| 1. |
- Abbafati, Cristiana, et al.
(author)
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- 2020
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 2. |
- Badinlou, Farzaneh, 1984-, et al.
(author)
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Developmental differences in episodic memory across school ages : Evidence from enacted events performed by self and others
- 2017
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In: Memory. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0965-8211 .- 1464-0686. ; 25:1, s. 84-94
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to examine action memory as a form of episodic memory among school-aged subjects. Most research on action memory has focused on memory changes in adult populations. This study explored the action memory of children over time. A total of 410 school-aged child participants, comprising 201 girls and 208 boys in four age groups (8, 10, 12, 14), were included in this study. We studied two forms of action encoding, subject-performed tasks (SPTs) and experimenter-performed tasks (EPTs), which were compared with one verbal encoding task as a control condition. At retrieval, we used three memory tests (free recall, cued recall, and recognition). We observed significant differences in memory performance in children aged 8-14 years with respect to free recall and cued recall but not recognition. The largest memory enhancement was observed for the SPTs in the 8-14-year-old participants under all test conditions. Participants performed equally well on the free recall of SPTs and EPTs, whereas they displayed better performances on the cued recall and recognition of SPTs compared to EPTs. The strategic nature of SPTs and the distinction between item-specific information and relational information are discussed.
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| 3. |
- Mousavi-Nasab, S. M. Hossein, 1979-
(author)
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Engaged lifestyle and episodic and semantic memory : longitudinal studies from the betula project
- 2012
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This dissertation examines whether some aspects of engaged lifestyle, marital status and leisure activity, influence memory performance in adulthood and old age. Direct effects and indirect effects, via health, are investigated. All the studies in the dissertation examine participants in the Betula project, aged 35 to 85 years. Study I investigates whether there are reliable effects of marital status on memory function in a large sample of participants in adulthood and old age. The results demonstrate that marriage has an influence on some specific types of memory functions. They show that there are significant differences between married and single individuals in episodic memory, but not in semantic memory. Also, the extent of decline in episodic memory was found to be significantly larger for singles and widowed individuals than for married people over five years. Study II examines the relationships between different types of social and cognitive activities and episodic and semantic memory. The results show that a unidirectional effect of social activity on episodic memory was detectable on all test occasions. Also, episodic memory predicted change in cognitive activity during all test waves. However, there were no significant effects with regard to semantic memory and leisure activity in either direction. Study III explores longitudinally whetherengaged lifestyle, including marriage and leisure activity, directly affects memory performance, or whether the effect is mediated by health. The overall results demonstrate that marriage predicts episodic memory function directly. Leisure activity can also predict episodic memory performance ten years later, but indirectly via health. An active and engaged lifestyle can protect people against memory decline. The positive impact of engaged lifestyle on memory performance is discussed in terms of cognitive reserve theory, and in relation to the decrease in distress afforded by social support from other people.
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| 4. |
- Mousavi-Nasab, S. M. Hossein, et al.
(author)
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Engaged lifestyle and episodic memory performance : health as a mediator
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Objectives. In this study, we test the roles of two important aspects of engaged lifestyle – marriage and leisure activity – in episodic memory performance. The direct effects of these variables on episodic memory performance and their mediating effects via health were examined.Methods. A total of 1149 participants were recruited from the Betula longitudinal study on aging, memory, and health. The effects of engaged lifestyle and health on memory were investigated longitudinally to determine whether they could predict memory function in later life. Accordingly, data were taken from three waves at 5-year intervals: marital status and leisure activity from Wave 1 (1993-1995), health from Wave 2 (1998-2000), and episodic memory performance from Wave 3 (2003-2005).Results. From using structural regression modeling (SRM), it was found that married people showed better memory performance 10 years on than single and widowed people. Further, leisure activity also predicted episodic memory performance 10 years on, but indirectly via health. Conclusion. We conclude that an engaged lifestyle that includes marriage and leisure activity is an important determinant of memory function, and can protect people from memory decline. Although this effect may be direct, the mediating effect of health should also be considered. Theoretically, we discuss whether an engaged lifestyle protects people from memory decline in accordance with cognitive reserve theory, and decreases stress by increasing the availability of social support.
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| 5. |
- Mousavi-Nasab, S. M. Hossein, et al.
