Cognitive-Linguistic Abilities in Young and Old Adults: A Comparative Study

Introduction: Age-related changes in cognitive and language functions have been extensively researched over the past half-century. Older adults represent a unique population for studying cognition and language because of the challenges presented with investigating this population, including individual differences in various factors. The aim of the study is to compare cognitive and linguistic abilities between young and older adults and further document the factors influencing these abilities. Methods: This study incorporated a standard group comparison research design. We recruited 33 young (mean age: 23.5 ± 4.02 years, range: 18–30) and 31 older adults (mean age: 67.2 ± 6.6 years, range: 55–82). The participants performed a set of cognitive and linguistic tasks such as trail making task, digit span test, free recall, confrontation naming, verbal fluency task, and picture description task. The statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences software. Descriptive statistics was done initially, and then to check the association Pearson’s correlation analyses was conducted was conducted. Results: Young adults outperformed older adults in most of the tasks. However, the aging effect was not robust in certain cognitive and linguistic domains. Further, the study identified a few risk and protective factors for cognitive-linguistic changes with aging . Conclusions: Understanding the pattern of cognitive and linguistic differences in older adults and factors influencing the same could facilitate the development of assessment and intervention protocols to reduce the risk of cognitive-linguistic decline in aging.