Abstract
Higher intra-individual lap time variation (LTV) of the 400-m walk is cross-sectionally associated with poorer attention in older adults. Whether higher LTV predicts decline in executive function and whether the relationship is accounted for by slower walking remain unanswered. The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between baseline LTV and longitudinal change in executive function. We used data from 347 participants aged 60 years and older (50.7 % female) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Longitudinal assessments of executive function were conducted between 2007 and 2013, including attention (Trails A, Digit Span Forward Test), cognitive flexibility and set shifting (Trails B, Delta TMT: Trials B minus Trials A), visuoperceptual speed (Digit Symbol Substitution Test), and working memory (Digit Span Backward Test). LTV and mean lap time (MLT) were obtained from the 400-m walk test concurrent with the baseline executive function assessment. LTV was computed as variability of lap time across ten 40-m laps based on individual trajectories. A linear mixed-effects model was used to examine LTV in relation to changes in executive function, adjusted for age, sex, education, and MLT. Higher LTV was associated with greater decline in performance on Trails B (β = 4.322, p < 0.001) and delta TMT (β = 4.230, p < 0.001), independent of covariates. Findings remained largely unchanged after further adjustment for MLT. LTV was not associated with changes in other executive function measures (all p > 0.05). In high-functioning older adults, higher LTV in the 400-m walk predicts executive function decline involving cognitive flexibility and set shifting over a long period of time. High LTV may be an early indicator of executive function decline independent of MLT.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson VA et al (2001) Development of executive functions through late childhood and adolescence in an Australian sample. Dev Neuropsychol 20:385–406
Beauchet O et al (2012) Gait control: a specific subdomain of executive function? J Neuroeng Rehabil 9:12
Beauchet O et al (2013) Gait variability at fast-pace walking speed: a biomarker of mild cognitive impairment? J Nutr Health Aging 17:235–9
Benton A (1965) Manuel pour l’application du test de rétention visuelle. Applications cliniques et expérimentales. 2nd edition., Vol., Paris: Editions du Centre de Psychologie Appliquée.
Ble A et al (2005) Executive function correlates with walking speed in older persons: the InCHIANTI study. J Am Geriatr Soc 53:410–5
Bolandzadeh N et al (2014) Pathways linking regional hyperintensities in the brain and slower gait. Neuroimage 99:7–13
Brach JS et al (2008) Stance time and step width variability have unique contributing impairments in older persons. Gait Posture 27:431–9
Delis DC et al (1991) Profiles of demented and amnesic patients on the California Verbal Learning Test: Implications for the assessment of memory disorders. Psychological Assessment 3:19–26
Deshpande N et al (2009) Gait speed under varied challenges and cognitive decline in older persons: a prospective study. Age Ageing 38:509–14
Doi T et al (2014) Cognitive function and gait speed under normal and dual-task walking among older adults with mild cognitive impairment. BMC Neurol 14:67
Driscoll I et al (2006) Impact of Alzheimer’s pathology on cognitive trajectories in nondemented elderly. Ann Neurol 60:688–95
Ekstrom RB et al (1976) Manual for the kit offactor-referenced cognitive tests, Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service
Fisk JE, Sharp CA (2004) Age-related impairment in executive functioning: updating, inhibition, shifting, and access. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 26:874–90
Fitzpatrick AL et al (2007) Associations of gait speed and other measures of physical function with cognition in a healthy cohort of elderly persons. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 62:1244–51
Hedden T, Gabrieli JD (2004) Insights into the ageing mind: a view from cognitive neuroscience. Nat Rev Neurosci 5:87–96
Herman T et al (2010) Executive control deficits as a prodrome to falls in healthy older adults: a prospective study linking thinking, walking, and falling. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 65:1086–92
Holtzer R et al (2006) Cognitive processes related to gait velocity: results from the Einstein Aging Study. Neuropsychology 20:215–23
Ijmker T, Lamoth CJ (2012) Gait and cognition: the relationship between gait stability and variability with executive function in persons with and without dementia. Gait Posture 35:126–30
Inzitari M et al (2007) Gait speed predicts decline in attention and psychomotor speed in older adults: the health aging and body composition study. Neuroepidemiology 29:156–62
Jokinen H et al (2009) Longitudinal cognitive decline in subcortical ischemic vascular disease—the LADIS Study. Cerebrovasc Dis 27:384–91
Kang HG, Dingwell JB (2008) Separating the effects of age and walking speed on gait variability. Gait Posture 27:572–7
Kortte KB, Horner MD, Windham WK (2002) The trail making test, part B: cognitive flexibility or ability to maintain set? Appl Neuropsychol 9:106–9
Kuo HK, Lipsitz LA (2004) Cerebral white matter changes and geriatric syndromes: is there a link? J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 59:818–26
Lezak MD (1995) Neuropsychological Assessment, 3rd edition., Vol., New York: Oxford University Press.