(author)
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Examination of the bidirectional influences of leisure activity and memory in old people : a dissociative effect on episodic memory
- 2014
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In: British Journal of Psychology. - : Wiley. - 0007-1269 .- 2044-8295. ; 105:3, s. 382-398
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The present study examined the relationships between different types of activities, cognitive and social, and episodic memory and semantic memory. A total of 794 adult men and women from five age cohorts (aged 65-85 at baseline), participating in the longitudinal Betula project on aging, memory, and health, were included in the study. The participants were studied over 10 years (1995-2005) in threes waves. Recognition and recall were used as episodic memory tasks, and knowledge and verbal fluency as semantic memory tasks. The results, after controlling for age, gender, education and some diseases, including heart disease and hypertension, as covariates, showed unidirectional effects of social activity on episodic memory on all test occasions (β = .10). Also, episodic memory predicted change in cognitive activity for all test waves (β = .21-.22). The positive role of social activity on memory function is discussed in terms of cognitive reserve theory, and the reduction of stress. It also seems that episodic memory performance is a predictor of cognitive activity in old people. However, the opposite direction does not hold true.
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| 6. |
- Mousavi-Nasab, S. -M. -Hossein, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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The effects of marital status on episodic and semantic memory in healthy middle-aged and old individuals
- 2012
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0036-5564 .- 1467-9450. ; 53:1, s. 1-8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The present study examined the influences of marital status on different episodic and semantic memory tasks. A total of 1882 adult men and women participated in a longitudinal project (Betula) on memory, health and aging. The participants were grouped into two age cohorts, 35–60 and 65–85, and studied over a period of 5 years. Episodic memory tasks concerned recognition and recall, whereas semantic memory tasks concerned knowledge and fluency. The results showed, after controlling for education, some diseases, chronological age and leisure activity as covariates, that there were significant differences between married and single individuals in episodic memory, but not in semantic memory. Married people showed significantly better memory performances than singles in both subsystems of episodic memory, that is, recall and recognition. Also, the rate of decline in episodic memory was significantly larger for singles and widowed than other groups over the 5-year time period in both age groups. The findings demonstrate that the positive relation found between marriage and health can be extended to the relation between marriage and cognitive performance. This effect might be explained by the role played by cognitive stimulation in memory and cognition.
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| 7. |
- Sundström, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Relationship between marital and parental status and risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease
- 2013
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In: Alzheimer's & Dementia. - : Elsevier. - 1552-5260 .- 1552-5279. ; 9:4, Supplement, s. P631-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: There is increasing evidence that social network factors may affect risk of developing dementia. The objective of the present study was to examine the association between marital and parental status separately and their combined effect on the risk of incident dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: A total of 1707 members of a population-based prospective cohort study aged 65 and over were followed for an average period of 9.5 years. During follow-up, 393 participants were diagnosed with dementia, including 221 of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Age, sex, education, smoking, vascular diseases, depressive symptoms, and stressful negative life events were used as covariates. Results: Cox logistic regression revealed that unmarried have a greater incidence of dementia and AD compared to married. Participants that were childless were also more likely to develop dementia and AD than those who were parents. Examining the combined effects of marital and parental status revealed that the already negative effect of being unmarried was further enhanced if the individuals were also childless. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both marital and parental statuses are associated with risk of dementia and that the effect of marital status need to be examined while taking into account parenthood. Further studies are needed to confirm our finding and to explore the mechanisms underlying this association.
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| 8. |
- Sundström, Anna, et al.
(author)
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The relationship between marital and parental status and the risk of dementia
- 2014
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In: International psychogeriatrics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1041-6102 .- 1741-203X. ; 26:5, s. 749-757
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: This study examines the association between marital and parental status and their individual and combined effect on risk of dementia diseases in a population-based longitudinal study while controlling for a range of potential confounders, including social networks and exposure to stressful negative life events. Methods: A total of 1,609 participants without dementia, aged 65 years and over, were followed for an average period of 8.6 years (SD = 4.8). During follow-up, 354 participants were diagnosed with dementia. Cox regression was used to investigate the effect of marital and parental status on risk of dementia. Results: In univariate Cox regression models (adjusted for age as time scale), widowed (hazard ratio (HR) 1.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.13-1.78), and not having children (HR 1.54, 95% CI = 1.15-2.06) were significantly associated with incident dementia. In multivariate analyses that included simultaneously marital and parental status and covariates that were found to be significant in univariate models (p < 0.10), the HR was 1.30 (95% CI = 1.01-1.66) for widowed, and 1.51 (95% CI = 1.08-2.10) for those not having children. Finally, a group of four combined factors was constructed: married parents (reference), married without children, widowed parents, and widowed without children. The combined effect revealed a 1.3 times higher risk (95% CI = 1.03-1.76) of dementia in widow parents, and a 2.2 times higher risk (95% CI = 1.36-3.60) in widowed persons without children, in relation to married parents. No significant difference was observed for those being married and without children. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that marital- and parental status are important risk factors for developing dementia, with especially increased risk in those being both widowed and without children.
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