Characterization of verbal fluency in young and older adults

Abstract

Verbal fluency (VF) tasks are widely used in the neuropsychological assessment of older adults, however there is a lack of Brazilian studies that compare VF between age groups using tasks of different modalities. The objective of this study is to investigate the performance of healthy young and older adults in different VF tasks (FAS, animals, fruits, actions and switching), analyzing in a complementary way the use of clustering and switching. The sample consisted of 80 adults divided into two age groups (20-40; over 60 years old) and years of education for the second group (basic education; higher education). Instruments were applied to characterize the sample and five VF tasks. Demographic and clinical variables and performance on VF tasks were analyzed using the t test for independent samples. Results indicated a statistically significant difference between age groups in performance on VF tasks. In the elderly group, there was better performance in the phonological, action and switching tasks in those participants with a higher educational level. It is concluded that VF tasks are sensitive to the expected decline in cognitive-executive functions due to the typical aging process, as well as the influence of education, particularly in tasks that require more cognitive effort.