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Age-Related Decline in Verbal Learning Is Moderated by Demographic Factors, Working Memory Capacity, and Presence of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2014

Fofi Constantinidou ,
Ioannis Zaganas ,
Emmanouil Papastefanakis ,
Dimitrios Kasselimis ,
Andreas Nidos  and
Panagiotis G Simos
Fofi Constantinidou*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Center for Applied Neuroscience, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
Ioannis Zaganas
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, University of Crete, Herakleion, Greece
Emmanouil Papastefanakis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Crete, Rethymnon, Greece
Dimitrios Kasselimis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Crete, Rethymnon, Greece
Andreas Nidos
Affiliation:
Neuropsychology Department, Metropolitan Hospital, Athens, Greece
Panagiotis G Simos
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, University of Crete, Herakleion, Greece
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Fofi Constantinidou, Center for Applied Neuroscience, University of Cyprus, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus. E-mail: fofic@ucy.ac.cy
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Abstract

Age-related memory changes are highly varied and heterogeneous. The study examined the rate of decline in verbal episodic memory as a function of education level, auditory attention span and verbal working memory capacity, and diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI). Data were available on a community sample of 653 adults aged 17–86 years and 70 patients with a-MCI recruited from eight broad geographic areas in Greece and Cyprus. Measures of auditory attention span and working memory capacity (digits forward and backward) and verbal episodic memory (Auditory Verbal Learning Test [AVLT]) were used. Moderated mediation regressions on data from the community sample did not reveal significant effects of education level on the rate of age-related decline in AVLT indices. The presence of a-MCI was a significant moderator of the direct effect of Age on both immediate and delayed episodic memory indices. The rate of age-related decline in verbal episodic memory is normally mediated by working memory capacity. Moreover, in persons who display poor episodic memory capacity (a-MCI group), age-related memory decline is expected to advance more rapidly for those who also display relatively poor verbal working memory capacity. (JINS, 2014, 20, 1–14)

Keywords

Episodic memoryAttention spanDementiaAgingWorking memoryMCI
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 20 , Issue 8 , September 2014 , pp. 822 - 835
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2014 

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