Lezak MD et al (2004) Neuropsychological assessment. 4th ed, Vol., Oxford University Press, New York, NY, US
Li S et al (2001) Short-term fluctuations in elderly people’s sensorimotor functioning predict text and spatial memory performance: The Macarthur Successful Aging Studies. Gerontology 47:100–16
Martin KL et al (2013) Cognitive function, gait, and gait variability in older people: a population-based study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 68:726–32
McKhann G et al (1984) Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: report of the NINCDS-ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurology 34:939–44
Mielke MM et al (2013) Assessing the temporal relationship between cognition and gait: slow gait predicts cognitive decline in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 68:929–37
Mirelman A et al (2012) Executive function and falls in older adults: new findings from a five-year prospective study link fall risk to cognition. PLoS One 7:e40297
Nadkarni NK et al (2014) Association between cerebellar gray matter volumes, gait speed, and information-processing ability in older adults enrolled in the Health ABC study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 69:996–1003
Newman AB et al (2006) Association of long-distance corridor walk performance with mortality, cardiovascular disease, mobility limitation, and disability. JAMA. 295:2018--26
Park DC et al (2002) Models of visuospatial and verbal memory across the adult life span. Psychol Aging 17:299–320
Pugh KG, Lipsitz LA (2002) The microvascular frontal-subcortical syndrome of aging. Neurobiol Aging 23:421–31
Roriz-Cruz M et al (2007) Cognitive impairment and frontal-subcortical geriatric syndrome are associated with metabolic syndrome in a stroke-free population. Neurobiol Aging 28:1723–36
Rosano C et al (2005) Association between physical and cognitive function in healthy elderly: the health, aging and body composition study. Neuroepidemiology 24:8–14
Rosano C et al (2012) Slower gait, slower information processing and smaller prefrontal area in older adults. Age Ageing 41:58–64
Rosen WG (1980) Verbal fluency in aging and dementia. Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology 2:135–146
Schroeter ML et al (2007) Neurovascular coupling is impaired in cerebral microangiopathy—An event-related Stroop study. Neuroimage 34:26–34
Simonsick EM et al (2001) Measuring fitness in healthy older adults: the Health ABC Long Distance Corridor Walk. J Am Geriatr Soc 49:1544–8
Simonsick EM et al (2014) Assessing fatigability in mobility-intact older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 62:347–51
Thurstone LL (1938) Primary mental abilities. Psychometric Monographs, No. 1, Vol., Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press.
Tian Q et al (2015) Lap time variation and executive function in older adults: the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Age Ageing doi:10.1093/ageing/afv076
Tiffin J (1968) Purdue Pegboard Examiner Manual, Vol., Science Research Associates, Chicago, IL
Vestergaard S et al (2009) Characteristics of 400-meter walk test performance and subsequent mortality in older adults. Rejuvenation Res 12:177–84
Wechsler D (1981) WAIS-R manual: Wechsler adult intelligence scale-revised. Psychological Corporation, Vol
Yamashiro K et al (2014) Cerebral microbleeds are associated with worse cognitive function in the nondemented elderly with small vessel disease. Cerebrovasc Dis Extra 4:212–20
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
About this article
Cite this article
Tian, Q., Resnick, S.M., Ferrucci, L. et al. Intra-individual lap time variation of the 400-m walk, an early mobility indicator of executive function decline in high-functioning older adults?. AGE 37, 115 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-015-9855-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-015-9855-0