Correlates of daily memory lapses in older adults: results from an intensive-longitudinal study

Research on cognitive aging has long been interested in the experience of cognitive lapses in older adults, as they may signify current or future cognitive decline. This study examined correlates of daily memory lapses in older adults, including cognitive performance, activities, health symptoms, and age awareness.

Data came from 142 community-dwelling participants (ages 60-90), who completed daily online assessments of activities, experiences of memory lapses, health symptoms, age perceptions, and 4 cognitive tests for up to 7 days.

Multilevel logistic regression showed that within-person fluctuations in cognitive performance were not associated with the likelihood of experiencing a memory lapse on a given day. At the between-person level, participants with higher cognitive throughput (better performance) than others reported fewer lapses total and fewer retrospective lapses. Participants who reported more frequent experiences of age awareness reported more lapses of any type. Participants who reported more frequent health symptoms reported more prospective lapses. Activity engagement was largely unrelated to memory lapses, with the exception that those who engaged more frequently in games reported fewer retrospective lapses.

Daily memory lapses in older adults are primarily related to between-person differences in cognitive performance, health, and age awareness, rather than short-term daily fluctuations. These findings suggest that stable individual differences, rather than day-to-day changes, are most predictive of daily memory lapses. Day-to-day variations in memory lapses may instead be influenced by factors not captured in the present study, such as fatigue, stress, distraction, or mood.