Staying on Task: Age-Related Changes in the Relationship Between Executive Functioning and Response Time Consistency

Vasquez, Brandon P.; Binns, Malcolm A.; Anderson, Nicole

doi:10.1093/geronb/gbu140

Cited by 30 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In some samples OA performed better than YA, underscoring the heterogeneity of the sample and individual differences in EF performance in OA. Our findings here support the notion that some OA might not be as susceptible to age-related cognitive differences, though conditions under which EF is assessed might also impact the results (e.g., Anderson et al, 2014).…”

Section: Ef Task Performancesupporting

confidence: 84%

Age Differences in the Subcomponents of Executive Functioning

Maldonado

Orr

Goen

et al. 2020

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B

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Objectives Across the life span, deficits in executive functioning (EF) are associated with poor behavioral control and failure to achieve goals. Though EF is often discussed as one broad construct, a prominent model of EF suggests that it is composed of three subdomains: inhibition, set shifting, and updating. These subdomains are seen in both younger (YA) and older adults (OA), with performance deficits across subdomains in OA. Therefore, our goal was to investigate whether subdomains of EF might be differentially affected by age, and how these differences may relate to broader global age differences in EF. Methods To assess these age differences, we conducted a meta-analysis at multiple levels, including task level, subdomain level, and of global EF. Based on previous work, we hypothesized that there would be overall differences in EF in OA. Results Using 1,268 effect sizes from 401 articles, we found overall differences in EF with age. Results suggested that differences in performance are not uniform, such that variability in age effects emerged at the task level, and updating was not as affected by age as other subdomains. Discussion These findings advance our understanding of age differences in EF, and stand to inform early detection of EF decline.

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Section: Ef Task Performancesupporting

confidence: 84%

Age Differences in the Subcomponents of Executive Functioning

Maldonado

Orr

Goen

et al. 2020

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B

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“…Notably, our classification of CIND subgroups differentiated consistency of impairment across a 2-year time period, yielding a relatively robust classification of cognitive status. These findings are consistent with previous research demonstrating that inconsistency in performance is a stable, endogenous characteristic, associated with the aging process, and predictive of cognitive, behavioral, and neurological functioning (Bielak et al, 2010;Burton, Strauss, Hultsch, Moll & Hunter, 2006;Grand et al, 2016;Hultsch, MacDonald, & Dixon, 2002;Hultsch, Macdonald, Hunter, Levy-Bencheton & Strauss, 2000;MacDonald, Hultsch & Dixon, 2003MacDonald, Nyberg & Bäckman, 2006;Vasquez et al, 2016). Furthermore, our demonstration of significant within-person coupling of FTI and working memory underscores the importance of examining short-term variation and covariation in indicators of CNS integrity to examine the utility, function, and impact of such dynamic indicators for understanding cognitive and neuropsychological processes (Stawski, Sliwinski & Hofer, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…RTI reflects short-term, within-person variability in performance largely ignored in service of averaging across all trials to compute estimates of central tendency. Within a number of cognitive tasks (e.g., choice reaction time), increased RTI has shown linkages to age (Vasquez, Binns & Anderson, 2016), impaired cognitive status (Murtha, Cismaru, Waechter & Chertkow, 2002), cognitive function (Grand, Stawski & MacDonald, 2016), brain injury (Stuss, Murphy, Binns & Alexander, 2003) and to more rapid cognitive decline (Bielak, Hultsch, Strauss, MacDonald & Hunter, 2010), independent of average performance. Cognitive aging researchers argue that RTI in cognitive behavioral performance may stem from age-related degradation of the central nervous system (CNS; Anstey et al, 2007;MacDonald, Karlsson, Rieckmann, Nyberg & Bäckman, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitively-Impaired-Not-Demented Status Moderates the Time-Varying Association between Finger Tapping Inconsistency and Executive Performance

Halliday

Stawski

MacDonald

2016

Arch Clin Neuropsychol

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Objective: Response time inconsistency (RTI) in cognitive performance predicts deleterious health outcomes in late-life; however, RTI estimates are often confounded by additional influences (e.g., individual differences in learning). Finger tapping is a basic sensorimotor measure largely independent of higher-order cognition that may circumvent such confounds of RTI estimates. We examined the within-person coupling of finger-tapping mean and RTI on working memory, and the moderation of these associations by cognitive status. Method: A total of 262 older adults were recruited and classified as controls, cognitively-impaired-not-demented (CIND) unstable or CIND stable. Participants completed finger-tapping and working-memory tasks during multiple weekly assessments, repeated annually for 4 years. Results: Within-person coupling estimates from multilevel models indicated that on occasions when RTI was greater, working-memory response latency was slower for the CIND-stable, but not for the CIND-unstable or control individuals. Conclusions: The finger-tapping task shows potential for minimizing confounds on RTI estimates, and for yielding RTI estimates sensitive to central nervous system function and cognitive status.

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“…Similarly, Craik and Hay showed that verbal estimates made by older adults were considerably shorter than that of younger adults when a concurrent task was involved (Craik & Hay, 1999). In addition, the inconsistency in response times has been reported in a few studies (e.g., Vasquez et al, 2014). Thus, while older adults show an age-related decline in timing accuracy, this decline may reflect changes in other executive controls necessary for timing function (Baudouin et al, 2006).…”

Section: Human Timingmentioning

confidence: 86%

Age-Related Changes in Human and Nonhuman Timing

Church

2017

Timing &Amp; Time Perception

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The capacity for timed behavior is ubiquitous across the animal kingdom, making time perception an ideal topic of comparative research across human and nonhuman subjects. One of the many consequences of normal aging is a systematic decline in timing ability, often accompanied by a host of behavioral and biochemical changes in the brain. In this review, we describe some of these behavioral and biochemical changes in human and nonhuman subjects. Given the involvement of timing in higher-order cognitive processing, age-related changes in timing ability can act as a marker for cognitive decline in older adults. Finally, we offer a comparison between human and nonhuman timing through the perspective of Alzheimer’s disease. Taken together, we suggest that understanding timing functions and dysfunctions can improve theoretical accounts of cognitive aging and time perception, and the use of nonhuman subjects constitutes an integral part of this process.

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Staying on Task: Age-Related Changes in the Relationship Between Executive Functioning and Response Time Consistency

Abstract: Our results replicate findings of greater RT inconsistency in older adults and reveal that executive functioning is related to tau in adults aged 75-85. These results support literature identifying tau as a marker of cognitive control, which deteriorates in old age.

Cited by 30 publications

References 42 publications

Age Differences in the Subcomponents of Executive Functioning

Age Differences in the Subcomponents of Executive Functioning

Cognitively-Impaired-Not-Demented Status Moderates the Time-Varying Association between Finger Tapping Inconsistency and Executive Performance

Age-Related Changes in Human and Nonhuman Timing

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