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Childhood intelligence and brain white matter hyperintensities predict fluid intelligence age 78-81 years: a 1921

Sima Salarirad1, Roger T Staff, Helen C Fox

  • 1Biomedical Imaging Centre/Radiology, University of Aberdeen, Lilian Sutton Building Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK. s.salari@abdn.ac.uk

Age and Ageing
|July 14, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Childhood intelligence and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) predict late-life fluid cognitive ability levels but not their change over time. Age influences cognitive trajectory, highlighting factors beyond early cognition and brain health in aging.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Aging
  • Gerontology

Background:

  • Fluid intelligence naturally declines with age.
  • White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are markers of cerebrovascular disease and are associated with cognitive decline.
  • Childhood intelligence is a known predictor of cognitive function in later life.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the predictive roles of childhood intelligence and WMH on the trajectory of fluid intelligence in healthy older adults.
  • To examine how these factors influence both the level and rate of change in cognitive ability from age 78 to 81.

Main Methods:

  • An observational follow-up study involving 106 volunteers born in 1921.
  • Brain MRI was used to measure WMH, and fluid intelligence was assessed using Raven's Progressive Matrices between 1999 and 2002.
  • Latent growth modeling was employed to analyze the data.

Main Results:

  • Childhood intelligence and baseline WMH scores were significantly associated with the level (intercept) of fluid cognitive ability in late adulthood.
  • Neither childhood intelligence nor baseline WMH significantly predicted the rate of change (slope) in fluid intelligence.
  • Age at imaging was associated with the cognitive trajectory (slope), but not the intercept.

Conclusions:

  • Childhood intelligence and WMH contribute to the level of late-life fluid cognitive ability, but not its trajectory.
  • Age itself appears to influence the rate of cognitive change in healthy older adults.
  • The findings underscore the complex interplay of early life factors, brain health, and aging on cognitive trajectories.
Abstract

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