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High-frequency assessment of mood, personality, and cognition in healthy younger, healthy older and adults with very mild cognitive impairment

Year: 2023
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In observational and intervention studies of Alzheimer disease (AD), cognition is typically measured in a single, extended testing session that is repeated at relatively wide intervals (e.g., annually). This measurement strategy ignores daily fluctuations in cognition that occur due to mood, stress, motivation, or other factors. It is possible that the magnitude of daily cognitive variability is an important predictor of the risk of cognitive impairment. A total of 66 younger adults, 52 healthy older adults and 37 participants with cognitive impairment were recruited to complete 21 daily sessions of attention, working memory, mood, and personality assessment. Group differences in mean performance and variability across the 3 weeks of testing was examined using Bayesian mixed effects locations scale models. Variability in attention decreased from younger to older adults and then increased again in cognitive impairment. Younger adults were more variable in key personality traits of agreeableness, open-mindedness and conscientiousness compared to older adults. The clinically impaired group differed from the healthy older adults in terms of variability on attention, openness, and conscientiousness. Additional analyses indicated that variability in attention was partially associated with variability in agreeableness and neuroticism. Healthy aging results in greater stability in personality traits over short intervals yet this stability is not redundant with increased stability in cognitive scores. Cognitive and personality variability both provide unique insight into psychological changes that occur in healthy and pathological aging.
DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/x8s49
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4379010487
Cites: 47
Cited by: 1
Related to: 10