Subjective age and multiple cognitive domains in two longitudinal samples.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Gerontology

Background:

• Subjective age, or how old one feels, is linked to cognitive health in older adults.
• Previous research shows a general association between subjective age and cognitive function.
• The prospective relationship with specific cognitive domains requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the prospective relationship between subjective age and specific cognitive domains.
• To determine if feeling older is associated with declines in episodic memory, speed-attention-executive function, verbal fluency, and numeric reasoning.
• To assess the long-term impact of subjective age on cognitive performance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS).
• Assessed subjective age, depressive symptoms, chronic conditions, and demographics at baseline.
• Measured four cognitive domains (episodic memory, speed-attention-executive, verbal fluency, numeric reasoning) and visuospatial ability (HRS only) 8-20 years later.

Main Results:

• Older subjective age predicted worse performance in episodic memory and speed-attention-executive functions in both samples.
• Associations were robust, with effect sizes ranging from d=0.14 to d=0.33.
• Feeling older also correlated with lower verbal fluency and visuospatial ability in specific samples, but not numeric reasoning.

Conclusions:

• Subjective age is a significant prospective predictor of cognitive performance across multiple domains.
• The link between subjective age and episodic memory and speed-attention-executive functions is consistent and durable over two decades.
• These findings highlight the importance of subjective age in understanding cognitive aging trajectories.