Effects of different types of leisure activities on working memory across the adult lifespan.

The aim of the present study was to contrast the potential influence of five independent types of leisure activities (physical, mental, social, cultural, and passive) on working memory in a lifespan sample and in specific stages of adulthood (young, middle-aged, and older adults). A sample of 1652 healthy adults between 21 and 80 years of age participated in the study. Leisure activities were assessed through a lifestyle questionnaire created for the study.

Metamemory Mediates the Effects of Age on Episodic and Working Memory across the Adult Lifespan.

Background: Previous studies have examined the direct relationship between metamemory and memory performance in young and older adults, but the results of these studies have been inconsistent. Therefore, we examined whether metamemory mediates the effects of age on memory performance.

Methods: We examined episodic memory and working memory through computerized tasks performed by a lifespan sample of 1554 healthy adults.

Nutrient effects on working memory across the adult lifespan.

Objective: To identify the nutrients that influence the performance of working memory, which is greatly affected as age progresses.

Method: A total of 1646 healthy adults between 21 and 80 years old participated in the study. The daily consumption of 64 nutrients was examined using a food frequency questionnaire that assessed food intake during the previous year.

Influence of Dietary Nutrient Intake on Episodic Memory Across the Adult Life Span.

The aim of the study was to identify nutrients that have the ability to impact brain functioning and, as a consequence, influence episodic memory. In particular, we examined recollection, the ability to recall details of previous experiences, which is the episodic memory process most affected as age advances. A sample of 1,550 healthy participants between 21 and 80 years old participated in the study.

Effects of hypotension and hypertension on source memory and working memory.

Objectives: The effects of chronic low and high blood pressure on memory are unclear due to divergent results, originating in part due to participant misclassifications. The aim of this study was to compare source memory and working memory performance in individuals diagnosed with hypotension or hypertension with the performance of normotensive participants. Hypertensive and hypotensive individuals were receiving medical treatment.

Predictors of Working Memory Maintenance and Decline in Older Adults.

The aging process is associated with the gradual decline of several cognitive functions, and working memory is particularly affected. Although the majority of older adults experience a deterioration of their working memory, some individuals maintain their working memory in older age, and some suffer an extreme deterioration of their working memory. The purpose of the present study was to identify, among a total of 120 potential predictors, those that significantly contributed to these two extreme outcomes in working memory.

Contributions of Cognitive Aging Models to the Explanation of Source Memory Decline across the Adult Lifespan.

: A number of cognitive aging models have been proposed to explain the age-related decline in several cognitive functions, but these models have rarely been examined together. We analyzed the contributions of four main models - processing resources, speed of processing, cognitive reserve and knowledge - to source memory decay related to the aging process.: A total of 1554 healthy adults between 21 and 80 years old participated in the study.

Predictors of Source Memory Success and Failure in Older Adults.

Source memory decline has been identified as one of the types of memory most seriously affected during older age. It refers to our capacity to recollect the contextual information in which our experiences take place. Although most elderly adults will be affected by progressive source memory decline, a subset of individuals will not follow this average pattern; instead, their source memory capabilities will remain functional.

Factors that positively or negatively mediate the effects of age on working memory across the adult life span.

Working memory abilities significantly decrease with advancing age; hence, the search for factors that may increase or mitigate this decline is critical. Several factors have been identified that influence working memory; however, their effects have been mainly assessed separately and rarely together with other factors in the same sample. We examined 120 variables to search for factors that jointly act as mediators of working memory decay across the adult life span.

Mediators of episodic memory decay across the adult life span.

The ability to remember the details of our own experiences declines gradually as we get old. The reason for this decay has been attributed to several factors besides age, such as education, nutrient intake and health status. However, the influence of these factors has mainly been examined individually and rarely together.

The Effects of the Amount of Information on Episodic Memory Binding.

The effects of increasing the number of items to be remembered on associative recognition and cued recall were examined. Thirty participants were asked during encoding to determine whether two- and three-item stimuli contained natural objects, artificial objects, or both. In an associative recognition task, the participants indicated whether the stimuli were identical to those presented during encoding, were rearranged by exchanging one of the two-item stimuli for one of the three-item stimuli, or represented a new stimulus.

The decline of verbal and visuospatial working memory across the adult life span.

It has been well established that working memory abilities decrease with advancing age; however, the specific time point in the adult life span at which this deficit begins and the rate at which it advances are still controversial. There is no agreement on whether working memory declines equally for visuospatial and verbal information, and the literature disagrees on how task difficulty may influence this decay. We addressed these questions in a lifespan sample of 1,500 participants between 21 and 80 years old.

The rate of source memory decline across the adult life span.

Previous studies have suggested that the ability to remember contextual information related to specific episodic experiences declines with advancing age; however, the exact moment in the adult life span when this deficit begins is still controversial. Source memory for spatial information was tested in a life span sample of 1,500 adults between the ages of 21 and 80. Initially, images of common objects were randomly presented on one quadrant of a screen while the participants judged whether they were natural or artificial.