Cognitive Discrepancies Versus APOE Genotype as Predictors of Cognitive Decline in Normal-Functioning Elderly Individuals: A Longitudinal Study

A task-switching paradigm was used to examine differences in attentional control across younger adults, middle-aged adults, healthy older adults, and individuals classified in the earliest detectable stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A large sample of participants (570) completed a switching task in which participants were cued to classify the letter (consonant/vowel) or number (odd/even) task-set dimension of a bivalent stimulus (e.g., A 14), respectively. A Pure block consisting of single-task trials and a Switch block consisting of nonswitch and switch trials were completed. Local (switch vs. nonswitch trials) and global (nonswitch vs. pure trials) costs in mean error rates, mean response latencies, underlying reaction time distributions, along with stimulus-response congruency effects were computed. Local costs in errors were group invariant, but global costs in errors systematically increased as a function of age and AD. Response latencies yielded a strong dissociation: Local costs decreased across groups whereas global costs increased across groups. Vincentile distribution analyses revealed that the dissociation of local and global costs primarily occurred in the slowest response latencies. Stimulus-response congruency effects within the Switch block were particularly robust in accuracy in the very mild AD group. We argue that the results are consistent with the notion that the impaired groups show a reduced local cost because the task sets are not as well tuned, and hence produce minimal cost on switch trials. In contrast, global costs increase because of the additional burden on working memory of maintaining two task sets.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissociative global and local task-switching costs across younger adults, middle-aged adults, older adults, and very mild Alzheimer’s disease individuals.

Huff

Balota

Minear

et al. 2015

“…For example, performance in the Stroop task has been linked to higher-level executive control systems (see, e.g., Kane & Engle, 2003). Indeed, a recent study by Fine et al (2008) recently showed that estimates from a Stroop switching task (the CWIT) were better predictors of cognitive decline than ApoE4 status at baseline. Thus, it is quite possible that attentional control systems are placed under considerable stress when strong prepotent pathways need to be controlled.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are particularly interested in this task for the following reasons: (a) it is the most well studied attentional selection task available (see MacLeod, 1992); (b) there is evidence that Stroop performance changes in the earliest stages of the disease (Spieler et al, 1996); (c) recently, there is a task switching version of the Stroop task that is particularly sensitive to cognitive decline in normal-functioning elderly individuals (see Fine et al, 2008). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting conversion to dementia of the Alzheimer’s type in a healthy control sample: The power of errors in stroop color naming.

Balota¹,

Tse²,

Hutchison³

et al. 2010

116

103

The present study investigates which cognitive functions in older adults at time A are predictive of conversion to dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) at time B. Forty-seven healthy individuals were initially tested in 1992-1994 on a trial-by-trial computerized Stroop task along with a battery of psychometric measures that tap general knowledge, declarative memory, visual spatial processing, and processing speed. Twelve of these individuals subsequently developed DAT. The errors on the color incongruent trials (along with the difference between congruent and incongruent trials), and changes in the reaction time distributions were the strongest predictors of conversion to DAT, consistent with recent arguments regarding the sensitivity of these measures. Notably in the psychometric measures, there was little evidence of a difference in declarative memory between converters and nonconverters, but there was some evidence of changes in visual-spatial processing. Discussion focuses on the accumulating evidence suggesting a role of attentional control mechanisms as an early marker for the transition from healthy cognitive aging to DAT. Keywords ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE; ATTENTIONAL CONTROL; CONVERSION; DEMENTIA; STROOPAn important goal in research investigating healthy aging and early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) is to develop predictors of who in an apparently healthy control sample at time A is destined to convert to a diagnosis of dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT) at time B. This is important because (a) predictive markers for the disease will afford the earliest intervention for individuals through clinical therapies that target the disease mechanisms and (b) if there is some subset of the population that is developing the disease before diagnosis, then our Correspondence should be sent to David A. Balota (dbalota@artsci.wustl.edu), Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130. Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/journals/pag NIH Public Access understanding of what constitutes healthy aging may be contaminated by undetected disease pathology (see, e.g., Sliwinski et al., 1996Sliwinski et al., , 2003. Neuropathological studies of nondemented older adults consistently show that ~25% or more meet neuropathological criteria for AD, thus providing presumptive evidence that there is a preclinical stage for AD that begins in the brain years before the appearance of symptoms (Price & Morris, 1999).There have been a number of important preclinical biomarkers already identified includin...

“…Given that both the Stroop task and Task Switch paradigms have been shown to activate such frontal regions (Brass et al, 2005; Braver, Reynolds, & Donaldson, 2003; De Pisapia and Braver, 2006) it is not surprising that a task combining these paradigms is sensitive to early impairments accompanying DAT. An abbreviated version of this task may therefore be useful as part of the diagnostic tools available to clinicians, as suggested by Fine et al (2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the Fine et al (2008) results are provocative, there are some limitations which prevent a complete understanding between task switching and DAT. One limitation is that their Stroop switch task (the color word interference task, CWIT, Delis, Kaplan, & Kramer, 2001) reports only an overall time to complete the entire block of trials.…”

Section: Promise Of Attention Measures In Early Diagnosis Of Admentioning

confidence: 99%

The utility of Stroop task switching as a marker for early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

Hutchison¹,

Balota²,

Duchek³

2010

Past studies have suggested attentional control tasks such as the Stroop task and the task switching paradigm may be sensitive to the early detection of Dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT). The current study combined these tasks to create a Stroop switching task. Performance was compared across young adults, older adults, and individuals diagnosed with "Very Mild" dementia. Results indicated that this task strongly discriminated healthy aging from early stage DAT. In a logistic regression analysis, incongruent error rates from the Stroop Switch discriminated healthy aging from DAT better than any of the other 18 cognitive tasks given in a psychometric battery. Keywords ALZHEIMER'DISEASE; ATTENTIONAL CONTROL; TASK SWITCHING; DEMENTIA; STROOPIn their seminal chapter on the role of attention on goal-driven behavior, Norman and Shallice (1986) argued people need to exert attentional control whenever they encounter situations that involve planning, troubleshooting, technical difficulty, novel sequences of action, or need to overcome a strong habitual response. As an example of the last situation, imagine a recent retiree driving on the interstate with the goal of visiting a new friend that lives off exit 13. If the previous job she held for 30 years required her to take exit 12, it would not be surprising if she accidentally takes this exit and perhaps drives a ways toward her former work before noticing the error.Action slips such as these can lead to confusion, embarrassment, and even fears of dementia. In fact, such errors are often called "senior moments" and are interpreted as "memory" problem, i.e., forgot to make the correct turn. However, this memory interpretation is not entirely correct. If asked, it is unlikely that the woman really "forgot" where she was going. Instead, her failure was likely in resisting the strong habit of taking exit 12. As argued by Norman and Shallice Correspondence should be sent to Keith A. Hutchison (khutch@montana.edu) Department of Psychology, Montana State University or to David A. Balota (dbalota@artsci.wustl.edu) Department of Psychology, Washington University. Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/journals/pag 5 The Selective Reminding Task also includes an additional recognition test NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptPsychol Aging. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 September 1. Published in final edited form as:Psychol Aging. 2010 September ; 25(3): 545-559. doi:10.1037/a0018498. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript (1986), a...