Age-related changes in cognitive performance - A quantitative study of cognitive changes from young to middle age adulthood

Abstract

This master thesis is divided into two main parts. Part I provides a theoretical introduction from the research field of neurocognitive aging. The overall focus in this thesis is age-related changes in cognitive performance, and the content in Part I is included to provide the reader with an insight in the complex field of age-related neurocognitive science. Here are central findings and possible explanations to these findings, techniques used to carry out neurocognitive research and possible benefits and limitations with different kind of study design presented. The second half of part I presents the executive functions and the cognitive domains relevant to the experiment in part II. Part II presents the results of an empirical study of cognitive performance in young and middle aged adults. The participants’ cognitive performance in regards to processing speed, working memory and verbal comprehension were tested and compared in the two age groups; Young adults (18-30 years) and middle aged adults (50-65 years)