title: Cognitively-Impaired-Not-Demented Status Moderates the Time-Varying Association between Finger Tapping Inconsistency and Executive Performance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Response time inconsistency (RTI) in cognitive performance predicts deleterious health outcomes in late-life; however, RTI estimates are often confounded by additional influences (e.g., individual differences in learning). Finger tapping is a basic sensorimotor measure largely independent of higher-order cognition that may circumvent such confounds of RTI estimates. We examined the within-person coupling of finger-tapping mean and RTI on working memory, and the moderation of these associations by cognitive status.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 262 older adults were recruited and classified as controls, cognitively-impaired-not-demented (CIND) unstable or CIND stable. Participants completed finger-tapping and working-memory tasks during multiple weekly assessments, repeated annually for 4 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Within-person coupling estimates from multilevel models indicated that on occasions when RTI was greater, working-memory response latency was slower for the CIND-stable, but not for the CIND-unstable or control individuals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finger-tapping task shows potential for minimizing confounds on RTI estimates, and for yielding RTI estimates sensitive to central nervous system function and cognitive status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 2Y2.|Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 2Y2.
authors.forename: Drew W R
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Halliday
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Stawski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 2Y2 smacd@uvic.ca.|Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 2Y2.
authors.forename: Stuart W S
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: MacDonald
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time
keywords: Cognitively-impaired-not-demented (CIND); Finger tapping; Intraindividual variability; Multilevel modeling; Project MIND; Response time inconsistency