(Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Sweden)

The Betula prospective cohort study includes a total of 3,500 subjects whose ages were 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, and 90 years when first tested. The design of the study includes three waves of data collection. The first of these waves was conducted in 1988-90, the second in 1993-95, and the third in 1998-2000. One sample of 1,000 subjects in these age cohorts underwent testing in 1988-90 (100 subjects per cohort). This sample and two additional samples were tested in 1993-95 and will be tested again in 1998-2000. A fourth sample was tested for the first time in 1998-2000. Subjects take part in extensive health and memory examinations, and interviews about social factors. The memory testing covers a wide range of memory functions. The chief objectives of the study are to (a) examine the development of health and memory in adulthood and old age, (b) determine early preclinical signs of dementia, (c) determine risk factors for dementia, and (d) assess premorbid memory function in subjects who are in accidents or acquire diseases during the course of the study.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the first sample show a continuous age-related deterioration in tasks assessing episodic memory, no age-related deficit in semantic memory tasks when educational level is partialed out, and no age effects in priming and short-term memory. The data also reveal that various variables of health are related to memory performance in tasks assessing episodic memory, but not to semantic memory, priming and short-term memory. Recent analyses of the role of genetic markers for memory performance in normal aging further support the findings of dissociations between episodic memory and other memory systems. Genetic markers related to the immune system, Complementory factor C3 and Haptoglobin, and ApolipoproteinE are strongly associated with performance in episodic memory tasks.

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