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Development and Dissolution of Memory and Executive Function Across the Life Span: Cognition from 5 to 90. Hasker P. Davis 1 , Tim Curran 2 , and Frederick Keller 1 University of Colorado at Colorado Springs 1 and Boulder 2. Empirical Findings Verbal Memory
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Development and Dissolution of Memory and Executive Function Across the Life Span: Cognition from 5 to 90. Hasker P. Davis1, Tim Curran2, and Frederick Keller1 University of Colorado at Colorado Springs1 and Boulder2
Empirical Findings • Verbal Memory • Rate of Forgetting for Verbal Information • Extent of Deficit for Verbal Memory • Visuo-Spatial Memory • Frontal Lobe Functioning Changes With Age • Theoretical Relationship Based on Neuropsychological Tests Between Frontal Lobe Functioning and Performance on Verbal Recall • Reduction of Cognitive Deficits • Tower of Hanoi Task • Object Recognition Task • Normal Performance on a Perceptual Skill by Elderly, Alzheimer’s Patients, and Amnesic Patients with MRI verified Hippocampal Damage
Conclusions: Verbal and Visuo-spatial Acquisition and Forgetting • Age effect on level of acquisition for verbal and visuo-spatial material. • No forgetting for any age group for visuo-spatial task. • Greater forgetting for youngest and oldest groups on verbal material. • Forgetting not a function of level of acquisition. Match on acquisition and age effect remains for verbal material. • Match task on forgetting. Greater forgetting for verbal material.
Tests of Frontal Lobe Functioning • Tower of London • Stroop Color-Word Interference • Wisconsin Card Sort Test
RED BLUE GREEN YELLOW RED BLUE GREEN YELLOW RED BLUE GREEN YELLOW
Relationships Between Recall and Frontal Lobe Functioning • Frontal Lobe tests deficits as early as 40s. • 2. Age effects on declarative tests by 50s. • Are there relationships between declarative memory and frontal lobe functioning. Detected small to moderate correlations for domains of recall, frontal , aging, and IQ. Moderate for stroop, recall delay, and aging. • Examine variables in covariate structural equation model.
Model Comparisons ______________________________________________________ ______________ Full Model Mediation Model____ Age Frontal .52(.05) .52(.05) Age Recall .55(.47) --------- Frontal Recall -1.81(.91) -.83(.12) DF 12 13 X2 statistic 26.54 29.96 p-value .009 .005 GFI .953 .946 AGFI .890 .884 RMSR .067 .070
Reduction of Memory Deficits • Tower of Hanoi Performance and Deficit Reduction in the Elderly. • Reduction of Age-related Object Recognition Deficits.
Conclusions • Elderly are impaired on verbal recall, there is increased age-related decline with increased delay, and age-associated memory impairment affects over 50% of the elderly. • Elderly are impaired on visuo-spatial memory. There is no age related forgetting over a 20 minute delay • There is an age-related relationship between forgetting of verbal material (temporal lobe function) and frontal lobe functioning. • Elderly deficit on the Tower of Hanoi is ameliorated with probes. • Amelioration of Elderly’s Deficit on Object Recognition occurs with enhanced contrast.