Table 3.
Linear associations between age, sex and education and cognitive domains within the generations
| G0 (59–92 years) | G1 (41–56 years) | G2 (7–37 years) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive domain | β estimate (95% CI) |
β estimate (95% CI) |
β estimate (95% CI) |
|
| Overall cognition | Age, years | − 0.05 (− 0.06, − 0.04) | − 0.07 (− 0.08, − 0.06) | 0.03 (0.03, 0.04) |
| Female sex | 0.05 (− 0.05, 0.15) | − 0.25 (− 0.35, − 0.15) | − 0.03 (− 0.12, 0.06) | |
| Education, years | 0.04 (0.03, 0.06) | 0.06 (0.05, 0.08) | 0.03 (0.01, 0.04) | |
| Learning and memory | Age, years | − 0.05 (− 0.05, − 0.04) | − 0.06 (− 0.07, − 0.05) | − 0.00 (− 0.01, 0.00) |
| Female sex | 0.28 (0.19, 0.38) | 0.09 (− 0.01, 0.20) | 0.12 (0.03, 0.20) | |
| Education, years | 0.04 (0.03, 0.05) | 0.06 (0.04, 0.07) | 0.03 (0.02, 0.04) | |
| Working memory | Age, years | − 0.02 (− 0.03, − 0.01) | − 0.05 (− 0.06, − 0.04) | 0.05 (0.04, 0.05) |
| Female sex | − 0.23 (− 0.30, − 0.16) | − 0.49 (− 0.59, − 0.39) | − 0.11 (− 0.19, − 0.03) | |
| Education, years | 0.01 (0.00, 0.02) | 0.03 (0.02, 0.05) | 0.01 (− 0.00, 0.02) | |
| Information processing | Age, years | − 0.06 (− 0.07, − 0.04) | − 0.02 (− 0.03, − 0.01) | 0.08 (0.07, 0.09) |
| Female sex | − 0.07 (− 0.19, 0.05) | − 0.23 (− 0.32, − 0.14) | − 0.20 (− 0.29, − 0.11) | |
| Education, years | 0.07 (0.05, 0.08) | 0.08 (0.06, 0.09) | 0.03 (0.02, 0.04) | |
| Reaction time | Age, years | − 0.02 (− 0.03, − 0.01) | 0.02 (0.01, 0.03) | 0.05 (0.04, 0.06) |
| Female sex | 0.21 (0.07, 0.35) | 0.25 (0.16, 0.33) | 0.52 (0.41, 0.62) | |
| Education, years | 0.00 (− 0.02, 0.02) | − 0.00 (− 0.01, 0.01) | − 0.03 (− 0.05, − 0.02) |
The principal components of cognitive performance were standardized in relation to the age group 20–29 years (20 ≤ age < 30). Hence, the β estimates describe how many standard deviations (95% confidence intervals) the given principal component differs from the highest values reached at age 20–29 years