Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Mar 22;23(1):160.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-023-03825-1.

Creativity across the lifespan: changes with age and with dementia

Sabrina D Ross  1 , Thomas Lachmann  2   3 , Saskia Jaarsveld  2 , Steffi G Riedel-Heller  4 , Francisca S Rodriguez  5   4
Affiliations

Creativity across the lifespan: changes with age and with dementia

Sabrina D Ross et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: It is well known that older age is associated with losses in cognitive functioning. Less is known about the extent to which creativity is changing with age or dementia. Aim of the current study was to gain more insights into psychometric aspects of creativity in younger and older people as well as people with dementia.

Method: Our sample comprised three groups, (1) participants between age 18-30 years (n = 24), (2) participants 65 + years without cognitive impairment (n = 24), and (3) participants 65 + years with cognitive impairment / dementia (n = 23). Cognitive abilities were assessed via the Standard Progressive Matrices Test (SPM), Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (MoCa), and Trail Making Test (TMT). Creativity was assessed via the Creative Reasoning Task (CRT), Test of Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP), and Alternate Uses Task (AUT).

Results: Compared to younger people, older people scored significantly lower in only two out of eleven creativity sub-scores (one in the CRT and one in the TCT-DP). Performance in the SPM was significantly associated with these two sub-scores and age. Cognitively impaired older people had significantly lower scores in the creativity task AUT compared to cognitively healthy older people and younger people. The associations between MoCa and AUT scores were also significant.

Conclusion: Creativity appears relatively stable in older age, with exception of those creativity skills that are affected by abstract reasoning (SPM), which appear susceptible to aging. As our findings suggest, cognitive impairment in older age might impair only some aspects of creativity with other creativity aspects being comparable to cognitively healthy people. The age-related and the cognitive status-related effects seem to be independent. The preserved creative abilities can be used in dementia care programs.

Keywords: Age-related cognitive decline; Creativity; Dementia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Means in the creativity task sub-scores CRT-relations and TCT-DP score for younger (age 18-30) and older (age 65 + years; cognitively healthy and impaired) people
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Means in the creative task AUT for older cognitively healthy and cognitively impaired people
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anstey KJ, Low L-F. Normal cognitive changes in aging. Aust Fam Physician. 2004;33(10):783–7. - PubMed
    1. Deary IJ, Corley J, Gow AJ, Harris SE, Houlihan LM, Marioni RE, et al. Age-associated cognitive decline. Br Med Bull. 2009;92(1):135–152. doi: 10.1093/bmb/ldp033. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kwong See ST, Ryan EB. Cognitive mediation of adult age differences in language performance. Psychol Aging. 1995;10(3):458. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.10.3.458. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bugg JM, Zook NA, DeLosh EL, Davalos DB, Davis HP. Age differences in fluid intelligence: Contributions of general slowing and frontal decline. Brain Cogn. 2006;62(1):9–16. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2006.02.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lemaire P, Bherer L. Psychologie du vieillissement: une perspective cognitive: De Boeck Supérieur. 2005.