1223 – Executive functions, visuoconstructive ability and memory in institutionalized elderly

Abstract

IntroductionExecutive functions (EF) are associated to frontal lobes and cognitive decline (CD) with worse results on EF tests.Objectives/aimsAnalyze if the Frontal Assessment Battery/FAB assessing EF discriminates elders with CD (vs. with no CD; Montreal Cognitive Assessment/MoCA), and if the results obtained with the Rey Osterreith Complex Figure Test/ROCF (copy's quality, immediate, and delayed memory) are associated with the CD presence/absence. Moreover, we wanted to assess if copy's quality and 3 minutes memory test are associated with FAB results, since these two tests are supposedly associated with EF and with frontal lobes assessed by the FAB, contrarily to the 20 minutes memory (supposedly related to the temporal area).Methodology556 institutionalized elders (age: M ± SD =80.2 ± 5.23; range=60-100) filled in voluntarily a sociodemographic questionnaire, ROCF, MoCA and FAB.ResultsFAB and all ROCF tests were associated with the absence/presence of CD. Regarding variables stratified by age and education, FAB was associated with immediate memory but not with copy's quality nor with delayed memory. With no stratified ROCF and FAB, correlations confirmed the previous associations, but also between FAB and copy's quality.ConclusionsResults follow the literature regarding the association between immediate memory and EF (associated to frontal lobes), in contrast to the long-term memory which is associated with the temporal area and that was not associated with FAB. Results concerning copy's quality (ROCF) are not consensual.

Desempeño de las funciones ejecutivas según estado cognitivo en adultos mayores

“…De hecho Lessov-Schlaggar, Swan, Reed, Wolf, y Carmelli 7 en un estudio longitudinal, encontraron que el decaimiento de las funciones ejecutivas tenía relación tanto por influencia genética como por variables personales. Además, otros investigadores, observaron una relación significativa entre el decaimiento de las funciones ejecutivas y el de la memoria inmediata, pero no así respecto a la memoria a largo plazo 8 . Resultados similares se encontraron utilizando técnicas de imagen por resonancia magnética 9 .…”