| 1. |
- Lövdén, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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The extent of stability and change in episodic and semantic memory in old age : Demographic predictors of level and change
- 2004
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Ingår i: The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences. - Washington, DC : Gerontological Society of America. - 1079-5014 .- 1758-5368. ; 59:3, s. 130-134
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Structural stability and change in semantic and episodic memory performance as well as interindividual differences in 5-year changes in these constructs are examined within a sample of older adults (age rangeT1 = 60–80; n = 361). Interindividual differences in change were limited but significant. Stability coefficients were higher for semantic memory (.95) than for episodic memory (.87). Changes in episodic and semantic memory performance were strongly associated (r =.68). Across time, variances and covariances increased, and a tendency toward dedifferentiation in terms of increasing correlations was found. Chronological age was related to both level and change, but gender and education were only related to level of memory performance. Collectively, these results depict relatively high degrees of structural stability and stability of interindividual differences in declarative memory in old age.
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| 2. |
- Sternäng, Ola, et al.
(författare)
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Examination of the common cause account in a population-based longitudinal study with narrow age cohort design
- 2010
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Ingår i: Gerontology. - : S. Karger AG. - 0304-324X .- 1423-0003. ; 56:6, s. 553-563
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The common cause account suggests that there is a third factor causing aging effects in both sensory and cognitive functioning, hypothesized to be the integrity of the central nervous system [Lindenberger and Baltes; Psychol Aging 1994;9:339–355]. Importantly, the common cause account was developed based on cross-sectional data, which are especially biased by cohort effects. However, cohort effects can be controlled for in narrow age cohort (NAC) designs and by longitudinal examination. Findings from the few longitudinal studies that have studied the relation between age-related changes in sensory and cognitive functions are complex and give only partial support to the common cause account. Objective: The present paper examines the common cause account within a longitudinal setting. Method: Our study is unique in the sense that it tests the common cause account within a longitudinal NAC design using data from the Betula project. The participants (n = 1,057) were in the age range of 45–90 years. Results: The findings indicate that the relationship between sensory and memory functioning in both a longitudinal age-heterogeneous and a longitudinal NAC design are much weaker than that detected by an age-heterogeneous cross-sectional design. Conclusion: The demonstrated weak age-associated sensory-cognitive link raises questions regarding the explanatory value of the common cause account and related theoretical accounts for accounting for age-related cognitive changes.
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| 3. |
- de Frias, Cindy M., et al.
(författare)
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Cholesterol and triglycerides moderate the effect of apolipoprotein E on memory functioning in older adults.
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. - Washington : The gerontological society of America. - 1079-5014 .- 1758-5368. ; 62B:2, s. P112-P118
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We used data from the Betula Study to examine associations between total cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein E on 10-year changes in cognitive performance. Tests assessing episodic memory (recall and recognition), semantic memory (knowledge and fluency), and visuospatial ability (block design) were administered to 524 nondemented adults (initial age of 55-80 years); multilevel modeling was applied to the data. Higher triglyceride levels were associated with a decline in verbal knowledge. Lipid levels moderated the influence of apolipoprotein E on episodic memory, such that among epsilon 4 allele carriers, decline in recognition was noted for individuals with higher cholesterol levels. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels are pharmacologically modifiable risk factors that account for variation In normal cognitive aging.
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| 4. |
- Rönnberg, Jerker, et al.
(författare)
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Hearing Loss Is Negatively Related to Episodic and Semantic Long-Term Memory but Not to Short-Term Memory
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. - : American Speech Language Hearing Association. - 1092-4388 .- 1558-9102. ; 54:2, s. 705-726
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To test the relationship between degree of hearing loss and different memory systems in hearing aid users. Method: Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to study the relationship between auditory and visual acuity and different cognitive and memory functions in an age-hetereogenous subsample of 160 hearing aid users without dementia, drawn from the Swedish prospective cohort aging study known as Betula (L.-G. Nilsson et al., 1997). Results: Hearing loss was selectively and negatively related to episodic and semantic long-term memory (LTM) but not short-term memory (STM) performance. This held true for both ears, even when age was accounted for. Visual acuity alone, or in combination with auditory acuity, did not contribute to any acceptable SEM solution. Conclusions: The overall relationships between hearing loss and memory systems were predicted by the ease of language understanding model (J. Rönnberg, 2003), but the exact mechanisms of episodic memory decline in hearing aid users (i.e., mismatch/disuse, attentional resources, or information degradation) remain open for further experiments. The hearing aid industry should strive to design signal processing algorithms that are cognition friendly.
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| 5. |
- Sternäng, Ola, et al.
(författare)
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A cross-cultural view on cognitive aging: Comparisons between Bangladesh and Sweden
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Most studies on cognitive aging have been conducted in economically developed countries (mainly on Western populations). It is of importance to test the generalizability of obtained results with studies in cultural settings with different living conditions. However, the share of research conducted in cross-cultural cognitive aging is rather small, especially on memory. The main aim of this study was to compare relative importance of some commonly used predictors (age, sex, years of education, systolic blood pressure, vascular diseases, sensory-motor functioning, and processing speed) for episodic and semantic memory performance in older people (≥ 60 years) from Bangladesh (n = 400) and Sweden (n = 1098), respectively. A main finding was that age variations did not have as much impact on episodic and semantic memory performance in Bangladesh as in Sweden, and sex was of greater importance for semantic memory performance in Bangladesh. In the western world, chronological age is believed to be strongly associated with memory performance in cross-sectional studies, especially in people above 60 years of age. This study indicates that the difference between the two countries in relative importance of the predictors included in this study is mainly due to that years of education is connected to age in the western world but to sex in Bangladesh. It remains to be examined whether earlier selective survival is also responsible for the relative absence of cognitive age differences in Bangladesh.
