Cognitive Deficits in Healthy Elderly Population With “Normal” Scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination

Abstract

This study investigated whether healthy older adults with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores above 23 exhibit cognitive impairment on neuropsychological tests. Participants completed the MMSE and a neuropsychological battery including tests of 10 domains. Results were compared to published normative data. On neuropsychological testing, participants performed well on measures of naming and recall but showed mild to moderate impairment in working memory and processing speed and marked impairment in inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functioning. Almost everyone (91%) scored at least 1 standard deviation (SD) below the mean in at least 1 domain. The median number of domains in which individuals scored below 1 SD was 3.0 of 10.0, whereas over 21% scored below 1 SD in 5 domains or more. With the strictest of definitions for impairment, 20% of this population scored below 2.0 SDs below the norm in at least 2 domains, a necessary condition for a diagnosis of dementia. The finding that cognitive impairment, particularly in attention and executive functioning, is found in healthy older persons who perform well on the MMSE has clinical and research implications in terms of emphasizing normal variability in performance and early identification of possible impairment.

Changes of renin-angiotensin system-related aminopeptidases in early stage Alzheimer's disease

“…Unlike the study of Puertas, the current study did not detect any significant relationship between enzyme activity and MMSE score, nor scores on any of the other, more sensitive, psychometric tests. MMSE is recognised as a coarse measure of cognitive ability (Votruba et al, 2016) and thus lack of any robust association with enzyme activity is not surprising. The independence of minor variabilities in scores on the other psychomotor tests and enzyme activity underlines the fact that cognitive function and plasma aminopeptidase activity are probably not precisely nor causatively associated.…”

How younger elderly realize usefulness of cognitive training video games to maintain their independent living

“…Orimo et al (Orimo et al, 2006) have discussed the differences between those from 65 through 85 years old, referred to as "younger elderly" and those over 85 years old as "late elderly" or "oldest old". Votruba et al (2016) differentiate between younger and older elderlies and believe that cognitive training exercises are more successful in younger adults when they have not yet developed memory performance decline.…”

Aging Modulates the Hemispheric Specialization during Word Production

“…They reflect difficulty in retrieving and generating words (Obler and Albert, 1980; Burke and Shafto, 2004; Salthouse and Mandell, 2013). However, despite these frequent subjective complaints, the objective evidence for lexical production and naming deficits in aging varies according to the task and material (Ska and Goulet, 1989; Goulet et al, 1994; Obler et al, 2010; Baciu et al, 2016; Votruba et al, 2016). For instance, object naming is preserved longer in aging, compared to naming famous people (Cohen and Faulkner, 1986; Evrard, 2002; James, 2004).…”