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. 2018 Mar 14:9:329.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00329. eCollection 2018.

Intraindividual Variability in Executive Function Performance in Healthy Adults: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the NAB Executive Functions Module

Dorota Buczylowska  1 , Franz Petermann  1
Affiliations

Intraindividual Variability in Executive Function Performance in Healthy Adults: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the NAB Executive Functions Module

Dorota Buczylowska et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

The current study was aimed at investigating across-tasks intraindividual variability, also termed dispersion, in EF performance. The German adaptation of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) was used as a measure of EFs. Data of 444 participants aged 18-99 from six NAB Executive Functions Module subtests (i.e., Planning, Mazes, Letter Fluency, Judgment, Categories, and Word Generation) along with the NAB Total Index score as a measure of overall cognitive ability were analyzed. Maximum discrepancy (MD) was applied as a measure of dispersion. MD values ranged from 0.47 to 5.20 indicating substantial across-tasks dispersion in EF performance. Furthermore, dispersion moderately decreased with advancing age. Taking overall cognitive ability into account revealed that dispersion might be lower at older ages; especially, when associated with low overall ability levels. The dedifferentiation hypothesis offers a plausible explanation for these findings. That is, the cognitive profiles of older people might be less heterogenous than that of younger people, which may be due to age-related central nervous system constraints.

Keywords: NAB; cognitive aging; dispersion; executive functions; intraindividual variability.

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