The Fate of Cognition in Very Old Age: Six-Year Longitudinal Findings in the Berlin Aging Study (BASE)

The authors report full-information longitudinal age gradients in 4 intellectual abilities on the basis of 6-year longitudinal changes in 132 individuals (mean age at T 1 = 78.27, age range = 70-100) from the Berlin Aging Study. Relative to the cross-sectional parent sample ( N = 516, mean age at T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology and aging 2003-06, Vol.18 (2), p.318-331
Main Authors: Singer, Tania, Verhaeghen, Paul, Ghisletta, Paolo, Lindenberger, Ulman, Baltes, Paul B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult. Elderly
Age Differences
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Aging - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis
Cognition Disorders - epidemiology
Cognitive Ability
Cognitive Processes
Cross-Sectional Studies
Developmental psychology
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gerontology
Human
Humans
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Older Adulthood
Older people
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
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Summary:The authors report full-information longitudinal age gradients in 4 intellectual abilities on the basis of 6-year longitudinal changes in 132 individuals (mean age at T 1 = 78.27, age range = 70-100) from the Berlin Aging Study. Relative to the cross-sectional parent sample ( N = 516, mean age at T 1 = 84.92 years), this sample was positively selected because of differential mortality and experimental attrition. Perceptual speed, memory, and fluency declined with age. In contrast, knowledge remained stable up to age 90, with evidence for decline thereafter. Age gradients were more negative in old old ( n = 66, mean age at T 1 = 83.04) than in old ( n = 66, mean age at T 1 = 73.77) participants. Rates of decline did not differ reliably between men and women or between participants with high versus low life-history status. They conclude that intellectual development after age 70 varies by distance to death, age, and intellectual ability domain.
ISSN:0882-7974
1939-1498
DOI:10.1037/0882-7974.18.2.318