Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2025
Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
Normative Data for a Neuropsychological Test Battery in the French Aging Population: 20-Year Follow-Up From the
Romain Ceresetti1,2, Sébastien Celle1,3, Frédéric Roche1,3
1Department of Clinical Physiology, VISAS Center, University Hospital, Saint-Étienne, France.
Objective:
The study aimed to present relevant norms for the evaluation of pathological aging in the French population over a 20-year period, utilizing the "PROgnostic OF cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events" test and questionnaire.
Methods:
Three neuropsychological evaluations were administered over 20 years with 929 participants at the first cognitive evaluation (62-69 years old), 631 at the second (71-78 years old), and 293 at the third (81-88 years old). The tests and questionnaires were administered in the following order: McNair's Cognitive Complaints Questionnaire, Depression Questionnaire of Pichot, Mini Mental State Examination, Free and Cued Selective Reminding test, Benton Visual Retention Test, Digit-Symbol Substitution Test of the WAIS-III, Trail Making Test, Stroop Test, Verbal Fluency, and the Similarities subtest of the WAIS-III.
Results:
Normative data were presented at three time points of the repeated evaluation over 20 years (62-69 years, 71-78 years, and 81-88 years) and four educational levels (no diploma, primary school certificate, certificate of professional aptitude, and baccalaureate and above). The data showed a significant effect of educational level in all neuropsychological tests regardless of age. Gender primarily affected memory, Stroop scores, and Similarities scores.
Conclusion:
This study highlights the importance of educational level and gender in the evaluation of the memory and executive function of elderly persons. Furthermore, the presented norms consider the self-report cognitive complaints and depression symptoms over a long period of life.
