Evidence of cognitive decline in older adults after remote traumatic brain injury: an exploratory study

Separate bodies of literature indicate that a history of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and natural aging may result in overlapping cognitive profiles, yet little is known about their combined effect. We predicted that a remote TBI would compound normal age-related cognitive decline, particularly af...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 2015-09, Vol.22 (5), p.517-533
Main Authors: Ozen, Lana J., Fernandes, Myra A., Clark, Amanda J., Roy, Eric A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
aging
Aging - psychology
attention
Brain Injuries - complications
Brain Injuries - psychology
Cognition Disorders - etiology
concussion
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Stroop Test
Trail Making Test
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Summary:Separate bodies of literature indicate that a history of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and natural aging may result in overlapping cognitive profiles, yet little is known about their combined effect. We predicted that a remote TBI would compound normal age-related cognitive decline, particularly affecting executive function. Neuropsychological task performance was compared between a group of older adults who sustained a TBI in their distant past (N = 9) and a group of older adults with no history of head injury (N = 15). While all participants scored in the normal range on the Mini-Mental State Examination, the TBI group scored lower than the non-TBI group. Also, in line with predictions, the TBI group made more errors on measures of executive functioning compared to the non-TBI group (the Trail Making B test and the incongruent condition of the Stroop Test), but performed similarly on all tasks with little executive requirements. Findings from this exploratory study indicate that a past TBI may put older adults at a higher risk for exacerbated age-related cognitive decline compared to older adults with no history of TBI.
ISSN:1382-5585
1744-4128
DOI:10.1080/13825585.2014.993584