Theses and Dissertations
Campus Access Only
All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.
Date of Award
1-1-2009
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Psychology (PhD)
Department
Center for Psychological Studies
First Advisor
Charles Golden
Second Advisor
Edward R Simco
Third Advisor
Sarah Valley-Gray
Keywords
Aging, Cognitive functioning, Cognitive Reserve, Dementia, Education
Abstract
This research involves an examination of the relationship between education and age on a wide array of neuropsychological test measures among patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of education as an attenuating factor to neurocognitive decline in dementia. Although numerous studies have been published regarding the relationship between educational attainment and AD, few have included other subtypes of dementia in their investigation. To further expand the generalizability of previous findings, the sample in this study included both AD and VaD. While previous research has demonstrated a relationship between education and age-related neurocognitive decline in AD, most studies have utilized the MMSE or brief screening instrument to assess cognitive functioning. The present research included VaD and examined a variety of cognitive domains such as measures of global functioning, verbal intelligence, verbal memory, visual memory, attention/concentration, language, visuospatial skills, speed-of-processing, and abstract reasoning/executive functioning. Two standard multiple regression analyses were conducted, the first including age and education as the independent variables to assess the effects on one over and above that of the other. The second analysis included age, education, and their interaction term in order to determine if education attenuates age-related neurocognitive decline in the diagnostic groups. Raw neuropsychological test measure scores were included in all analyses as dependent measures. Results revealed that age minimally predicted performance in both groups, whereas education better predicted neurocognitive test performance in the AD group than in the VaD group. Furthermore, findings suggest that among individuals with AD, the rate of neurocognitive impairment in encoding verbal information and visuoconstructional ability is buffered by higher levels of education attainment. None of the interaction terms were significant for the VaD group. The current findings question the extent and generalizability of the presumed protective effects of higher education on age-related neurocognitive decline.
NSUWorks Citation
DenBesten, N. P.
(2009). The Influence of Education and Age on Neurocognitive Test Performance in Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia. .
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_stuetd/25