Challenging the notion of an early-onset of cognitive decline.

Full Abstract

Salthouse claims that cognitive aging starts around 20 years of age. The basis for this claim is cross-sectional data. He dismisses longitudinal data, which typically show the cognitive decline to start much later, around 60 years of age. He states that longitudinal data cannot be trusted because they are flawed. There is a confounding between the effects of maturation and retest effects. We challenge Salthouse's strong claim on four accounts.

Author information

Author/s: Nilsson, Lars-Göran (LG); Sternäng, Ola (O); Rönnlund, Michael (M); Nyberg, Lars (L);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Sweden. lgn(-atsign-)psychology.su.se

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comment; Editorial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neurobiology of aging (Neurobiol Aging), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Apr; vol 30 (issue 4) : pp 521-4; discussion 530-3

Dates: Created 2009/03/16; Completed 2009/06/22;

PMID: 19285194, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 6/22/2009, IMS Date: 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentOn: Neurobiol Aging. 2009 Apr;30(4):507-14. (PMID: 19231028)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Age of Onset
Aging - psychology
Animals
Artifacts
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology; psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Data Interpretation, Statistical
Humans

Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Memory Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology; psychology
Models, Animal
Neurobiology - methods
Neuropsychological Tests - standards
Neuropsychology - methods
Reproducibility of Results

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