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Are processing speed tasks biomarkers of cognitive aging?
Ian J Deary1, Wendy Johnson, John M Starr
1Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, Scotland, United Kingdom. I.Deary@ed.ac.uk
Psychology and Aging
|March 17, 2010
Summary
Most processing speed measures in older adults heavily rely on childhood cognitive ability. Inspection time, however, shows potential as a biomarker for cognitive aging.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Processing speed is a key cognitive function that declines with age.
- Understanding the relationship between processing speed and general cognitive ability is crucial for identifying biomarkers of cognitive aging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between various processing speed measures and general cognitive ability in older adults.
- To determine if processing speed tasks can serve as biomarkers of cognitive aging by examining their stability over time.
- To identify which processing speed measures are least dependent on early-life cognitive ability.
Main Methods:
- A large sample of over 900 healthy older adults (age 70) participated.
- Five processing speed tests were administered: Wechsler Digit Symbol-Coding, Symbol Search, simple reaction time, 4-choice reaction time, and inspection time.
- Associations between processing speed and general cognitive ability at age 70 were compared with cognitive ability measured at age 11.
Main Results:
- Most processing speed measures showed substantial attenuation in their association with cognitive ability at age 70 after adjusting for childhood cognitive ability.
- Inspection time was the only measure where the correlation with cognitive ability at age 70 was significantly stronger than the correlation at age 11.
- Individual differences in common processing speed measures are largely influenced by childhood cognitive ability, with a small variance attributable to aging.
Conclusions:
- Commonly used processing speed measures are significantly influenced by early-life cognitive ability.
- Inspection time demonstrates the least dependence on childhood intelligence and warrants further investigation as a potential biomarker for cognitive aging.
- Further research on inspection time could provide valuable insights into the aging process of cognition.
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