Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Is terminal drop pervasive or specific?

N White1, W R Cunningham

  • 1Youngstown State University, Ohio.

Journal of Gerontology
|November 1, 1988
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Evidence for the Collective Nature of Radial Flow in Pb+Pb Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

Physical review letters·2026
Same author

Efficacy, safety, and tolerability of arbaclofen in Autistic children and adolescents, the AIMS-2-TRIALS-CT1: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II trial.

EClinicalMedicine·2026
Same author

Evidence for the Dimuon Decay of the Higgs Boson in pp Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

Physical review letters·2025
Same author

Evidence for Longitudinally Polarized W Bosons in the Electroweak Production of Same-Sign W Boson Pairs in Association with Two Jets in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV with the ATLAS Detector.

Physical review letters·2025
Same author

A Validation Study of the Paediatric Non-Urgent Risk Assessment Management and Nurse Escort Assessment (PaNURAMA) Tool for Paediatric Inter-Hospital Transfers.

Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA·2025
Same author

Weathering the Storm: The Impact of Weather Events, Lockdowns and Holidays on Oncology and General Emergency Presentations to a United Kingdom Tertiary Centre-A 7.5-year Review.

Clinical oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain))·2025
Same journal

Shakespeare's attitude towards old age.

Journal of gerontology·2010
Same journal

Involution of tissues in fetal life; a review.

Journal of gerontology·2010
Same journal

Attitudes toward aging and the aged; primitive societies.

Journal of gerontology·2010
Same journal

Budgeting for social security.

Journal of gerontology·2010
Same journal

The Hodson Community Center; an experiment in preservation of personality.

Journal of gerontology·2010
Same journal

Prolongation of life with prevention of leukemia by thymectomy in mice.

Journal of gerontology·2010
See all related articles

The terminal drop hypothesis suggests cognitive decline before death. This study found that only vocabulary scores in individuals aged 70 or younger, within two years of death, showed this decline.

Area of Science:

  • Gerontology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • The terminal drop hypothesis posits a cognitive decline preceding death, though its scope (pervasive vs. specific abilities) is debated.
  • Previous research has not definitively established the timeframe or specific cognitive domains affected by terminal drop.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between proximity to death and cognitive functioning in specific domains.
  • To examine whether cognitive decline before death is pervasive or limited to certain abilities.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed vocabulary, numerical facility, and perceptual speed in 97 deceased subjects within seven years of death.
  • Compared cognitive performance based on age at death and time since testing.
  • Conducted a secondary analysis comparing deceased subjects with a matched living control group.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Vocabulary scores were significantly affected by terminal drop only in subjects aged 70 or less and within two years of death.
  • Numerical facility and perceptual speed did not show significant changes related to proximity to death.
  • A trend consistent with terminal drop was observed, but comparisons with living controls were largely nonsignificant.

Conclusions:

  • The terminal drop phenomenon may be restricted to specific cognitive abilities, particularly verbal skills like vocabulary, which are typically stable with age.
  • The temporal window for observable terminal drop may be much shorter than previously proposed, potentially occurring only within the final two years of life.
  • Further research is needed to clarify the specific cognitive domains and timeframes associated with terminal decline.