Cognitive function in 70-year-old men and women. A 16-year cohort difference population study

Cohort differences in cognitive functioning were studied in two 70-year-old samples born 16 years apart, 1906/07 and 1922, and living in Göteborg, Sweden. Psychometric tests measuring verbal ability, inductive reasoning, spatial ability, perceptual speed, secondary memory, and primary memory were used. All tests showed significantly better results in the latter 70-year-old cohort. Longer education and better living conditions in this cohort help to explain the results. Differences in somatic health could not explain the cognitive differences in this population. If biological age is defined as inversely related to the remainder of an individual's life span, the increasing life expectancy also means that the 70-year olds in 1992 are biologically younger than their 1976/77 counterparts.