When does age-related cognitive decline begin?

By Timothy Salthouse. Neurobiology of Aging, 2009

1,829 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Cross-sectional comparisons have consistently revealed that increased age is associated with lower levels of cognitive performance, even in the range from 18 to 60 years of age. However, the validity of cross-sectional comparisons of cognitive functioning in young and middle-aged adults has been questioned because of the discrepant age trends found in longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses. The results of the current project suggest that a major factor contributing to the discrepancy is the masking of age-related declines in longitudinal comparisons by large positive effects associated with prior test experience. Results from three methods of estimating retest effects in this project, together with results from studies comparing non-human animals raised in constant environments and from studies examining neurobiological variables not susceptible to retest effects, converge on a conclusion that some aspects of age-related cognitive decline begin in healthy educated adults when they are in their 20s and 30s.

Subfields: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/06389effdf77c2328b3c0fe463bee6a3fd8c2e50

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

In Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Citations in the corpus

The Science of Wisdom in a Polarized World: Knowns and Unknowns (2020, background): “…declines in domain-general cognitive abilities begin in young adulthood and become particularly pronounced in the sixth and seventh decade of life (Salthouse, 2009), one could then speculate that wisdom is greatest in middle adulthood (Labouvie-Vief, 2003; Webster, Westerhof, & Bohlmeijer, 2014),…”
Handbook of Life-Span Development (2010, background): “Retest effects (Ferrer, Salthouse, Stewart, & Schwartz, 2004; Salthouse, 2009) on measures of cognitive performance are a good example of this type of threat to the internal validity of longitudinal development studies.”
An Analysis of Skill Mismatch Using Direct Measures of Skills (2011, background): “The idea that certain skills depreciate with age is widely held in the cognitive sciences, but exactly at which point decline sets in and why is not entirely clear due in part to poor data (e.g., see Salthouse, 2009).”
The Stability of Intelligence From Childhood to Old Age (2014, background): “The field has lively debates about how much, whether, and when certain cognitive abilities change with age (Salthouse, 2009).”
Working memory tasks differ in factor structure across age cohorts: Implications for dedifferentiation. (2010, background): “…has been mixed at both ends of the lifespan (e.g., Anstey, Hofer, & Luscez, 2003; Bickley, Keith, & Wolfle, 1995; DeFrias, Lovden, Lindenberger, & Nilsson, 2007; Juan-Espinosa, et al., 2002; Tucker-Drob, 2009; Tucker-Drob & Salthouse, 2009 for studies evaluating later-life dedifferentiation).”
Language Proficiency in Native and Nonnative Speakers: An Agenda for Research and Suggestions for Second-Language Assessment (2011, neutral): “…humans can process information increases over time until it reaches a peak around the age of 22, and from the age of 27 on gradually decreases (Salthouse, 2009), the vast majority of older people remain capable of processing linguistic information fast enough to allow for relatively…”
Ageing and Skills: A Review and Analysis of Skill Gain and Skill Loss over the Lifespan and over Time. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 72. (2012, positive): “While many researchers favour longitudinal data for investigating age-related change in skills, Salthouse (2009a; 2009b; 2010b) argued that longitudinal findings on age-skill profiles are too unreliable due to re-test and selection effects.”
What is normal in normal aging? Effects of Aging, Amyloid and Alzheimer’s Disease on the Cerebral Cortex and the Hippocampus (2014, background): “Closely related to this is an unsettled discussion about whether changes observed in cross-sectional studies reflect real ongoing change within individuals (Salthouse, 2009) or arise from methodological artifacts (Schaie, 2009, Nyberg et al.”
Investment in Financial Literacy and Saving Decisions (2013, background): “Van Rooij et al. (2007) find that financial sophistication is associated with greater wealth, a higher probability to invest in the stock market and a higher propensity to plan for retirement.”