Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T05:04:06.327Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The “SuperAgers” construct in clinical practice: neuropsychological assessment of illiterate and educated elderly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2019

Everton Balduino Open the ORCID record for Everton Balduino [Opens in a new window] ,
Brian Alvarez Ribeiro de Melo Open the ORCID record for Brian Alvarez Ribeiro de Melo [Opens in a new window] ,
Larissa de Sousa Mota da Silva Open the ORCID record for Larissa de Sousa Mota da Silva [Opens in a new window] ,
José Eduardo Martinelli Open the ORCID record for José Eduardo Martinelli [Opens in a new window]  and
Juliana Francisca Cecato Open the ORCID record for Juliana Francisca Cecato [Opens in a new window]
Everton Balduino
Affiliation:
Geriatrics Division, Faculty of Medicine of Jundiaí, Jundiaí, Brazil
Brian Alvarez Ribeiro de Melo
Affiliation:
State University of Maringá, Maringá, Brazil
Larissa de Sousa Mota da Silva
Affiliation:
Geriatrics Division, Faculty of Medicine of Jundiaí, Jundiaí, Brazil
José Eduardo Martinelli
Affiliation:
Geriatrics Division, Faculty of Medicine of Jundiaí, Jundiaí, Brazil
Juliana Francisca Cecato*
Affiliation:
Geriatrics Division, Faculty of Medicine of Jundiaí, Jundiaí, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Juliana Francisca Cecato, Geriatrics Division, Faculty of Medicine of Jundiaí, Prudente de Moraes St., 111, 13201-004, Jundiaí, Brazil. Phone/Fax: +55 11 4587 9161. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction:

The demographic transition is a global event intensified during the last decades that represents population aging. Thus, the studies directed to the elderly 80 years of age or more with preserved cognitive functions (named SuperAgers) emerges as a possible path to full comprehension of the health of those aging with acceptable levels of functionality and independency.

Objective:

To evaluate the cognitive performance of the elderly over 80 years old, associating the results to their educational level.

Method:

We evaluated 144 healthy elders with 80 years or more through the following cognitive tests Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG), Clock Drawing Test (CDT), and Verbal Fluency Test (VF) and compared the tests’ scores with their educational level segmented in years of formal education, being the groups ILLITR (<1 year of schooling), 1TO4 (from 1 to 4 years of schooling), and 5MORE (>5 years of schooling).

Results:

There was positive influence of educational level on the cognitive tests’ score, which indicates higher cognitive reserve of the elderly with higher educational levels.

Conclusion:

The functionality and independence of the so-called SuperAgers is determined by the cognitive reserve acquired throughout life, mainly developed by the years of formal education.

