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Age and Verbal Fluency: The Mediating Effect of Speed of Processing

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cognitive decline is a function of normal aging; however, the effect of age on various domains is differential. This study examined the effect of age on verbal fluency and showed how speed of processing modifies fluency performance in healthy older adults compared to younger...

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Autores principales: Elgamal, Safa A., Roy, Eric A., Sharratt, Michael T.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Canadian Geriatrics Society 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3516352/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251316
http://dx.doi.org/10.5770/cgj.v14i3.17
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author Elgamal, Safa A.
Roy, Eric A.
Sharratt, Michael T.
author_facet Elgamal, Safa A.
Roy, Eric A.
Sharratt, Michael T.
author_sort Elgamal, Safa A.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cognitive decline is a function of normal aging; however, the effect of age on various domains is differential. This study examined the effect of age on verbal fluency and showed how speed of processing modifies fluency performance in healthy older adults compared to younger individuals. METHODS: Three age groups, 62 young (17–40 years), 30 middle-aged (41–59 years), and 38 older adults (60–78 years), were studied using the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, National Adult Reading Test, and speed-of-processing composite score. The study examined the effect of age on fluency before and after controlling for processing speed and intelligence quotient. RESULTS: The young group performed better than the older group on category fluency as measured by animal category (p < .001) and on processing speed composite score (p < .001). However, the older group performed better than the young group on the National Adult Reading Test (p < .05) and on letter fluency after controlling for the decline in processing speed (p < .05). Processing speed had a significant effect on both category and letter fluency (p < .01) in older adults. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that aging adversely affects some but not all cognitive domains and that age-related decline in processing speed contributes to age-related changes in fluency.
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spelling pubmed-35163522012-12-18 Age and Verbal Fluency: The Mediating Effect of Speed of Processing Elgamal, Safa A. Roy, Eric A. Sharratt, Michael T. Can Geriatr J Original Research BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cognitive decline is a function of normal aging; however, the effect of age on various domains is differential. This study examined the effect of age on verbal fluency and showed how speed of processing modifies fluency performance in healthy older adults compared to younger individuals. METHODS: Three age groups, 62 young (17–40 years), 30 middle-aged (41–59 years), and 38 older adults (60–78 years), were studied using the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, National Adult Reading Test, and speed-of-processing composite score. The study examined the effect of age on fluency before and after controlling for processing speed and intelligence quotient. RESULTS: The young group performed better than the older group on category fluency as measured by animal category (p < .001) and on processing speed composite score (p < .001). However, the older group performed better than the young group on the National Adult Reading Test (p < .05) and on letter fluency after controlling for the decline in processing speed (p < .05). Processing speed had a significant effect on both category and letter fluency (p < .01) in older adults. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that aging adversely affects some but not all cognitive domains and that age-related decline in processing speed contributes to age-related changes in fluency. Canadian Geriatrics Society 2011-11-11 /pmc/articles/PMC3516352/ /pubmed/23251316 http://dx.doi.org/10.5770/cgj.v14i3.17 Text en © 2011 Author(s). Published by the Canadian Geriatrics Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivative license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use and distribution, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Elgamal, Safa A.
Roy, Eric A.
Sharratt, Michael T.
Age and Verbal Fluency: The Mediating Effect of Speed of Processing
title Age and Verbal Fluency: The Mediating Effect of Speed of Processing
title_full Age and Verbal Fluency: The Mediating Effect of Speed of Processing
title_fullStr Age and Verbal Fluency: The Mediating Effect of Speed of Processing
title_full_unstemmed Age and Verbal Fluency: The Mediating Effect of Speed of Processing
title_short Age and Verbal Fluency: The Mediating Effect of Speed of Processing
title_sort age and verbal fluency: the mediating effect of speed of processing
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3516352/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251316
http://dx.doi.org/10.5770/cgj.v14i3.17
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