Age and sex related changes in episodic memory function in middle aged and older adults

Abstract

Age-related change in episodic memory function is commonly reported in older adults. When detected on neuropsychological tests, it may still be difficult to distinguish normal from pathological changes. The present study investigates age-and sex-related changes in a group of healthy middle-aged and older adults, participating in a three-wave study on cognitive aging. The California Verbal Learning test (CVLT-II) was used to assess their episodic memory function. A cross-sectional analysis of results from the first wave showed higher performance in females than males, with a steeper age-related decline in males. This was confirmed in a longitudinal analysis using a mixed effects regression model, but with a lower age-related change and smaller difference between the sexes. Information about learning strategies and errors in the third wave turned out to contribute significantly to explain change in episodic memory function across the three waves. We argue that the results from the longitudinal analyses are generalizable to the population of healthy middle-aged and older individuals, and that they could be useful in guiding clinicians when evaluating individuals with respect to cognitive change.

Decline in Search Speed and Verbal Memory Over 26 Years of Midlife in a British Birth Cohort

“…In NSHD, it remains to be seen if decline in search speed in NSHD at older ages recapitulates the cross-sectional findings beyond age 70. The findings in respect of verbal memory and education are consistent with the findings of other studies with smaller samples describing change over this age range [26, 27]. In NSHD, though faster declines were evident in those with more education after age 60, the higher initial intercept shows the overall area under the curve to be greater in this group.…”

Reduced age-related degeneration of the hippocampal subiculum in long-term meditators

“…More specifically, previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have provided evidence that the subiculum is involved in the retrieval of spatial associations (Suthana et al, 2011) and memory (Zeineh et al, 2003), including episodic memory (Eldridge et al, 2005). It is now well documented that episodic memory declines with age (Lundervold et al, 2014), and that a decrease in hippocampal volume correlates with a decrease in memory performance (Rodrigue et al, 2013). In this context, it is noteworthy that meditation interventions have been shown to improve spatial and memory abilities (Williams et al, 2000;Heeren et al, 2009;Kozhevnikov et al, 2009;Chiesa et al, 2011).…”

The Bay Area Verbal Learning Test (BAVLT): Normative Data and the Effects of Repeated Testing, Simulated Malingering, and Traumatic Brain Injury

“…There are also reliable sex differences: Women generally outperform men (Bolla-Wilson and Bleecker, 1986; Bleecker et al, 1988; Geffen et al, 1990; Wiens et al, 1994; Vanderploeg et al, 2000; Hayat et al, 2014; Lundervold et al, 2014; Argento et al, 2015). …”