Psychological well-being in elderly adults with extraordinary episodic memory

<div><p>Objectives</p><p>The Northwestern University SuperAging Program studies a rare cohort of individuals over age 80 with episodic memory ability at least as good as middle-age adults to determine what factors contribute to their elite memory performance. As psychological well-being is positively correlated with cognitive performance in older adults, the present study examined whether aspects of psychological well-being distinguish cognitive SuperAgers from their cognitively average-for-age, same-age peers.</p><p>Method</p><p>Thirty-one SuperAgers and 19 cognitively average-for-age peers completed the Ryff 42-item Psychological Well-Being questionnaire, comprised of 6 subscales: Autonomy, Positive Relations with Others, Environmental Mastery, Personal Growth, Purpose in Life, and Self-Acceptance.</p><p>Results</p><p>The groups did not differ on demographic factors, including estimated premorbid intelligence. Consistent with inclusion criteria, SuperAgers had better episodic memory scores. Compared to cognitively average-for-age peers, SuperAgers endorsed greater levels of Positive Relations with Others. The groups did not differ on other PWB-42 subscales.</p><p>Discussion</p><p>While SuperAgers and their cognitively average-for-age peers reported similarly high levels of psychological well-being across multiple dimensions, SuperAgers endorsed greater levels of positive social relationships. This psychological feature could conceivably have a biological relationship to the greater thickness of the anterior cingulate gyrus and higher density of von Economo neurons previously reported in SuperAgers.</p></div

Demographic & neuropsychological characteristics of the sample.

<p>There were no significant between-group differences in age, education, gender, or race. SuperAgers outperformed their cognitively average-for-age peers on measures of episodic memory and category fluency. There were no other significant between-group differences on neuropsychological measures, including estimated premorbid intelligence.</p

Inclusion criteria for SuperAgers and cognitively average elderly adults.

<p>Inclusion criteria for SuperAgers and cognitively average elderly adults.</p

Ryff & Keyes psychological well-being 42-item questionnaire subscale descriptions[22, 23].

<p>Examples of positively worded and negatively worded items are provided.</p

Psychological well-being in SuperAgers and cognitively average-for-age elderly adults.

<p>Boxplots for Psychological Well-Being 42-Item (PWB-42) subscale scores are shown (medians, interquartile range, and upper/lower quartile ranges). SuperAgers endorsed significantly greater levels of positive relations with others compared to their cognitively average peers (Median SuperAger: 40, Cognitively Average Elderly: 36; <i>p</i> = 0.005). The groups did not differ on other subscales of the PWB-42 (<i>p’s</i>>0.0083) including Autonomy (Median SuperAger: 34, Cognitively Average Elderly: 34), Environmental Mastery (Median SuperAger: 40.5, Cognitively Average Elderly: 37), Personal Growth (Median SuperAger: 36, Cognitively Average Elderly: 37), Purpose in Life (Median SuperAger: 37.5, Cognitively Average Elderly: 37), or Self-Acceptance (Median SuperAger: 38, Cognitively Average Elderly: 37).</p