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Number skills are maintained in healthy ageing
Marinella Cappelletti1, Daniele Didino2, Ivilin Stoianov3
1UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK; Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross London, SE14 6NW, UK.
Cognitive Psychology
|January 16, 2014
Summary
Healthy aging preserves numeracy, but impairs number acuity due to reduced inhibitory processes. This study clarifies how cognitive aging affects numerical skills, particularly in older adults.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Psychology
Background:
- Numerical skills are crucial but their changes during healthy aging remain unclear.
- Aging may affect number processing directly or indirectly via auxiliary cognitive functions.
- Investigating age-related changes in numerical cognition is essential for understanding cognitive health in later life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if healthy aging impacts numerical skills, specifically numerosity discrimination and arithmetic.
- To differentiate between direct effects on number processing and indirect effects from other cognitive declines.
- To explore the role of inhibitory processes in age-related changes in numerical tasks.
Main Methods:
- Compared 30 older and 30 younger adults on numerosity discrimination and arithmetic tasks.
- Assessed inhibitory processes using standard cognitive tests.
- Utilized a neuro-computational model to simulate performance patterns.
Main Results:
- Older adults showed preserved accuracy in arithmetic tasks.
- Numerosity discrimination, or number acuity, was impaired in older adults.
- The impairment in numerosity discrimination was linked to difficulties with inhibition and correlated with poor performance on inhibitory control tests.
Conclusions:
- Numeracy appears resilient to healthy aging.
- Impaired numerosity discrimination in older adults is likely due to declines in inhibitory control, not core numerical processing.
- Findings support the 'Inhibitory Deficit' Theory of cognitive aging.
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