TY - JOUR
T1 - Working memory in older adults declines with age, but is modulated by sex and education
AU - Pliatsikas, Christos
AU - Veríssimo, João
AU - Babcock, Laura
AU - Pullman, Mariel Y.
AU - Glei, Dana A.
AU - Weinstein, Maxine
AU - Goldman, Noreen
AU - Ullman, Michael T.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NIH R01 AG016790 (Princeton University; subcontract to Michael Ullman), NIH R01 AG016661 (Georgetown University), NIH R01 AG016661 (Georgetown University), The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Georgetown University, and a Franklin Grant awarded by the American Philosophical Society to Christos Pliatsikas.
Publisher Copyright:
© Experimental Psychology Society 2018.
PY - 2019/6/1
Y1 - 2019/6/1
N2 - Working memory (WM), which underlies the temporary storage and manipulation of information, is critical for multiple aspects of cognition and everyday life. Nevertheless, research examining WM specifically in older adults remains limited, despite the global rapid increase in human life expectancy. We examined WM in a large sample (N = 754) of healthy older adults (aged 58-89) in a non-Western population (Chinese speakers) in Taiwan, on a digit n-back task. We tested not only the influence of age itself and of load (1-back vs. 2-back) but also the effects of both sex and education, which have been shown to modulate WM abilities. Mixed-effects regression revealed that, within older adulthood, age negatively impacted WM abilities (with linear, not nonlinear, effects), as did load (worse performance at 2-back). In contrast, education level was positively associated with WM. Moreover, both age and education interacted with sex. With increasing age, males showed a steeper WM decline than females; with increasing education, females showed greater WM gains than males. Together with other findings, the evidence suggests that age, sex, and education all impact WM in older adults, but interact in particular ways. The results have both basic research and translational implications and are consistent with particular benefits from increased education for women.
AB - Working memory (WM), which underlies the temporary storage and manipulation of information, is critical for multiple aspects of cognition and everyday life. Nevertheless, research examining WM specifically in older adults remains limited, despite the global rapid increase in human life expectancy. We examined WM in a large sample (N = 754) of healthy older adults (aged 58-89) in a non-Western population (Chinese speakers) in Taiwan, on a digit n-back task. We tested not only the influence of age itself and of load (1-back vs. 2-back) but also the effects of both sex and education, which have been shown to modulate WM abilities. Mixed-effects regression revealed that, within older adulthood, age negatively impacted WM abilities (with linear, not nonlinear, effects), as did load (worse performance at 2-back). In contrast, education level was positively associated with WM. Moreover, both age and education interacted with sex. With increasing age, males showed a steeper WM decline than females; with increasing education, females showed greater WM gains than males. Together with other findings, the evidence suggests that age, sex, and education all impact WM in older adults, but interact in particular ways. The results have both basic research and translational implications and are consistent with particular benefits from increased education for women.
KW - Ageing
KW - education
KW - n back
KW - sex differences
KW - working memory
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U2 - 10.1177/1747021818791994
DO - 10.1177/1747021818791994
M3 - Article
C2 - 30012055
AN - SCOPUS:85055148857
SN - 1747-0218
VL - 72
SP - 1308
EP - 1327
JO - Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
JF - Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
IS - 6
ER -