Age-moderation of genetic and environmental contributions to cognitive functioning in mid- and late-life for specific cognitive abilitiesDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States.
The Danish Twin Register, The Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA ; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
The Danish Twin Register, The Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Department of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden ; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, UK.
Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States.
Department of Psychology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden ; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States ; The Danish Twin Register, The Danish Aging Research Center, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark.
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2018 (English)In: Intelligence, ISSN 0160-2896, E-ISSN 1873-7935, Vol. 68, p. 70-81Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Age moderation of genetic and environmental contributions to Digits Forward, Digits Backward, Block Design, Symbol Digit, Vocabulary, and Synonyms was investigated in a sample of 14,534 twins aged 26 to 98 years. The Interplay of Genes and Environment across Multiple Studies (IGEMS) consortium contributed the sample, which represents nine studies from three countries (USA, Denmark, and Sweden). Average test performance was lower in successively older age groups for all tests. Significant age moderation of additive genetic, shared environmental, and non-shared environmental variance components was observed, but the pattern varied by test. The genetic contribution to phenotypic variance across age was smaller for both Digit Span tests, greater for Synonyms, and stable for Block Design and Symbol Digit. The non-shared environmental contribution was greater with age for the Digit Span tests and Block Design, while the shared environmental component was small for all tests, often more so with age. Vocabulary showed similar age-moderation patterns as Synonyms, but these effects were nonsignificant. Findings are discussed in the context of theories of cognitive aging.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2018. Vol. 68, p. 70-81
Keywords [en]
Adult development, Aging, Behavior genetics, Cognitive ability
National Category
Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:his:diva-21859DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2017.12.004ISI: 000432796700009PubMedID: 30573937Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85044170805OAI: oai:DiVA.org:his-21859DiVA, id: diva2:1698903
2018-07-172022-09-26Bibliographically approved