Biomaterial Database

Within-person trial-to-trial variability precedes and predicts cognitive decline in old and very old age: longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study. 2007

Martin Lövdén, and Shu-Chen Li, and Yee Lee Shing, and Ulman Lindenberger

Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallée 94, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. loevden@mpib-berlin.mpg.de

Neurocomputational modeling and empirical evidence suggest that losses in neuronal signaling fidelity cause senescent changes in behavior. We applied structural equation modeling to five-occasion 13-year longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study (n=447; age range at t1=70-102 years) to test whether trial-to-trial reaction time variability in perceptual speed (identical pictures) antecedes and signals longitudinal decline in levels of performance on perceptual speed (digit letter and identical pictures) and ideational fluency (category fluency). Higher trial-to-trial variability preceded and predicted greater cognitive decline in perceptual speed and ideational fluency. We conclude that trial-to-trial variability signals impending decline in cognitive performance, and that theories of neurocognitive aging need to postulate developmental cascades between senescent changes in variability and central tendency.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008137	Longitudinal Studies	Studies in which variables relating to an individual or group of individuals are assessed over a period of time.	Bogalusa Heart Study,California Teachers Study,Framingham Heart Study,Jackson Heart Study,Longitudinal Survey,Tuskegee Syphilis Study,Bogalusa Heart Studies,California Teachers Studies,Framingham Heart Studies,Heart Studies, Bogalusa,Heart Studies, Framingham,Heart Studies, Jackson,Heart Study, Bogalusa,Heart Study, Framingham,Heart Study, Jackson,Jackson Heart Studies,Longitudinal Study,Longitudinal Surveys,Studies, Bogalusa Heart,Studies, California Teachers,Studies, Jackson Heart,Studies, Longitudinal,Study, Bogalusa Heart,Study, California Teachers,Study, Longitudinal,Survey, Longitudinal,Surveys, Longitudinal,Syphilis Studies, Tuskegee,Syphilis Study, Tuskegee,Teachers Studies, California,Teachers Study, California,Tuskegee Syphilis Studies
D008297	Male		Males
D011237	Predictive Value of Tests	In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.	Negative Predictive Value,Positive Predictive Value,Predictive Value Of Test,Predictive Values Of Tests,Negative Predictive Values,Positive Predictive Values,Predictive Value, Negative,Predictive Value, Positive
D003071	Cognition	Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge.	Cognitive Function,Cognitions,Cognitive Functions,Function, Cognitive,Functions, Cognitive
D003072	Cognition Disorders	Disorders characterized by disturbances in mental processes related to learning, thinking, reasoning, and judgment.	Overinclusion,Disorder, Cognition,Disorders, Cognition
D003704	Dementia	An acquired organic mental disorder with loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning. The dysfunction is multifaceted and involves memory, behavior, personality, judgment, attention, spatial relations, language, abstract thought, and other executive functions. The intellectual decline is usually progressive, and initially spares the level of consciousness.	Senile Paranoid Dementia,Amentia,Familial Dementia,Amentias,Dementia, Familial,Dementias,Dementias, Familial,Dementias, Senile Paranoid,Familial Dementias,Paranoid Dementia, Senile,Paranoid Dementias, Senile,Senile Paranoid Dementias
D005260	Female		Females
D005858	Germany	A country in central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark. The capital is Berlin.
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368	Aged	A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available.	Elderly