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Processing speed and executive functions in cognitive aging: how to disentangle their mutual relationship?
Cédric T Albinet1, Geoffroy Boucard, Cédric A Bouquet
1CeRCA (CNRS - UMR 6234), Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Poitiers, France. cedric.albinet@univ-poitiers.fr
Brain and Cognition
|March 6, 2012
Summary
Cognitive aging research shows processing speed and executive functions are linked but distinct. Age impacts processing speed more than executive functions, suggesting theories aren't mutually exclusive.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Competing theories explain cognitive aging: processing-speed theory and prefrontal-executive theory.
- Understanding the interplay between processing speed and executive functions is crucial for aging research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between measures of processing speed and executive functions (EF) in young and older adults.
- To determine how chronological age independently affects processing speed and EF components.
- To test the mutual exclusivity of processing-speed and prefrontal-executive theories of cognitive aging.
Main Methods:
- Employed a framework to assess three EF components (Inhibition, Updating, Shifting) using nine neuropsychological and experimental tasks.
- Evaluated information processing speed using three experimental and psychometric tests.
- Utilized partial correlations and hierarchical regression analyses on data from 28 young and 39 older adults.
Main Results:
- 2-Choice Reaction Time (CRT) was a purer measure of processing speed than Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) in older adults.
- Processing speed and EF components share variance but are independently affected by age.
- Age had a greater unique adverse effect on processing speed compared to EF.
Conclusions:
- Processing-speed and prefrontal-executive theories of cognitive aging are not mutually exclusive and share variance.
- It is necessary to control for the relationship between processing speed and EF when studying age-related cognitive decline.
- Care must be taken when selecting tasks to evaluate these theoretical constructs in aging research.
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