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| 6. |
- Sternäng, Ola, et al.
(författare)
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APOE and lipid level synergy effects on declarative memory functioning in adulthood
- 2009
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Ingår i: European Psychologist. - : Hogrefe Publishing Group. - 1016-9040 .- 1878-531X. ; 14:4, s. 268-278
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study of the general population examined interactions of the gene Apolipoprotein E (APOE) and/or lipid levels, and their effects on cognitive change. A MANCOVA model based on longitudinal data (with a 5 year follow-up) obtained from the Betula study (n = 1777; age 35–85 years) was used. The significant two-way and three-way interaction effects detected were equally frequent in tests of episodic and semantic memory. A difference in the distribution of interaction effects on episodic and semantic memory decline was also found. Men demonstrated the worst cognitive development as shown by significant two-way interaction effects on episodic memory whereas two-way interaction effects among women resulted in the worst semantic memory development. This result is discussed from the viewpoint that tests of episodic and semantic memory have different cognitive demands. This study focuses on how interaction effects of the gene APOE and vascular risk factors (such as lipid levels) affect cognitive abilities and also whether the interaction effects vary across age and sex. In this study, the main focus is on interaction effects as a phenomenon in itself.
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| 7. |
- Sternäng, Ola, et al.
(författare)
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Examination of the processing speed account in a population-based longitudinal study with narrow age cohort design
- 2008
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : Wiley. - 0036-5564 .- 1467-9450. ; 49:5, s. 419-428
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The processing speed account suggests that general slowing of mental processing speed results in an overall decline, especially age-related decline, in other cognitive domains. Support for the speed account comes mainly from cross-sectional studies with participants that vary in age (age-heterogeneous samples). This study investigated how well variations in processing speed predict change of episodic recall in a longitudinal framework and examined with the Narrow Age Cohort (NAC) design. Data were obtained from Betula, a population-based longitudinal study. Both 5-year (n= 490; Time 3 – Time 4) and 10-year follow-up results (n= 608; Time 1 – Time 3) were used. In both samples, which were subjected to prospective dementia screening, we found considerably weaker associations in longitudinal data compared to cross-sectional, and also weaker associations in age-homogeneous than in age-heterogeneous samples. The results provide little support for the speed account.
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| 8. |
- Sternäng, Ola, 1961-
(författare)
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Individual differences in the aging memory : Mediation accounts, moderators, and contextual factors
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Within the field of cognitive aging, mediation accounts propose that age affects cognitive abilities through a mediator variable. Most of these mediation accounts are developed based on studies with cross-sectional designs. We had access to data from Betula, a longitudinal population-based multi-cohort project, and tested, in Study I, the well-known processing speed account (general age-related slowing of mental processing speed affects cognitive abilities negatively) (Salthouse, 1996). Interestingly, no support was found for the speed account. In Study II, a second mediation theory was tested, the common cause account (Lindenberger & Baltes, 1994). This notion suggests a link between sensory and cognitive abilities, where both abilities decline with age in a similar fashion because of a third factor, a common cause. Again, no support for a major account of cognitive decline was found. In Study III, interactions including vascular health and genetic status (APOE status) as potential interacting predictors of cognitive development were examined. A difference in the distribution of interaction effects on episodic and semantic memory development was found. Study IV, finally, consisted of a comparison of cognitive aging in two very different countries, Bangladesh (Poverty and Health in Ageing) and Sweden (Betula). The findings were surprising since chronological age, in Bangladesh, did not exert much effect on declarative memory in older people, in contrast to Betula and most other aging studies, predominantly performed in the Western world. Results from these four studies are discussed with respect to theoretical implications and methodological considerations. Recommendations for future research focus are made and implications for explanatory models of cognitive aging are elaborated on.
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| 9. |
- Wahlin, Åke, et al.
(författare)
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How health and biological age influence chronological age and sex differences in cognitive aging: Moderating, mediating, or both?
- 2006
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Ingår i: Psychology and Aging. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0882-7974 .- 1939-1498. ; 21:2, s. 318-332
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Much research on cognitive competence in normal older adults has documented age and sex differences. We used cross-sectional data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (n=386; age 61-95 years) to examine how health and biological age influence age and sex differences in cognitive aging. We 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 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: whereas 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.
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| 10. |
- Wahlin, Åke, et al.
(författare)
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The International Network on Public Health and Aging (INOPA) : Introducing a Life Course Perspective to the Public Health Agenda
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0169-3816 .- 1573-0719. ; 23:1, s. 97-105
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we present an international network of researchers from projects examining the human aging process and its consequences. It is both vital and urgent to include aging and a life course perspective on the public health agenda, particularly in low-income countries. By announcing the network in a publication, we wish not just to position the network but, more importantly, to attract the attention of other potential collaborators either at the project, institutional, decision making, or applied level.
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