Age and working memory: The role of perceptual speed, the central executive, and the phonological loop.

Fisk, John E.; Warr, Peter

doi:10.1037/0882-7974.11.2.316

Cited by 147 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The results of the present study confirm the general expectation that verbal and visuospatial span performance decline with increasing age, and support previous research indicating that working memory declines with increasing age (Baeckman et al, 2000;Botwinick & Storandt, 1974;Fisk & Warr, 1996;Gregoire & Van der Linden, 1997;Salthouse et al, 1995;Vecchi & Cornoldi, 1999). It was noted that spatial span in general demonstrated greater agerelated decline than digit span.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The model proposes storing new information in specialist, limited-capacity verbal (phonological loop) and visuospatial (visuospatial sketchpad) components, while processing incoming or recently accessed information using a central executive and episodic buffer (Baddeley, 2000). Agerelated decline in WM has been reported in numerous studies (Robbins et al, 1998;Salthouse, 1994Salthouse, , 1996aSalthouse, , 1996b; Van der Linden et al, 1994, and has been linked to a decline in executive functioning with increasing age (Brennan et al, 1997;Daigneault & Braun, 1993;Keys & White, 2000); the central executive component of WM reported to be particularly vulnerable to aging (Fisk & Warr, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Support for the second assumption is based on the consistent finding that executive skills decline in normal aging (Belleville et al, 1998;Brennan et al, 1997;Fisk & Warr, 1996;Keys & White, 2000;Schretlen et al, 2000;Van der Linden et al, 1998). However some authors have suggested that this decline is not generalized, with some specific components of executive skills being relatively resilient to the effects of aging Greene et al, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of age on forward and backward span tasks

Hester

Kinsella

Ong

2004

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

172

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The central executive component of working memory has been argued to play an important role in the performance of span tasks, particularly backward span. Age-related decline in central executive function has also been reported, and yet there have been inconsistent findings to indicate that with increasing age, the discrepancy between forward and backward span increases. A secondary analysis of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition standardization sample (N 5 1030) was performed to investigate this relationship. It was hypothesized on the basis of past research indicating an age-related decline in central executive performance, that backward digit and spatial span performance would decrease at a greater rate than forward span performance. However, the results indicated that the rate of age-related performance decline was equivalent for both measures. It is proposed that both forward and backward span tasks recruit central executive resources for successful task performance. (JINS, 2004, 10, 475-481.)

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of age on forward and backward span tasks

Hester

Kinsella

Ong

2004

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

172

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“…Computation span has been used extensively as an indicator of working memory functioning in the cognitive ageing literature (Fisk & Warr, 1996;Salthouse & Babcock, 1991) and it is similar to the operation span measure used by Miyake, et al (2000) in their investigation of executive processes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The differential effects of ecstasy/polydrug use on executive components: shifting, inhibition, updating and access to semantic memory

et al. 2005

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Rationale/Objectives: Recent theoretical models suggest that the central executive may not be a unified structure. The present study explored the nature of central executive deficits in ecstasy users. Methods: In Study One, 27 ecstasy users and 34 nonusers were assessed using tasks to tap memory updating (computation span; letter updating) and access to long-term memory (a semantic fluency test and the Chicago word fluency test). In Study Two, 51 ecstasy users and 42 nonusers completed tasks that assess mental set switching (number/letter and plus/minus) and inhibition (random letter generation). Results: MANOVA revealed that ecstasy users performed worse on both tasks used to assess memory updating, and on tasks to assess access to long-term memory (C-and S-letter fluency). However, notwithstanding the significant ecstasy-group related effects, indices of cocaine and cannabis use were also significantly correlated with most of the executive measures. Unexpectedly, in Study Two, ecstasy users performed significantly better on the inhibition task producing more letters than nonusers. No group differences were observed on the switching tasks. Correlations between indices of ecstasy use and number of letters produced were significant. Conclusions: The present study provides further support for ecstasy/polydrug related deficits in memory updating and in access to long-term memory. The surplus evident on the inhibition task should be treated with some caution as this was limited to a single measure and has not been supported by our previous work.

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“…With regard to information processing speed, the data were Information Processing Speed. Two measures of processing speed were obtained following the procedure devised by Fisk and Warr (1996). The first involved a letter comparison speed task in which participants were presented with two rows of letters on a computer screen.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of concurrent cannabis use among ecstasy users: neuroprotective or neurotoxic?

Fisk

Montgomery

Wareing

et al. 2006

Human Psychopharmacology

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Edge Hill College of Higher EducationRunning head: concurrent cannabis use among ecstasy users. The research evidence regarding the potential effects of ecstasy suggests that it may be neurotoxic and that its use is associated with cognitive impairment. In recent years evidence has emerged suggesting that cannabinoids, the active ingredients in cannabis, can be neuroprotective under certain conditions. Given that many ecstasy users also consume cannabis at the same time, the possibility emerges that these individuals might be less susceptible to ecstasy-related impairment. The present paper reanalyses the data from a number of previous studies, contrasting the performance of those individuals who generally consume cannabis and ecstasy at the same time with those who generally consume ecstasy on its own. The two ecstasy-using groups are compared with non-ecstasy users on a range of measures including processing speed, random letter generation, verbal and visuo-spatial working memory span, reasoning and associative learning. The two ecstasy user groups did not differ significantly from each other on any of the measures. Both user groups were significantly worse than non-ecstasy users on measures of associative learning, verbal and visuo-spatial working memory, and reasoning. The results suggest that consuming cannabis at the same time as ecstasy does not reduce the likelihood of cognitive impairment.There is abundant evidence that ecstasy (MDMA) is neurotoxic, disrupting serotonergic systems in diverse brain regions. There is also a considerable body of evidence that cannabis can have neuroprotective as well as neurotoxic properties.Given that most ecstasy users are also cannabis users (Morgan, 2000) the question arises as to whether concurrent use of cannabis by ecstasy users might make them less susceptible to MDMA related neurotoxicity. The present paper is intended to investigate this issue.Although there is abundant evidence that MDMA is neurotoxic in a range of animal species, evidence of neurotoxicity in humans is less extensive and sometimes controversial (Curran, 2000). A review of the neuroimaging evidence can be found in Reneman et al (2006). A number of studies have found evidence of neurotoxicity among ecstasy users. For example, using PET neuroimaging, McCann, et al (1998), investigated 5-HT neural damage in the brains of ecstasy users. Regions of interest included the frontal cortex, pariental cortex, temporal cortex, occipital cortex and cingulate cortex, as well as the caudate, putamen, thalamus, mid-brain, pons, hypothalamus and cerebellum. The results showed that, compared to a control group, ecstasy users had significantly lower densities of 5HT transporter sites in all brain regions. Further, the reductions observed were correlated with the extent of ecstasy use. Reneman, et al (2002a) also assessed neural injury in ecstasy users using single-voxel (1H) MR spectroscopy imagining. N-Acetylasportate (NAA)/Creatine (CR), NAA Choline (CHO), and Myoinositol (MI) CR ratios in ecstasy users were meas...

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Age and working memory: The role of perceptual speed, the central executive, and the phonological loop.

Cited by 147 publications

References 38 publications

Effect of age on forward and backward span tasks

Effect of age on forward and backward span tasks

The differential effects of ecstasy/polydrug use on executive components: shifting, inhibition, updating and access to semantic memory

The effects of concurrent cannabis use among ecstasy users: neuroprotective or neurotoxic?

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