Do apolipoprotein E genotype and educational attainment predict the rate of cognitive decline in normal aging? A 12-year follow-up of the Maastricht Aging Study.

Objective: We investigated suspected longitudinal interaction effects of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype and educational attainment on cognitive decline in normal aging.

Method: Our sample consisted of 571 healthy, nondemented adults aged between 49 and 82 years. Linear mixed-models analyses were performed with four measurement time points: baseline, 3-year, 6-year, and 12-year follow-up.

Aging and distraction by irrelevant speech: does emotional valence matter?

Objectives: From prior studies, we know that older adults are rarely more distracted by irrelevant speech than younger adults, which is remarkable in light of the inhibitory deficit view of aging. We tested the hypothesis that older adults are more distracted by emotional irrelevant speech during a visual cognitive task than younger adults.

Methods: Forty-eight younger (mean age = 21.

Annoyance from environmental noise across the lifespan.

Curvilinear effects of age on self-reported annoyance from environmental noise were investigated in a pooled international and a Dutch sample of in total 62,983 individuals aged between 15 and 102 years. All respondents were frequently exposed to varying levels of transportation noise (i.e.