Table 1.
Demographic information and neuropsychological data
| Neuropsychological measure | Young adult (mean/SD) | Superager (mean/SD) | Typical older adult (mean/SD) | ANOVA post hoc comparisons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 41 | 17 | 23 | SA vs YA | TOA vs YA | SA vs TOA |
| Sex (% female) | 51.2% | 70.6% | 34.8.% | SA > YA*** | TOA < YA*** | |
| Age (years) | 24.5 (3.6) | 67.8 (6.0) | 66.2 (5.1) | |||
| Education (years) | 16.0 (2.2) | 17.2 (2.2) | 16.2 (2.0) | |||
| Trail Making Test A (s) | 23.0 (9.4) | 28.8 (7.4) | 28.3 (9.6) | |||
| Trail Making Test B (s) | 51.2 (17.0) | 59.0 (12.8) | 66.3 (30.3) | TOA > YA* | ||
| CVLT Trial 1 (16) | 8.6 (2.2) | 9.7 (1.7) | 7.3 (2.5) | SA > TOA** | ||
| CVLT Trial 5 (16) | 14.0 (1.8) | 14.7 (1.2) | 12.0 (2.6) | TOA < YA*** | SA > TOA*** | |
| CVLT total learning (80) | 60.9 (9.6) | 65.9 (4.8) | 51.7 (11.1) | TOA < YA** | SA > TOA*** | |
| CVLT List B (16) | 8.3 (2.1) | 7.4 (2.3) | 6.55 (2.5) | TOA < YA** | ||
| CVLT List B intrusions | 0.20 (0.46) | 0.18 (0.53) | 0.45 (0.60) | |||
| CVLT Long Delay Free Recall (16) | 13.2 (2.2) | 15.0 (0.9) | 11.0 (2.2) | SA > YA** | TOA < YA** | SA > TOA*** |
| CVLT Long Delay Free Recall intrusions | 0.28 (0.55) | 0.29 (0.47) | 0.86 (0.91) | TOA > YA** | SA < TOA* | |
| CVLT recognition rate | 97.0% | 98.3% | 94.1% | SA > TOA† | ||
| CVLT Long Delay Free Recall semantic cluster ratio (4) | 3.1 (0.9) | 3.7 (0.6) | 2.8 (1.3) | SA > TOA* | ||
| Flanker congruent (s) | 0.7 (0.2) | 1.1 (0.5) | 1.0 (0.3) | SA > YA*** | TOA > YA*** | |
| Flanker incongruent (s) | 0.8 (0.2) | 1.2 (0.6) | 1.2 (0.3) | SA > YA*** | TOA > YA*** | |
| Flanker congruent error rate | 0.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% | |||
| Flanker incongruent error rate | 0.0% | 0.8% | 1.2% | |||
| Continuous performance task (s) | 0.53 (0.09) | 0.65 (0.07) | 0.66 (0.10) | SA > YA*** | TOA > YA*** | |
| 1-back (d′) | 2.6 (0.7) | 2.5 (0.8) | 2.4 (0.6) | |||
| 2-back (d′) | 1.5 (1.3) | 1.5 (1.0) | 1.3 (0.9) | |||
| Verbal fluency score | 31.2 (8.2) | 32.8 (7.1) | 31.2 (9.5) | |||
| Category fluency score | 37.3 (8.8) | 38.7 (6.3) | 36.9 (7.2) | |||
| Mini–Mental State Examination (30) | 29.2 (0.8) | 29.7 (0.5) | 28.8 (1.2) | |||
CVLT total learning is the sum of items learned across all encoding trials. Intrusions are words freely recalled that were not on the appropriate list. Recognition rate is the percent correctly recognized. Semantic cluster ratio indicates the degree to which items within each of the four semantic categories were recalled together. Values in parentheses are the maximum score unless indicated otherwise. s, seconds; d', sensitivity index computed as Z(proportion of false alarms)-Z(proportion of hits); SA, Superager; TOA, typical older adult; YA, young adult.
*p < 0.05;
**p < 0.01;
***p < 0.001;
†p < 0.10