Short-term memory, attention, and temporal orientation as predictors of the cognitive impairment in older adults: A cross-sectional observational study

Abstract

Late-life cognitive decline ranges from the mildest cases of normal, age-related change to mild cognitive impairment to severe cases of dementia. Dementia is the largest global burden for the 21st century welfare and healthcare systems. The aim of this study was to analyze the neuropsychological constructs (temporal orientation (TO), spatial orientation (SO), fixation memory (FM), attention (A), calculation (C), short-term memory (STM), language (L), and praxis (P)), semantic fluency, level of functionality, and mood that reveal the greatest deficit in the different stages ranging from normal cognition (NC) to cognitive impairment in older adults in a primary healthcare setting. The study included 337 participants (102 men, 235 women), having a mean age of 74 ± 6 years. According to their scores on the Spanish version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MEC-35), subjects were divided into 4 groups: no deterioration (ND) (score 32–35), subtle cognitive impairment (SCI) (score 28–31), level deterioration (LD) (score 24–27) and moderate deterioration (MD) (score 20–23). The ND group revealed significant differences in TO, STM, C, A, L, P, and S-T as compared to the other groups. The MD group (in all the neuropsychological constructs) and the ND and SCI groups showed significant differences on the Yesavage geriatric depression scale (GDS-15). All except the FM neuropsychological construct were part of the MEC-35 prediction model and all of the regression coefficients were significant for these variables in the model. Furthermore, the highest average percentage of relative deterioration occurs between LD and MD and the greatest deterioration is observed in the STM for all groups, including A and TO for the LD and MD groups. Based on our findings, community programs have been implemented that use cognitive stimulation to prevent cognitive decline and to maintain the neuropsychological constructs.

Time restricted feeding is associated with poor performance in specific cognitive domains of Suburb-Dwelling older Chinese

“…Attention is closely associated with impairment of other cognitive functions, and the deterioration of SO in MCI is related to a higher risk of progression to AD 1 . In the process of healthy aging, people are less able to maintain their attention with the increase of age, and there are more and more compensatory interactions between attention network and the emergence of clinical symptoms of MCI, which may no longer be effective 1 . Due to the complex mechanism, the specific effect of fasting time on the nervous system has not been determined.…”

“…Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a state of cognitive function between that seen in normal aging and dementia, resulting in cognitive problems in many fields, including difficulties in memory, language, attention, orientation, calculation, visuospatial ability and executive functions 1 , 2 . In China, the prevalence of MCI is 40.0% in males and 45.1% in females 3 .…”

Cognitive Effects of a Cognitive Stimulation Programme on Trained Domains in Older Adults with Subjective Memory Complaints: Randomised Controlled Trial

“…Temporal orientation is a less studied domain, perhaps because, in subjects without cognitive impairment, it is not affected, as opposed to groups with impairment, in which it is very evident [ 84 ]. However, supporting the intervention with calendars and writing the date on each of the activities performed has resulted in a positive benefit in this aspect, as in other studies [ 85 ].…”

Genetic association between the APOE ε4 allele, toxicant exposures and Gulf war illness diagnosis

“…During neuropsychological testing, veterans with GWI present significant problems with attention, executive function, visuospatial skills, learning, memory, and recognition [ 18 , 20 – 22 ]. More specifically, they exhibit a loss of short-term memory [ 21 ], which is present earlier among ε4 carriers compared to non-ε4 carriers [ 23 , 24 ]. Since the ε4 allele is a risk factor for long-term cognitive decline, both in the context of aging and following environmental exposures, we hypothesized that the ε4 allele frequency would be elevated among veterans with GWI compared to healthy GW veterans.…”