Within-person trial-to-trial variability precedes and predicts cognitive decline in old and very old age: Longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study

Lövdén, Martin; Li, Shu-Chen; Shing, Yee Lee; Lindenberger, Ulman

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.05.005

Cited by 168 publications

(190 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Several approaches exist for calculating intraindividual trial-to-trial variability, including intraindividual SD and intraindividual coefficient of variation (SD/M) (Lövden et al, 2007). In the present study, sdRT based on correct congruent and correct incongruent trials was used, as this allowed us to test the effects of IIV both with and without covarying for mRT.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Becoming Consistent: Developmental Reductions in Intraindividual Variability in Reaction Time Are Related to White Matter Integrity

Tamnes

Fjell²,

Westlye³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

180

177

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Cognitive development is known to involve improvements in accuracy, capacity, and processing speed. Less is known about the role of performance consistency, and there has been virtually no empirical examination of the neural underpinnings of within-person variability in development. In a sample of 92 healthy children and adolescents aged 8 -19 years, we aimed to characterize age-related changes in trial-to-trial intraindividual variability (IIV) of reaction time (RT) and to test whether IIV is related to white matter (WM) integrity as indexed by diffusion tensor imaging. IIV was quantified as the SD of correct RTs in a speeded arrow flanker task, and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics was used to test relationships with diffusion characteristics. Large age-related reductions in IIV in both simple congruent trials and more complex incongruent trials were found. Independently of sex, age, and median RT (mRT), lower IIV was associated with higher fractional anisotropy and lower overall diffusivity. Effects were seen for IIV in one or both trial types in the corticospinal tract, the left superior longitudinal fasciculus, the uncinate fasciculus, the forceps minor, and in the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum. There were no significant associations between mRT and any of the diffusion indices. The findings support the proposition that developmental reductions in IIV reflect maturation of WM connectivity and highlight the importance of considering within-person variability in theories of cognitive development and its neurobiological foundation.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Becoming Consistent: Developmental Reductions in Intraindividual Variability in Reaction Time Are Related to White Matter Integrity

Tamnes

Fjell²,

Westlye³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

180

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We tested for linear effects of mRT on FA, RD, AD, and MD with general linear models (GLM) while regressing out the effects of sex and age, and we tested for effects of sdRT on the four DTI parameters regressing out sex, age, and mRT. The research community has not established a standard for calculating intraindividual trial-to-trial variability, and several approaches exist, including intraindividual SD and intraindividual coefficient of variation (Lövdén et al, 2007). In the present study, intraindividual SD was used.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced White Matter Integrity Is Related to Cognitive Instability

Fjell

Westlye²,

Amlien³

et al. 2011

J. Neurosci.

121

106

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Increased performance variability has been demonstrated in several groups and conditions, including aging and cognitive decline. Structural brain characteristics underlying this phenomenon have so far been elusive. However, there is reason to expect that disconnectivity in associative pathways, whether caused by immature or degraded white matter (WM) tracts, will increase performance variability by neural noise. The aim of this study was to test whether the quality of WM, measured by diffusion tensor imaging, is related to performance variability in healthy adults. Intraindividual standard deviation of the reaction time (sdRT) across trials and median reaction time (mRT) from 270 participants were obtained from a speeded continuous performance task (Eriksen flanker task) with two conditions (congruent, incongruent). Tract-based spatial statistics was used to test the relationship with diffusion characteristics [fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusion (MD), radial diffusion (RD), axial diffusion (AD)]. Robust relationships between sdRT and all diffusion measures were found in most WM areas, independently of mRT, age, and sex. The effects were anatomically more widespread in the congruent than the incongruent condition, covering almost 50% of the voxels for RD and MD, and Ͼ25% of the voxels for FA and AD. Partial betas were in the range 0.45-0.55, and the strength of the relationships increased significantly with age. For mRT, the effects were smaller and unstable across condition. We concluded that performance variability is a likely consequence of individual differences in WM integrity, and that it is a promising behavioral correlate of individual differences in WM microstructure.

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“…Of these, four studies also reported results for change in IIV over time, and were described in the preceding section (Bielak et al, 2010b;de Frias et al, 2012;Lovden et al, 2007;MacDonald et al, 2003).…”

Section: Associations Between Variability and Outcomementioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Associations Between Reaction Time Intraindividual Variability and Age-Related Cognitive Decline or Impairment, Dementia, and Mortality

Haynes

Bauermeister

Bunce

2017

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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Objective: Intraindividual variability (IIV) in reaction time refers to the trial-to-trial fluctuations in responding across a given cognitive task. Cross-sectional research suggests that IIV increases with normal and neuropathological ageing and it may serve as a marker of neurobiological integrity. This raises the possibility that IIV may also predict future cognitive decline and, indeed, neuropathology. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to address these issues. It is well established that adult ageing is characterised behaviourally by increased intraindividual variability in cognitive function. As the present review will show, such variability is not only a feature of normal ageing, but becomes more marked in the presence of neuropathology or impending mortality. It is likely that this widely observed behavioural characteristic of ageing reflects greater neurobiological variability stemming from compromised central nervous system integrity. Given the proposed neurobiological underpinnings of IIV, the aim of the present systematic review, therefore, was to critically evaluate the empirical literature using this marker to predict cognitive change in normal ageing, and also age-related neuropathological outcomes including mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia, Parkinson's disease and, indeed, death. First though, we describe some of the characteristics of this behavioural marker before detailing theoretical and empirical linkage to potential underlying neurobiological variability.

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Within-person trial-to-trial variability precedes and predicts cognitive decline in old and very old age: Longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study

Cited by 168 publications

References 80 publications

Becoming Consistent: Developmental Reductions in Intraindividual Variability in Reaction Time Are Related to White Matter Integrity

Becoming Consistent: Developmental Reductions in Intraindividual Variability in Reaction Time Are Related to White Matter Integrity

Reduced White Matter Integrity Is Related to Cognitive Instability

A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Associations Between Reaction Time Intraindividual Variability and Age-Related Cognitive Decline or Impairment, Dementia, and Mortality

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