Open AccessCognitive aging in older Black and White persons.
Author(s) -
Robert S. Wilson,
Ana W. Capuano,
Joel Sytsma,
David A. Bennett,
Lisa L. Barnes
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
psychology and aging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.468
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1939-1498
pISSN - 0882-7974
DOI - 10.1037/pag0000024
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , perception , episodic memory , negroid , cognitive decline , white (mutation) , cognitive aging , developmental psychology , working memory , gerontology , dementia , demography , psychiatry , population , medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , disease , pathology , neuroscience , sociology , gene
During a mean of 5.2 years of annual follow-up, older Black (n = 647) and White (n = 647) persons of equivalent age and education completed a battery of 17 cognitive tests from which composite measures of 5 abilities were derived. Baseline level of each ability was lower in the Black subgroup. Decline in episodic and working memory was not related to race. Decline in semantic memory, perceptual speed, and visuospatial ability was slower in Black persons than White persons, and in semantic memory and perceptual speed this effect was stronger in older than younger participants. Racial differences persisted after adjustment for retest effects. The results suggest subtle cognitive aging differences between Black persons and White persons.