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Mood is a key determinant of cognitive performance in community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional analysis

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Abstract

Identification of predictors of cognitive trajectories through the establishment of composite or single-parameter dimensional categories of cognition and mood may facilitate development of strategies to improve quality of life in the elderly. Participants (n = 487, aged 50+ years) were representative of the Portuguese population in terms of age, gender, and educational status. Cognitive and mood profiles were established using a battery of neurocognitive and psychological tests. Data were subjected to principal component analysis to identify core dimensions of cognition and mood, encompassing multiple test variables. Dimensions were correlated with age and with respect to gender, education, and occupational status. Cluster analysis was applied to isolate distinct patterns of cognitive performance and binary logistic regression models to explore interrelationships between aging, cognition, mood, and socio-demographic characteristics. Four main dimensions were identified: memory, executive function, global cognitive status, and mood. Based on these, strong and weak cognitive performers were distinguishable. Cluster analysis revealed further distinction within these two main categories into very good, good, poor, and very poor performers. Mood was the principal factor contributing to the separation between very good and good, as well as poor and very poor, performers. Clustering was also influenced by gender and education, albeit to a lesser extent; notably, however, female gender × lower educational background predicted significantly poorer cognitive performance with increasing age. Mood has a significant impact on the rate of cognitive decline in the elderly. Gender and educational level are early determinants of cognitive performance in later life.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the European Commission (FP7) “SwitchBox” (Contract HEALTH-F2-2010-259772). NCS is supported by a SwitchBox post-doctoral fellowship. We are thankful to all study participants. The authors would like to acknowledge all colleagues who assisted with participant recruitment and evaluation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Campus Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Nadine Correia Santos, Patrício Soares Costa, Pedro Cunha, Jorge Cotter, Adriana Sampaio, João J Cerqueira, Joana Almeida Palha & Nuno Sousa

  2. ICVS/3B’s, PT Government Associate Laboratory, 4710-057, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal

    Nadine Correia Santos, Patrício Soares Costa, Pedro Cunha, Jorge Cotter, João J Cerqueira, Joana Almeida Palha & Nuno Sousa

  3. Clinical Academic Center, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Nadine Correia Santos, Patrício Soares Costa, João J Cerqueira, Joana Almeida Palha & Nuno Sousa

  4. Centro Hospitalar do Alto Ave–EPE, 4810-055, Guimarães, Portugal

    Pedro Cunha & Jorge Cotter

  5. Neuropsychophysiology Lab, CIPsi, School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Adriana Sampaio

  6. Department of Psychology–Neuropsychology, University of Munich, D80802, Munich, Germany

    Joseph Zihl

  7. Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry, D80804, Munich, Germany

    Joseph Zihl & Osborne F. X. Almeida

Authors
  1. Nadine Correia Santos
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  2. Patrício Soares Costa
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  3. Pedro Cunha
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  4. Jorge Cotter
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  5. Adriana Sampaio
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  6. Joseph Zihl
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  7. Osborne F. X. Almeida
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  8. João J Cerqueira
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  9. Joana Almeida Palha
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  10. Nuno Sousa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nuno Sousa.

Additional information

Nadine Correia Santos and Patrício Soares Costa contributed equally in the authorship and should be listed as co-first authors.

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Santos, N.C., Costa, P.S., Cunha, P. et al. Mood is a key determinant of cognitive performance in community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional analysis. AGE 35, 1983–1993 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9482-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9482-y

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