title: Attention capacity and self-report of subjective cognitive decline: a P3 ERP study.
abstract: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) has recently been proposed as the earliest stage of pathologic cognitive decline in older adults. Longitudinal research suggests that many individuals with SCD go on to develop mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease. However, those with SCD typically appear normal on standardized neuropsychological testing, and as of yet there are no reliable objective measures discriminating those with SCD from healthy peers. Two groups of healthy older adults (ages 65-80), who self-identified as being with (n=17) or without SCD (n=23), completed self-report measures and objective measures of cognition. Groups did not differ on demographic variables, estimated cognitive reserve, or clinical neuropsychological testing. However, self-identifying as having SCD predicted clear differences in the P3 event-related potential in response to an attention control task, over and above any contributions from mood, anxiety, or neuroticism. Results suggest that using direct neural measures of information processing might be useful where standardized clinical tools are insensitive in those with SCD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada; Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada. Electronic address: csmart@uvic.ca.
authors.forename: Colette M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Smart
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L25 3A1, Canada; Jack & Nora Walker Centre for Lifespan Development Research, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L25 3A1, Canada.
authors.forename: Sidney J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Segalowitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada.
authors.forename: Bryce P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Mulligan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada; Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada.
authors.forename: Stuart W S
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: MacDonald
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D057566:Self Report
keywords: Aging; Alzheimer's disease; Attention; Cognitive complaints; Event-related potentials; Mild cognitive impairment; Older adults; P3; Subjective cognitive decline