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3 Harmonized Memory and Language Function in the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) Across the United States and Mexico
- Miguel Arce Rentería, Emily M Briceño, Diefei Chen, Joseph Saenz, Jet M. J. Vonk, Lindsay Kobayashi, Chris Gonzalez, Rich Jones, Rebeca Wong, Kenneth M Langa, David R Weir, Jennifer J Manly, Alden L Gross
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 87-88
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Objective:
Cross-national neuropsychological research is needed to understand the social, economic, and cultural factors associated with cognitive risk and resilience across global aging populations. Memory and language have been shown to be sensitive to age-related cognitive decline and pathological cognitive aging processes and may be more sensitive to subtle cognitive decline than measures of global cognitive function. Thus, we aimed to derive and validate harmonized cognitive domain scores for memory and language across population-based studies in the US and Mexico.
Participants and Methods:Data came from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) and the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) Ancillary Study on Cognitive Aging (Mex-Cog). We used confirmatory factor analysis methodology to create statistically co-calibrated cognitive domains of memory and language. We performed differential item functioning (DIF) analysis to evaluate measurement differences across studies, using a cultural neuropsychological approach to identify comparable items across studies (i.e., cross-study anchors). We evaluated harmonized scores by examining their relationship to age and education in each study.
Results:We included 3347 participants from the HRS-HCAP study [Mage=76.6(7.5), 60% female] and 2042 participants from the Mex-Cog study [Mage=68.1(9.0), 59% female]. Education was classified according to the International Standard Classification of Education in the following categories (HRS-HCAP and Mex-Cog, respectively): none or early childhood education: (0.7%; 50.5%), primary education (4.1%; 22.3%), lower secondary education (7.1%; 15.7%), upper secondary education (41.1%; 3.0%), and any college (47.1%; 8.5%). DIF analyses revealed that 5 out of the 7 memory items and 1 out of the 12 language items demonstrated statistical evidence of measurement differences across studies, meaning that these items measured each underlying cognitive construct differently across studies. After adjusting for DIF by not allowing the items with DIF to be cross-study anchors, harmonized memory and language scores showed generally the expected associations with age and education in each study. Increasing age was associated with lower memory (r=-0.40 in HRS-HCAP; r=-0.44 in Mex-Cog) and language (r=-0.31 in HRS-HCAP and r=-0.67 in Mex-Cog) scores. Increasing years of education was associated with better memory and language scores, with mean scores ranging from z=-0.86 and z=-0.29 among those with a primary education or lower to z=0.33 and z=0.90 among those with any college, for HRS-HCAP and Mex-Cog, respectively.
Conclusions:A cultural neuropsychology approach to statistical harmonization facilitates the generation of harmonized measures of cognitive functioning in cross-national studies. Future work can utilize these harmonized cognitive scores to investigate determinants of late-life cognitive decline and dementia in the US and Mexico.
37 Bilingualism does not modify the association between stroke and cognitive performance in Mexican American older adults
- Emily M Briceno, Wen Chang, Steven G Heeringa, Chris Becker, Nelda Garcia, Ruth Longoria, Lewis B Morgenstern
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 449-450
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Objective:
The Latinx population is rapidly aging and growing in the US and is at increased risk for stroke and dementia. We examined whether bilingualism confers cognitive resilience following stroke in a community-based sample of Mexican American (MA) older adults.
Participants and Methods:Participants included predominantly urban, non-immigrant MAs aged 65+ from the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi- Cognitive study. Participants were recruited using a two-stage area probability sample with door-to-door recruitment until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; sampling and recruitment were then completed via telephone. Cognition was assessed with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; 30-item in-person, 22-item via telephone) in English or Spanish. Bilingualism was assessed via a questionnaire and degree of bilingualism was calculated (range 0%-100% bilingual). Stroke history was collected via self-report. We harmonized the 22-item to the 30-item MoCA using published equipercentile equating. We conducted a series of regressions with the harmonized MoCA score as the dependent variable, stroke history and degree of bilingualism as independent variables, and age, sex/gender, education, assessment language, assessment mode (in-person vs. phone), and self-reported vascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, heart disease) as covariates. We included a stroke history by bilingualism interaction to examine whether bilingualism modifies the association between stroke history and MoCA performance.
Results:Participants included 841 MA older adults (59% women; age M(SE) = 73.5(0.2); 44% less than high school education). Most (77%) of the sample completed the MoCA in English. 93 of 841 participants reported a history of stroke. In an unadjusted model, degree of bilingualism (b = 3.41, p < .0001) and stroke history (b = -1.98, p = .003) were associated with MoCA performance. In a fully adjusted model, stroke history (b = -1.79, p = .0007) but not bilingualism (b = 0.78, p = .21) was associated with MoCA performance. When an interaction term was added to the fully adjusted model, the interaction between stroke history and bilingualism was not significant (b= -0.47, p = .78).
Conclusions:Degree of bilingualism does not modify the association between stroke history and MoCA performance in Mexican American older adults. These results should be replicated in samples of validated strokes, more comprehensive bilingualism and cognitive assessments, and in other bilingual populations.
Decreased Fronto-Limbic Activation and Disrupted Semantic-Cued List Learning in Major Depressive Disorder
- Michelle T. Kassel, Julia A. Rao, Sara J. Walker, Emily M. Briceño, Laura B. Gabriel, Anne L. Weldon, Erich T. Avery, Brennan D. Haase, Marta Peciña, Ciaran M. Considine, Douglas C. Noll, Linas A. Bieliauskas, Monica N. Starkman, Jon-Kar Zubieta, Robert C. Welsh, Bruno Giordani, Sara L. Weisenbach, Scott A. Langenecker
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 22 / Issue 4 / April 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 February 2016, pp. 412-425
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Objectives: Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) demonstrate poorer learning and memory skills relative to never-depressed comparisons (NDC). Previous studies report decreased volume and disrupted function of frontal lobes and hippocampi in MDD during memory challenge. However, it has been difficult to dissociate contributions of short-term memory and executive functioning to memory difficulties from those that might be attributable to long-term memory deficits. Methods: Adult males (MDD, n=19; NDC, n=22) and females (MDD, n=23; NDC, n=19) performed the Semantic List Learning Task (SLLT) during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The SLLT Encoding condition consists of 15 lists, each containing 14 words. After each list, a Distractor condition occurs, followed by cued Silent Rehearsal instructions. Post-scan recall and recognition were collected. Groups were compared using block (Encoding-Silent Rehearsal) and event-related (Words Recalled) models. Results: MDD displayed lower recall relative to NDC. NDC displayed greater activation in several temporal, frontal, and parietal regions, for both Encoding-Silent Rehearsal and the Words Recalled analyses. Groups also differed in activation patterns in regions of the Papez circuit in planned analyses. The majority of activation differences were not related to performance, presence of medications, presence of comorbid anxiety disorder, or decreased gray matter volume in MDD. Conclusions: Adults with MDD exhibit memory difficulties during a task designed to reduce the contribution of individual variability from short-term memory and executive functioning processes, parallel with decreased activation in memory and executive functioning circuits. Ecologically valid long-term memory tasks are imperative for uncovering neural correlates of memory performance deficits in adults with MDD. (JINS, 2016, 22, 412–425)