Cognitive support at encoding attenuates age differences in recollective experience among adults of lower frontal lobe function

Free recall and recollective experience were investigated in relation to neuropsychological measures of frontal lobe function (FLF) among 105 healthy adults divided into three age groups; young (M = 21.82 years), young-old (M = 64.69 years), and old-old (M = 70.69 years). Participants were tested on free recall and recognition of word lists in each of two study conditions. In the first, semantically related words were organizable into one of four taxonomic categories, whereas in the second (random) condition, words were semantically unrelated. Results in respect of free recall showed memory performance was inferior with increasing age, lower FLF, and random encoding condition. There were no interactions involving those variables. With regard to recollective experience, a similar pattern of results was obtained. However, analyses also identified a significant interaction, suggesting old-old adults of lower FLF to exhibit poorer recollective experience. This interaction was significantly modified when semantic organization was available at study. Recognition measures classified as familiar did not vary as a function of age, neuropsychological function, or encoding condition. The results are consistent with the view that autonoetic consciousness, supported by the neural systems of the prefrontal cortex, underpins recollective experience. Further, among older adults, cognitive support at encoding attenuates the detrimental effects of individual differences in those neural systems, in relation to recognition performance

Processing speed, executive function, and age differences in remembering and knowing.

A group of young (n = 52, M = 23.27 years) and old (n = 52, M = 68.62 years) adults studied two lists of semantically unrelated nouns. For one list a time of 2 s was allowed for encoding, and for the other, 5 s. A recognition test followed where participants classified their responses according to Gardiner's (1988) remember-know procedure. Age differences for remembering and knowing were minimal in the faster 2-s encoding condition. However, in the longer 5-s encoding condition, younger persons produced significantly more remember responses, and older adults a greater number of know responses. This dissociation suggests that in the longer encoding condition, younger adults utilized a greater level of elaborative rehearsal governed by executive processes, whereas older persons employed maintenance rehearsal involving short-term memory. Statistical control procedures, however, found that independent measures of processing speed accounted for age differences in remembering and knowing and that independent measures of executive control had little influence. The findings are discussed in the light of contrasting theoretical accounts of recollective experience in old age

Driving into the sunset: Supporting cognitive functioning in older drivers

Copyright @ 2011 Mark S. Young and David Bunce - This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.The rise in the aging driver population presents society with a significant challenge-how to maintain safety and mobility on the roads. On the one hand, older drivers pose a higher risk of an at-fault accident on a mile-for-mile basis; on the other hand, independent mobility is a significant marker of quality of life in aging. In this paper, we review the respective literatures on cognitive neuropsychology and ergonomics to suggest a previously unexplored synergy between these two fields. We argue that this conceptual overlap can form the basis for future solutions to what has been called "the older driver problem." Such solutions could be found in a range of emerging driver assistance technologies offered by vehicle manufacturers, which have the potential to compensate for the specific cognitive decrements associated with aging that are related to driving.Support was received from the Leverhulme Trust, UK

Age differences in perceived workload across a short vigil

The main objective of this research was to investigate age differences in the perceived workload associated with the performance of a demanding, high event rate, vigilance task. Younger participants (n=26) aged 16 to 35 years (M=27.8) and older participants (n=24) aged 45 to 65 years (M=52.2) completed perceived workload scales (NASA-TLX) following a brief practice session (pretest) on the vigilance task, and then again following a test session (posttest) lasting nine minutes. In relation to the vigilance task, a statistically significant performance decrement was identified, but there was no evidence that performance differed according to age in respect to that decrement. However, a dissociation was found in relation to the perceived workload ratings: while no age differences were found in vigilance performance, the workload ratings revealed older participants to perceive a significantly greater increase in workload from pretest to posttest. These findings are considered theoretically in relation to the demands placed upon attentional resources, and their implications for both laboratory-based vigilance research, and workplace systems monitoring situations, are discussed

Narrative of Chain cruise #17, phase I : St. George, Bermuda, to Freetown, Sierra Leone, 19 February - 22 March 1961

The journal of a cruise of R/V CHAIN from Bermuda to Freetown, Sierra Leone during February and March, 1961, is the basis of this report. Location of observations are given. The portion of the Mid- Atlantic Ridge lying along the equator was surveyed from 10° to 19°W, and new information concerning the slope and orientation of rift zones was obtained. A detailed bathymetric survey of the Romanche Trench was made. A continuous temperature-depth profile, from the surface to 100 meters, was made along the ship 's track with a thermistor chain. Surface shear was measured with pitotmeters mounted on the chain (surface water velocity relative to the water velocity at the depth of the pitotmeter), to determine the strength and direction of the equatorial undercurrent.The Office of Naval Research under Contract Nonr-, 2196 (00

Depression, anxiety, and within-person variability in adults aged 18 to 85 years

Mild depression and anxiety were investigated in relation to measures of within-person (WP) variability and mean RT from psychomotor, executive function, visual search, and word recognition tasks in a continuous age range (18 to 85 years, M = 50.33, SD = 20.37) of 300 community-dwelling adults. Structural equation modeling identified a significant Age x Depression interaction in relation to visual search for measures of WP variability but not for mean RT. Older more depressed adults exhibited greater variability. WP variability in executive function and other cognitive constructs covaried, and the significant Age x Depression interaction with visual search was accounted for by WP variability in executive control. The findings suggest that age-, and depression-related reductions in attentional resources may contribute to increased variability in visual search, and that variability in executive control may be the mechanism underlying these effects.This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.This paper has not (yet) been published

Utilization of cognitive support in episodic free recall as a function of apolipoprotein E and vitamin B12 or folate among adults aged 75 years and older

Apolipoprotein E (APOE), vitamin B12, and folate were examined in relation to free recall among 167 community-based older adults. Cognitive support at encoding and retrieval was also taken into account. Participants were classified as APOE e4 or non-e4 allele carriers and as either low or normal vitamin B12 or folate status. A significant association was identified between low vitamin B12 and the e4 genotype in respect to free recall, but only in circumstances of low cognitive support. This result remained after removing dementia cases that occurred up to 6 years after testing. A similar, but nonsignificant, trend was evident in relation to folate. The research is discussed with reference to vulnerability models and genetic influences on brain reserves

Longitudinal evidence of the impact of normal thyroid stimulating hormone variations on cognitive functioning in very old age

The purpose of this study was to examine longitudinal associations among thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and cognitive performance. Data collected at the first three assessment times, approximately 3 years apart, are reported for the survivors (n=45) from a previously published cross-sectional study. Participants were aged 75–93 years at baseline, and data reported were collected in the Kungsholmen Project, a longitudinal project investigating aging and dementia. Analyses revealed that although declining verbal fluency and visuospatial abilities were accompanied by simultaneously declining TSH levels, the pattern of cross-sectional and longitudinal results are interpreted such that declining TSH levels may have caused episodic memory deficits later on. These results were obtained in the examination of 6-year but not 3-year change, and after removal of the cognitive variation associated with depressive mood symptoms