Keywords

SuperAgerscognitive reserveeducational levelschooling yearscognitionilliteracyelderly
Type
Original Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 32 , Issue 2: Issue Theme: Psychological Promoters of Well-Being in Older Adults , February 2020 , pp. 191 - 198
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Aprahamian, I., Martinelli, J.E., Cecato, J., Izbicki, R. and Yassuda, M. S. (2011b). Can the CAMCOG be a good cognitive test for patients with Alzheimer’s disease with low levels of education? International Psychogeriatrics, 23, 96–101. doi: 10.1017/S104161021000116X.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aprahamian, I., Martinelli, J. E., Cecato, J. and Yassuda, M. S. (2011a). Screening for Alzheimer’s Disease among illiterate elderly: accuracy analysis for multiple instruments. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 26, 221–229. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2011-110125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ardila, A. et al. (2010). Illiteracy: the neuropsychology of cognition without reading. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 25, 689–712. doi: 10.1093/arclin/acq079.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barulli, D. and Stern, Y. (2013). Efficiency, capacity, compensation, maintenance, plasticity: emerging concepts in cognitive reserve. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17, 502–509. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2013.08.012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bessi, V. et al. (2018). From subjective cognitive decline to Alzheimer’s Disease: the predictive role of neuropsychological assessment, personality traits, and cognitive reserve. A 7-year follow-up study. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 63, 1523–1535. doi: 10.3233/JAD-171180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bottino, C. M. et al. (2008). Estimate of dementia prevalence in a community sample from São Paulo, Brazil. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 26, 291–299. doi: 10.1159/000161053.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brito, T. R. P., Nunes, D. P., Duarte, Y. A. O. and Lebrão, M. L. (2018). Social network and older people’s functionality: health, well-being, and aging (SABE) study evidences. Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, 21(Suppl. 2), e180003. doi: 10.1590/1980-549720180003.supl.2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brucki, S. M. D. and Nitrini, R. (2008). Cancellation task in very low educated people. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 23, 139–147. doi: 10.1016/j.acn.2007.11.003.Google ScholarPubMed
Brucki, S. M. D., Nitrini, R., Caramelli, P., Bertolucci, P. H. F. and Okamoto, I. H. (2003). Sugestões para o uso do mini-exame do estado mental no Brasil. Arquivos de Neuropsiquiatria, 61, 777–781. doi: 10.1590/S0004-282X2003000500014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Causse, M., Peysakhovich, V. and Fabre, E. F. (2016). High working memory load impairs language processing during a simulated piloting task: an ERP and pupillometry study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 240. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chapko, D., Sandu, A. L., McNeil, C. and Murray, A. (2017). Early brain development and cognitive ageing - A global challenge. Neuro Central, published online June 12th, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2018, from https://www.neuro-central.com/2017/06/12/early-brain-development-cognitive-aging-global-challenge/.Google Scholar
Core Team, R.C.T.R. (2013). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Foundation for statistical computing.Google Scholar
Craik, F. I. and Bialystok, E. (2006). Cognition through the lifespan: mechanisms of change. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 10, 131–138. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.01.007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dekhtyar, S., Wang, H. X., Fratiglioni, L. and Herlitz, A. (2016). Childhood school performance, education and occupational complexity: a life-course study of dementia in the Kungsholmen Project. International Journal of Epidemiology, 45, 1207–1215. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw008.Google ScholarPubMed
Elkana, O., Soffer, S., Eisikovits, O. R., Oren, N., Bezalel, V., and Ash, E. L. (2019). WAIS Information Subtest as an indicator of crystallized cognitive abilities and brain reserve among highly educated older adults: a three-year longitudinal study. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 1–7. doi: 10.1080/23279095.2019.1575219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. and McHugh, P. R. (1975). Mini mental state. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garibotto, V. et al. (2008). Education and occupation as proxies for reserve in aMCI converters and AD FDG-PET evidence. Neurology, 71, 1342–1349. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000327670.62378.c0.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gu, L. et al. (2018). Cognitive reserve modulates attention processes in healthy elderly and amnestic mild cognitive impairment: an event-related potential study. Clinical Neurophysiology, 129, 198–207. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2017.10.030.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE]. (2013). Projeção da população do Brasil por sexo e idade: 2000-2060. Retrieved September 5, 2018, from Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE], https://ww2.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/projecao_da_populacao/2013/default_tab.shtm.Google Scholar
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE]. (2015). Mudança Demográfica no Brasil no Início do Século XXI: subsídios para as projeções da população. Retrieved September 5, 2018, from Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE], https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/index.php/biblioteca-catalogo?viewdetalhes&id293322.Google Scholar
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE] (2017). Diretoria de Pesquisas, Coordenação de Trabalho e Rendimento, Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios Contínua (PNAD) 2016-2017. Retrieved April 16, 2019, from https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisticas/sociais/educacao/17270-pnad-continua.html?edicao21073&tpublicacoes.Google Scholar
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE] (2019). IBGE, em parceria com os Órgãos Estaduais de Estatística, Secretarias Estaduais de Governo e Superintendência da Zona Franca de Manaus ‐ SUFRAMA. Retrieved April 22, 2019, from Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE], https://cidades.ibge.gov.br/brasil/sp/jundiai/pesquisa/38/46996?tipo=ranking&indicador=47001.Google Scholar
