A 20-year follow-up of 54 octogenarians, tested originally at a mean age of 64 years, revealed that the initially more able (estimated by vocabulary score) declined less on tests in a cognitive battery than did the initially less able. When classification was based on level of education rather than initial ability, the better educated showed the lesser decline. It is postulated that continuedintellectual activity throughout the life span may protect against intellectual decline.

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Data from the last survivors of the New York State Psychiatric Institute Twin study were examined to determine if the previously identified relationship between "critical loss" and 5-year survivorship still held true for persons in their eighth and ninth decades of life. Twenty-two subjects (age range 83 to 99 years) were tested in 1973 and by 1978, 12 had died, making it possible to retrospectively examine the relationship between survivorship and critical loss. "Critical loss" did not distinguish survivors from decedents, but presence or absence of OBS did distinguish the groups, with seven of eleven decedents and none of eight survivors being so diagnosed. Survivors did not differ significantly from non-survivors in annual rate of decline on any of the three "critical loss" tests (Vocabulary, Similarities, Digit Symbol Substitution), though survivors had higher mean scores on all three tests.

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