Change in object naming ability during adulthood
Lisa Tabor Connor1, Avron Spiro, Loraine K Obler
1Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Box 8225, 4525 Scott Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. lconnor@npg.wustl.edu
Summary
Lexical retrieval, or word finding, declines with age, with women having less education showing the poorest performance. Longitudinal analysis provides more accurate insights into age-related changes than cross-sectional studies.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Lexical retrieval is crucial for effective communication.
- Understanding age-related changes in word finding is important for cognitive health.
- Previous studies have yielded mixed results on aging and lexical retrieval.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine age, gender, and education effects on lexical retrieval using longitudinal data.
- To compare random-effects longitudinal models with traditional cross-sectional models.
- To identify interactions between age, gender, and education in word-finding abilities.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 20-year longitudinal data from the Boston Naming Test (BNT) on healthy adults (30-94 years).
- Employed random-effects longitudinal modeling.
- Compared longitudinal findings with cross-sectional analyses.
Main Results:
- Significant linear and quadratic age-related decline in lexical retrieval was observed.
- A significant Gender x Education interaction indicated that women with less education performed poorest.
- Longitudinal models revealed smaller age-related changes compared to cross-sectional models.
Conclusions:
- Lexical retrieval undergoes significant age-related changes, characterized by both linear and quadratic declines.
- Socioeconomic factors like education interact with gender, impacting word-finding abilities.
- Random-effects longitudinal modeling offers a more accurate representation of cognitive aging than cross-sectional designs.
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