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Updated: May 4, 2026
Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Lifetime affect and midlife cognitive function: prospective birth cohort study
M Richards1, J H Barnett, M K Xu
1M. Richards, PhD, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London; J. H. Barnett, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and Cambridge Cognition Ltd, Cambridge; M. K. Xu, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge; T. J. Croudace, PhD, Department of Health Sciences and Hull York Medical School, University of York, York; D. Gaysina, PhD, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer; D. Kuh, PhD, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London; P. B. Jones, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and the MRC National Survey of Health and Development scientific and data collection team.
Background:
Recurrent affective problems are predictive of cognitive impairment, but the timing and directionality, and the nature of the cognitive impairment, are unclear.
Aims:
To test prospective associations between life-course affective symptoms and cognitive function in late middle age.
Method:
A total of 1668 men and women were drawn from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (the British 1946 birth cohort). Longitudinal affective symptoms spanning age 13-53 years served as predictors; outcomes consisted of self-reported memory problems at 60-64 years and decline in memory and information processing from age 53 to 60-64 years.
Results:
Regression analyses revealed no clear pattern of association between longitudinal affective symptoms and decline in cognitive test scores, after adjusting for gender, childhood cognitive ability, education and midlife socioeconomic status. In contrast, affective symptoms were strongly, diffusely and independently associated with self-reported memory problems.
Conclusions:
Affective symptoms are more clearly associated with self-reported memory problems in late midlife than with objectively measured cognitive performance.
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