Johnson, R. A. and Wichern, D. W. (2002). Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis (Vol. 5, No. 8). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Kemppainen, N. M. et al. (2008). Cognitive reserve hypothesis: Pittsburgh compound B and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in relation to education in mild Alzheimer’s disease. Annals of Neurology, 63, 112–118. doi: 10.1002/ana.21212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kremen, W. S. et al. (2019). Influence of young adult cognitive ability and additional education on later-life cognition. PNAS, 116, 2021–2026. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1811537116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumar, S. et al. (2017). Extent of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plasticity and its association with working memory in patients with Alzheimer disease. JAMA Psychiatry, 74, 1266–1274. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.3292.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Livingston, G. et al. (2017). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care. The Lancet, 390, 2673–2734. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(17)31363-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsuda, O., Saito, M., Kato, M., Azami, H. and Shido, E. (2015). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III profile in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease: performance in subtests sensitive to and resistant to normal decline with ageing. Psychogeriatrics, 15, 1–6. doi: 10.1111/psyg.12066.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mazzeo, S. et al. (2019). The dual role of cognitive reserve in subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment: a 7-year follow-up study. Journal of Neurology, 1–11. doi: 10.1007/s00415-018-9164-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKhann, G. M. et al. (2011). The diagnosis of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease: recommendations from the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer’s Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 7, 263–269. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.03.005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendez, M. F., Ala, T. and Underwood, K. (1992). Development of scoring criteria for the clock drawing task in Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 40, 1095–1099. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1992.tb01796.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meng, X. and D’Arcy, C. (2012). Education and dementia in the context of the cognitive reserve hypothesis: a systematic review with meta-analyses and qualitative analyses. PLoS One, 7, e38268. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministério da Educação ‐ Instuto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais (INEP). (2017). Censo Escolar 2017. Available from IBGE Retrieved January 12, 2019, from Ministério da Educação ‐ Instuto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais (INEP), https://cidades.ibge.gov.br/brasil/pesquisa/13/5902.Google Scholar
Moreira, I. F. H., Lourenço, R. A., Soares, C., Engelhardt, E. and Laks, J. (2009). Cambridge Cognitive Examination: performance of healthy elderly Brazilians with low education levels. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 25(8), 1774–1780. doi: 10.1590/S0102-311X2009000800013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nasri, F. (2008). O envelhecimento populacional no Brasil. einstein, 6(Suppl. 1), S4–S6.Google Scholar
Naumczyk, P. et al. (2018). Cognitive predictors of cortical thickness in healthy aging. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 1116, 51–62. doi: 10.1007/5584_2018_265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perneczky, R. et al. (2006). Schooling mediates brain reserve in Alzheimer’s disease: findings of fluoro-deoxy-glucose-positron emission tomography. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 77, 1060–1063. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2006.094714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersson, K. M., Reis, A. and Ingvar, M. (2001). Cognitive processing in literate and illiterate subjects: a review of some recent behavioral and functional neuroimaging data. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 42, 251–267. doi: 10.1111/1467-9450.00235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettigrew, C. and Soldan, A. (2019). Defining cognitive reserve and implications for cognitive aging. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, 1 9, 1. doi: 10.1007/s11910-019-0917-z.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfeffer, R. I., Kurosaki, T. T., Harrah, C. H. J., Chance, J. M. and Filos, S. (1982). Measurement of functional activities in older adults in the community. Journal Gerontology, 37, 323–329. doi: 10.1093/geronj/37.3.323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollock, M. E. (2005). Intelligent technology for an aging population: the use of AI to assist elders with cognitive impairment. AI Magazine, 26, 9–24. doi: 10.1609/aimag.v26i2.1810.Google Scholar
Rajji, T. (2018). Neurophysiology and cognitive reserve: a promising path. Clinical Neurophysiology, 129, 286–287. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2017.12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Resende, E. P. F. et al. (2018). White matter microstructure in illiterate and low-literate elderly Brazilians: preliminary findings. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, 31, 193–200. doi: 10.1097/WNN.0000000000000173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rimkus, C. M. et al. (2018). The protective effects of high-education levels on cognition in different stages of multiple sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, 22, 41–48. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2018.03.001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rogalski, E. J. et al. (2013). Youthful memory capacity in old brains: anatomic and genetic clues from the Northwestern SuperAging Project. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25, 29–36. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rogalski, E. J. et al. (2018). Cognitive trajectories and spectrum of neuropathology in SuperAgers: the first 10 cases. Hippocampus. doi: 10.1002/hipo.22828.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenberg-Lee, M., Barth, M. and Menon, V. (2011). What difference does a year of schooling make? NeuroImage, 57, 796–808. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.05.013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, M. et al. (1986). CAMDEX. A standardized instrument for the diagnosis of mental disorder in the elderly with special reference to the early detection of dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 698–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scarmeas, N. and Stern, Y. (2003). Cognitive reserve and lifestyle. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 25, 625–633. doi: 10.1076/jcen.25.5.625.14576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, Y. (2002). What is cognitive reserve? Theory and research application of the reserve concept. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 8, 448–460. doi: 10.1017.S1355617701020240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, Y. (2006). Cognitive reserve and Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, 20, 112–117. doi: 10.1097/01.wad.0000213815.20177.19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, Y. (2009). Cognitive reserve. Neuropsychologia, 47, 2015–2028. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.004.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, Y., Gurland, B., Tatemichi, T. K., Tang, M. X., Wilder, D., and Mayeux, R. (1994). Influence of education and occupation on the incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease. JAMA, 271, 1004–1010. doi: 10.1001/jama.1994.03510370056032.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
United Nations. (2017). Word Population Prospects: the 2017 revision. Retrieved August 31, 2018, from Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/.Google Scholar
Verde, P. et al. (2016). Domain-specific interference tests on navigational working memory in military pilots. Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, 87, 528–533. doi: 10.3357/AMHP.4521.2016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wechsler, D. (1997). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale — Third Edition. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Yesavage, J. A. et al. (1983). Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: a preliminary report. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 17, 37–49. doi: 10.1016/0022-3956(82)90033-4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar