Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Articles and Reviews

Understanding Terminal Decline in Cognition and Risk of Death

Published Online:October 03, 2006https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.11.3.164

Abstract

There is new empirical evidence that the effects of impending death on cognition have been miscalculated because of neglect of the incidence of dropout and of practice gains during longitudinal studies. When these are taken into consideration, amounts and rates of cognitive declines preceding death and dropout are seen to be almost identical, and participants aged 49 to 93 years who neither dropout nor die show little or no decline during a 20-year longitudinal study. Practice effects are theoretically informative. Positive gains are greater for young and more intelligent participants and at all levels of intelligence and durations of practice; declines in scores of 10% or more between successive quadrennial test sessions are risk factors for mortality. Higher baseline intelligence test scores are also associated with reduced risk of mortality, even when demographics and socioeconomic advantage have been taken into consideration.

References

  • Andersen, P.K. , Gill, R.D. (1982). Cox's regression model for counting processes: A large sample study. Annals of Statistics, 10, 1100– 1120 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Anstey, K.J. , Luszcz, M.A. , Giles, L.C. , Andrews, G.R. (2001). Demographics, health, cognitive, and sensory variables as predictors of mortality in very old adults. Psychology and Aging, 16, 3– 11 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Barrett, T.R. , Watkins, S.K. (1986). Word familiarity and cardiovascular health as determinants of age-related recall differences. Journal of Gerontology, 41, 222– 224 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Batty, G.D. , Clark, H. , Morton, S.M.B. , MacIntyre, S. , Leon, D.A. (2002). Intelligence in childhood and mortality, migration, questionnaire response rate, and self-reported morbidity and risk factor levels in adulthood: Preliminary findings from the Aberdeen “Children of the 1950s” study [abstract]. Journal Epidemiology and Community Health, 56(Suppl II), A1– First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bent, N. , Rabbitt, P.M.A. , Metcalf, D. (2000). Diabetes mellitus and the rate of cognitive change. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39, 349– 362 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berg, S. (1987). Intelligence and terminal decline. In G. Maddox & E.W. Busse (Eds.), Aging: The universal human experience (pp. 234-259). New York: Springer First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Craik, F.I.M. , Jennings, J.M. (1992). Human memory. In F.I.M. Craik & T. Salthouse (Eds.), The handbook of aging and cognition (pp. 51-110). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Deary, I.J. , Whiteman, M.C. , Starr, J.M. , Whalley, L.J. , Fox, H.C. (2004). The impact of childhood intelligence on later life: Following up the Scottish mental surveys of 1932 and 1947. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 130– 147 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diggle, P.J. , Liang, K.Y. , Zeger, S.L. (1994). Analysis of longitudinal data . Oxford: Oxford University Press First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Dikmen, S.S. , Heaton, R.K. , Grant, J. , Temkin, N.R. (1999). Test-retest reliability and practice effects of Expanded Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 5, 346– 356 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Elias, M.F. , Robbins, M.A. , Schultz, N.R. , Pierce, T.W. (1990). Is blood pressure an important variable in research on aging and neuropsychological test performance?. Journal of Gerontology, 45, 128– 135 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Heim, A.W. (1970). AH4 group test of general intelligence . Windsor, UK: NFER-Nelson First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hertzog, C. , Schaie, K.W. , Gribbin, K. (1978). Cardiovascular disease and changes in intellectual functioning from middle to old age. Journal of Gerontology, 33, 872– 883 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hickman, S.E. , Howieson, D.B. , Dame, A. , Sexton, G. , Kaye, J. (2000). Longitudinal analysis of the effects of the aging process on neuropsychological test performance in the healthy young-old and oldest-old. Developmental Neuropsychology, 17, 323– 337 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Holland, C.M. , Rabbitt, P.M.A. (1991). The course and causes of cognitive change with advancing age. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 1, 81– 96 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Houx, P.J. (1991). Rigorous health screening reduces age effects on a memory scanning task. Brain and Cognition, 15, 246– 260 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hultsch, D. , Hertzog, C. , Dixon, R.A. , Small, B.J. (1988). Memory change in the aged . New York: Cambridge University Press First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jacquimin, A. , Hadda, H. , Fabrigoule, C. , Commengues, D. , Dartigues, J.F. (1997). A 5-year longitudinal study of the mini-mental state examination score in normal aging. Epidemiology, 145, 498– 506 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Johannsen, B. , Berg, S. (1989). The robustness of the terminal-decline phenomenon: Longitudinal data from the digit-span memory test. Journal of Gerontology, Psychological Sciences, 44, 184– 186 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kausler, D.H. (1990). Experimental Psychology, Cognition and Human Aging . New York: Springer-Verlag First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kulik, J.A. , Chen-Lin, C. , Kulik, R.L. , Bangert, L. (1984). Effects of practice on aptitude and achievement test scores. American Educational Research Journal, 21, 435– 447 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lachman, R. , Lachman, J.L. , Taylor, D.W. (1982). Reallocation of mental resources over the productive lifespan: Assumptions and task analyses. In F.I.M. Craik & S. Trehub (Eds.), Aging and the cognitive process (pp. 203-244). New York: Plenum First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Lieberman, M.A. (1965). Psychological correlates of impending death: Some preliminary observations. Journal of Gerontology, 20, 181– 190 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mitrushima, M. , Satz, P. (1991). Effect of repeated administration of a neuropsychological test battery in the elderly. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 47, 790– 801 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nagi, M.H. , Stockwell, E.G. (1973). Socioeconomic differentials in mortality by cause of death. Health Services Reports, 88, 449– 456 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Palmore, E. , Cleveland, W. (1976). Aging, terminal decline, and terminal drop. Journal of Gerontology, 31, 76– 81 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Paola, A.M. , Troster, A.I. , Ryan, J.J. (1997). Test-retest stability of the Californian Verbal Learning Test in older persons. Neuropsychology, 11, 613– 616 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rabbitt, P. , Diggle, P. , Holland, F. , McInnes, L. , Pendleton, N. , Horan, M. (2004). Practice and drop-out effects during a 17-year longitudinal study of cognitive aging. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 59, 84– 97 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rabbitt, P. , Diggle, P. , Holland, F. , McInnes, L. , Abson, V. , Bent, N. , Pendleton, N. , Horan, M. (2004). The University of Manchester longitudinal study of cognition in normal healthy old age, 1983 through 2003. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 11, 245– 279 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rabbitt, P. , Diggle, P. , Smith, D. , Holland, F. , McInnes, L. (2001). Identifying and separating the effects of practice and of cognitive ageing during a large longitudinal study of elderly community residents. Neuropsychologia, 39, 532– 543 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rabbitt, P. , Lunn, M. , Wong, D. (2005a). Neglect of dropout underestimates effects of death in longitudinal studies. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 60, 106– 109 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rabbitt, P. , Lunn, M. , Wong, D. (2005b). Practice, age, and ability in longitudinal studies of cognition. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences . Submitted for publication First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Rabbitt, P. , Lunn, M. , Wong, D. (2005c). Death, dropout, and cognitive change in old age. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences . Submitted for publication First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Rabbitt, P. , Watson, P. , Donlan, C. , Bent, L. , McInnes, L. (1994). Subject attrition in a longitudinal study of cognitive performance in community-based elderly people. In J.L. Albarede & B. Vellas (Eds.), Facts and research in gerontology: Epidemiology and aging (pp. 29-34). New York: Springer First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Rabbitt, P. , Watson, P. , Donlan, C. , McInnes, L. , Horan, M. , Pendleton, N. , Clague, J. (2002). Effects of death within 11 years on cognitive performance in old age. Psychology and Aging, 17, 1– 14 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Riegel, K.F. , Riegel, R.M. (1972). Development, drop, and death. Developmental Psychology, 6, 306– 319 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Riegel, K.F. , Riegel, R.M. , Meyer, G. (1967). A study of the drop-out rates in longitudinal research on aging and the prediction of death. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 342– 348 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Reimanis, G. , Green, R. (1971). Immanence of death and intellectual decrement in the aging. Developmental Psychology, 5, 270– 272 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schaie, K.W. (1965). A general model for the study of developmental problems. Psychological Bulletin, 64, 92– 107 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schaie, K.W. , Labouvie, G.V. , Barrett, T.J. (1973). Selective attrition effects in a 14-year study of adult intelligence. Journal of Gerontology, 28, 328– 334 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Shenkin, S.D. , Starr, J.M. , Deary, I.J. (2004). Birth Weight and cognitive ability in childhood: A systematic review. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 989– 1013 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Siegler, I.C. , Botwinick, J. (1979). A long-term longitudinal study of intellectual ability of older adults: The matter of selective subject attrition. Journal of Gerontology, 34, 242– 245 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Siegler, I.C. , McCarty, S.M. , Logue, P.E. (1982). Wechsler memory scale scores: Selective attrition and distance from death. Journal of Gerontology, 37, 176– 181 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Siegler, I.C. , Nowlin, J.B. (1985). Cardiovascular disease, intellectual function, and personality. In E. Palmore, J.B. Nowlin, G.L. Maddox, E.W. Busse, & C. Siegler (Eds.), Normal aging III (pp. 51-55). Durham, NC: Duke University Press First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Small, B.J. , Fratiglioni, L. , von Strauss, E. , Bäckman, L. (2003). Terminal decline and cognitive performance in very old age. Psychology and Aging, 193– 202 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Unger, J.M. , van Belle, G. , Heyman, A. (1999). Cross-sectional versus longitudinal estimates of cognitive change in nondemented older people: A CERAD study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 47, 559– 563 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • van Boxtel, M.P.J. , Buntink, F. , Houx, P.J. , Metsemakers, J.F.M. , Knottmerus, A. , Jolles, J. (1998). The relation between morbidity and cognitive performance in a normal aging population. Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 55(A). M147– M154 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Whalley, L.J. , Deary, I.J. (2001). Longitudinal cohort study of childhood IQ and survival up to age 76. British Medical Journal, 322, 819– First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wilkie, F.L. , Eisdorfer, C. , Nowlin, J.B. (1985). Memory and blood pressure. In E. Palmore, J.B. Nowlin, G.W. Maddox, E.W. Busse, & C. Siegler (Eds.), Normal aging III (pp. 206- 214). Durham, NC: Duke University Press First citation in articleGoogle Scholar