Relationship between cognitive processing, language and verbal fluency among elderly individuals

Abstract

Some cognitive dimensions, such as attention, memory and executive functions, may decline with age, while other functions remain intact or even improve due to greater life experience. Objective: to analyze the relationship between cognitive processing, language and verbal fluency among elderly individuals seen by primary healthcare services located in a city in the interior of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: a cross-sectional study with a quantitative method was conducted. A total of 149 elderly individuals were assessed through previously scheduled interviews. Data collection included a questionnaire on sociodemographic data and the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - Revised (ACE-R). Cognitive processing (P300) was assessed using a device that captures potentials elicited in auditory tasks. Descriptive analysis and Spearman's correlation were performed with the level of significance established at 5%. Results: a negative correlation was found between language and P300 latency, while a positive correlation was found between verbal fluency and P300 amplitude. Comprehension and naming tasks showed a negative correlation with latency. The repetition task revealed a positive correlation with P300 amplitude. Conclusion: although more extensive testing is needed, these findings suggest that language correlates with P300 latency, whereas verbal fluency correlates with P300 amplitude.

Event‐related potential and neuropsychological function in depressed older adults with cognitive impairment: A correlational study

“…The finding of the present study shares similarities with a previous study, demonstrating that there is a negative relationship between complex cognition on NBT and P300 wave latency on (ERP-P300). 40 This demonstrates that participants with appropriate wave latency do better on VRT and have more sophisticated cognitive abilities, whereas those with prolonged P300 latency perform worse. Like conferred before, verbal reasoning is a composite, multicomponential cognitive process that implies contribution of various cognitive skills, 9 which helps to make conclusions from the given information.…”

Electrophysiological Proxy of Cognitive Reserve Index

“…For instance, Amin et al ( 2015 ) showed a positive correlation between the amplitude of the P300 component and memory recall, which they suggest to be indicative for CR. Francisco et al ( 2019 ) observed such correlation between verbal fluency and P300 amplitude. Furthermore, a number of studies suggest a dependency of the P300 characteristics on the individual’s educational level, with most of them observing a lower P300 amplitude and larger latency for subjects with lower education levels compared to ones with higher levels (Begum et al, 2014 ; Hasan et al, 2016 ).…”

“…The most studied EEG component in the context of CR is the P300 eventrelated potential, a positive EEG deflection peaking around 300 ms in response to presenting a stimulus-of-interest (Soltani and Knight, 2000;Polich, 2012;Šneidere et al, 2020). It has been associated with both the individual's mental capacity such as working memory (Saliasi et al, 2013;Juan et al, 2019) or verbal fluency (Francisco et al, 2019) and their sociodemographic background such as formal education level (Begum et al, 2014;Hasan et al, 2016). For instance, Amin et al (2015) showed a positive correlation between the amplitude of the P300 component and memory recall, which they suggest to be indicative for CR.…”

“…Furthermore, a number of studies suggest a dependency of the P300 characteristics on the individual's educational level, with most of them observing a lower P300 amplitude and larger latency for subjects with lower education levels compared to ones with higher levels (Begum et al, 2014;Hasan et al, 2016). Even though these results are promising in terms of promoting EEG for the evaluation of an individual's CR-level, the mentioned studies merely focus on one contributor to the development of CR, being either education level (Begum et al, 2014;Hasan et al, 2016), verbal fluency (Francisco et al, 2019) or IQ level (Amin et al, 2015), among others, and fail to account for the potential complex contribution of multiple factors to the overall CR. For example, in the case of assessing CR only based on education level, an individual with a poor socioeconomic status who was unable to obtain university-level education, but who has built up a considerable CR due to a passion for reading, will still be considered to have a low CR-level.…”

O Exame Cognitivo de Addenbrooke versão revisada (ACE-R) no diagnóstico diferencial das demências degenerativas

“…Em todos os anos desde sua adaptação brasileira, o ACE-R tem sido incorporado em pesquisas, serviços ambulatoriais públicos e privados do país como instrumento de avaliação cognitiva breve em diferentes cenários clínicos (Lima-Silva et al, 2013;Rocha et al, 2014;Sobreira et al, 2015;Beckert et al, 2016;Da Silveira;Portuguez, 2017;Gesualdo et al, 2017;Ordonez et al, 2017;Bento et al, 2018;Portuguez, 2019;Dalpubel et al, 2019;De Almeida et al, 2019;Francisco et al, 2019;Mór Fukushima et al, 2019), o que fortalece a necessidade de estudo mais profundo sobre sua capacidade diferencial em grupos diagnósticos variados.…”