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Cognitive Diversity in a Healthy Aging Cohort: Cross-Domain Cognition in the Cam-CAN Project.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Henson, Richard N 
Matthews, Fiona E 
Taylor, Jason R 
Emery, Tina 

Abstract

Objective: Studies of "healthy" cognitive aging often focus on a limited set of measures that decline with age. The current study argues that defining and supporting healthy cognition requires understanding diverse cognitive performance across the lifespan. Method: Data from the Cambridge Centre for Aging and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) cohort was examined across a range of cognitive domains. Performance was related to lifestyle including education, social engagement, and enrichment activities. Results: Results indicate variable relationships between cognition and age (positive, negative, or no relationship). Principal components analysis indicated maintained cognitive diversity across the adult lifespan, and that cognition-lifestyle relationships differed by age and domain. Discussion: Our findings support a view of normal cognitive aging as a lifelong developmental process with diverse relationships between cognition, lifestyle, and age. This reinforces the need for large-scale studies of cognitive aging to include a wider range of both ages and cognitive tasks.

Description

Keywords

cognitive function, cognitive reserve, healthy aging, lifestyle, principal components analysis, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cognition, Cognitive Aging, Cohort Studies, Educational Status, Female, Health Status, Healthy Aging, Humans, Life Style, Longevity, Male, Middle Aged, Social Participation, Young Adult

Journal Title

J Aging Health

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0898-2643
1552-6887

Volume Title

32

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (103838/Z/14/Z)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/H008217/1)
MRC (unknown)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00005/8)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00005/4)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00005/6)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00005/12)
The Cambridge Centre for Aging and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) research was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (grant number BB/H008217/1).