Creativity across the lifespan: changes with age and with dementia.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Cognitive functioning often declines with age.
• The impact of aging and dementia on creativity is less understood.
• This study investigates creativity changes across different age groups and cognitive statuses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine psychometric aspects of creativity in younger adults, older adults without cognitive impairment, and older adults with dementia.
• To identify how aging and cognitive status influence specific creativity domains.

Main Methods:

• Compared creativity and cognitive performance in three groups: young adults (18-30), older adults (65+), and older adults with cognitive impairment.
• Assessed cognitive abilities using Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCa), and Trail Making Test (TMT).
• Evaluated creativity using Creative Reasoning Task (CRT), Test of Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP), and Alternate Uses Task (AUT).

Main Results:

• Older adults showed significantly lower scores than younger adults in only two creativity sub-scores (CRT, TCT-DP).
• Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) performance correlated with these two sub-scores and age.
• Cognitively impaired older adults scored lower on the Alternate Uses Task (AUT) compared to other groups; MoCa scores correlated with AUT.

Conclusions:

• Creativity is generally stable in older age, except for aspects reliant on abstract reasoning (SPM), which are susceptible to aging.
• Cognitive impairment may affect only certain creativity facets in older adults.
• Age-related and cognitive status-related effects on creativity appear independent, suggesting preserved creative abilities can be utilized in dementia care.