Abstract
Background: Intra-individual (IIV) of reaction time (RT), as the short-term fluctuations of RT-based performance, has been reported to be susceptible to cognitive ageing. The current study aimed to examine IIV of RT and its relationships with cognitive performance in cognitively normal senior adults. Methods: We evaluated 137 community-dwelling elderly (mean age: 72.41 ± 3.99) with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and a RT-based test. Intraindividual coefficient of variation of reaction time (ICV-RT) was used to evaluate the IIV. Pearson’s correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were employed to assess the relationships between IIV and the scores of cognitive function. Results: Advancing age was accompanied with declined cognitive function and increased IIV. ICV-RT was negatively correlated with the score of Montreal Cognitive Assessment Hong Kong version (HK MoCA) across three types of flanker. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that ICV-RT was a significant predictor of HK MoCA (β = −0.294, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Increased IIV is consistently associated with and contributed to the age-related decline of cognitive performance in senior adults. The utility of IIV in predicting further deterioration should be carefully postulated with prospective studies.
Highlights
Intra-individual variability (IIV), as a facet of within-person variation, has been regarded as a measure of short-term fluctuations in an individual’s performance [1]
With gender and education as covariates, significant correlations were found between age and cognitive function (CDR: r = 0.17, p = 0.042; trail making test B (TMT-B): r = ́0.265, p = 0.002)
Gender and education as covariates, a significant negative relationship was found between ICV-reaction time (RT) and HK MoCA (Table 2)
Summary
Intra-individual variability (IIV), as a facet of within-person variation, has been regarded as a measure of short-term fluctuations in an individual’s performance [1]. An emerging body of evidence has demonstrated a dynamic pattern of IIV across life span, such as IIV is greater in childhood, slightly decreased in adolescence and early stage of adulthood, keeps steady through adulthood, and with a return of rapid increase in late adulthood [2,3]. Intra-individual (IIV) of reaction time (RT), as the short-term fluctuations of RT-based performance, has been reported to be susceptible to cognitive ageing. ICV-RT was negatively correlated with the score of Montreal Cognitive Assessment
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