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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Deficits in controlled processing may predict dementia
— a twin study | | Author(s) | Ross Andel, Margaret Gatz, Nancy L Pedersen |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 56B, no 6, November 2001 |
| Pages | pp P347-P355 |
| Keywords | Cognitive processes ; Cognitive impairment ; Dementia ; Twins ; Sweden. |
| Annotation | 33 pairs of twins from the Swedish Twin Study were tested for differential patterns of cognitive decline. Compared with non-demented twin partners, those who later developed dementia already showed poorer performance on tests of memory and attention, visuo-spatial reasoning skills, and perceptual speed and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). It is suggested that this cluster of tests reflects deficits in controlled rather than automatic cognitive processes. Non-demented twin partners of the twins who became demented were also compared with 33 matched controls selected from pairs in which both members remained non-demented. Non-demented twin partners scored lower than matched controls on tests of verbal ability, memory and attention, and perceptual speed and the MMSE. This finding indicates that non-demented twin partners of demented twins are at elevated risk themselves of becoming demented, and further suggests that certain areas of cognition are compromised prior to diagnosis of dementia. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020107211 A |
| Classmark | DA: E4: EA: SVR: 76P |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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