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

Content Provider	Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Author	Dorota Buczylowska Franz Petermann
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.
e-ISSN	16641078
DOI	10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00329
Journal	Frontiers in Psychology
Volume Number	9
Language	English
Publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
Publisher Date	2018-03-01
Publisher Place	Switzerland
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Psychology Executive Functions Intraindividual Variability Dispersion Cognitive Aging Nab
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

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