Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Increasing levels of semantic verbal fluency in elderly English adults.

Llewellyn, David J.; Matthews, Fiona E.

Authors

David J. Llewellyn



Abstract

Analyses incorporating large independent population-based samples and identical measures are needed to investigate recent trends in cognitive function. Nationally representative independent cohorts of community living individuals in England aged 65 years or older from the MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing Study in 1991 (n = 9458) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing in 2002 (n = 5196) were compared. East Cambridgeshire participants aged 65-69 years in 1991 (n = 680) were also compared to an independent cohort examined in 1996 (n = 600). Semantic verbal fluency, as measured by the animal naming neuropsychological test, increased by 1.1 extra words a minute in England between 1991 and 2002 (95% CI 0.9, 1.3). A similar increase was also observed in East Cambridgeshire. Levels of semantic verbal fluency appear to have increased in the older English population, which may help to buffer the aging population from future increases in dementia.

Citation

Llewellyn, D. J., & Matthews, F. E. (2009). Increasing levels of semantic verbal fluency in elderly English adults. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 16(4), 433-445. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825580902773867

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2009
Deposit Date Dec 8, 2023
Journal Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section B, Aging, neuropsychology and cognition
Print ISSN 1382-5585
Electronic ISSN 1744-4128
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Volume 16
Issue 4
Pages 433-445
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/13825580902773867
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4455237