhibitory processes, there is little evidence concerning changes in hemispheric asymmetry for language processing, and particularly word retrieval, which is assessed with verbal fluency task (VFT). This study aimed to investigate the age-related changes in cerebral oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex for both letter and category VFT, varying the complexity of the criteria (i.e., degree of productivity) and using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Sixteen younger and 16 older adults participated in this study. For both VF conditions, participants were instructed to pronounce as many nouns as possible as a function of high-productivity (e.g., “animals” or “L”) or low-productivity (e.g., “flowers” or “V”) criteria. Behavioral data (i.e., accuracy responses) showed comparable performance in younger and older adults for both VF conditions. However, NIRS data showed more reduced activation (i.e., significantly reduced increase in [O₂Hb] and reduced decrease in [HHb]) in older than younger adults for both VFT. In addition, a bilateral effect was found for both groups, suggesting that VFT requires both executive and language functions. The results are discussed in the context of the current theories of aging.     

Language proficiency does not modulate executive control in older bilinguals

ABSTRACT

We examined if language proficiency modulates performance in tasks that measure executive control in older Telugu-English bilinguals (n = 50, mean age = 57.15 years). We administered numerical Stroop task, Attention Network Task, Dimensional Change Card Sorting task, and stop-signal task that are known to tap into different aspects of executive functioning on healthy aging Telugu-English bilinguals. Second language (English) proficiency was calculated as a cumulative score that considered both subjective and objective measures of L2 fluency and use. Bilinguals were divided into two groups based on the cumulative score and compared on each task. We did not find any effect of language proficiency on any of the executive control measures. The additional Bayesian analysis also supported these findings. Therefore, the results do not support the claim that bilingual language proficiency modulates executive control, at least in the elderly population. We discuss the results with regard to the issue of bilingual advantage in executive control and the role of age and language use.