Psychological well-being in elderly adults with extraordinary episodic memory

Abstract

Objectives: The Northwestern University SuperAging Program studies a rare cohort of individuals over age 80 with episodic memory ability at least as good as middle-age adults to determine what factors contribute to their elite memory performance. As psychological well-being is positively correlated with cognitive performance in older adults, the present study examined whether aspects of psychological well-being distinguish cognitive SuperAgers from their cognitively average-for-age, same-age peers.

Method: Thirty-one SuperAgers and 19 cognitively average-for-age peers completed the Ryff 42-item Psychological Well-Being questionnaire, comprised of 6 subscales: Autonomy, Positive Relations with Others, Environmental Mastery, Personal Growth, Purpose in Life, and Self-Acceptance.

Results: The groups did not differ on demographic factors, including estimated premorbid intelligence. Consistent with inclusion criteria, SuperAgers had better episodic memory scores. Compared to cognitively average-for-age peers, SuperAgers endorsed greater levels of Positive Relations with Others. The groups did not differ on other PWB-42 subscales.

Discussion: While SuperAgers and their cognitively average-for-age peers reported similarly high levels of psychological well-being across multiple dimensions, SuperAgers endorsed greater levels of positive social relationships. This psychological feature could conceivably have a biological relationship to the greater thickness of the anterior cingulate gyrus and higher density of von Economo neurons previously reported in SuperAgers.

Fig 1. Psychological well-being in SuperAgers and cognitively average-for-age elderly adults.

Boxplots for Psychological Well-Being 42-Item (PWB-42) subscale scores are shown (medians, interquartile range, and upper/lower quartile ranges). SuperAgers endorsed significantly greater levels of positive relations with others compared to their cognitively average peers (Median SuperAger: 40, Cognitively Average Elderly: 36; p = 0.005). The groups did not differ on other subscales of the PWB-42 (p’s>0.0083) including Autonomy (Median SuperAger: 34, Cognitively Average Elderly: 34), Environmental Mastery (Median SuperAger: 40.5, Cognitively Average Elderly: 37), Personal Growth (Median SuperAger: 36, Cognitively Average Elderly: 37), Purpose in Life (Median SuperAger: 37.5, Cognitively Average Elderly: 37), or Self-Acceptance (Median SuperAger: 38, Cognitively Average Elderly: 37).