A – 126 The Roles of Cognitive Flexibility and Switching in Prospective Memory in Healthy Aging and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract Objective Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to execute an intended action in the future and is impacted by the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) process. “Simple” PM is the act of performing a single action in response to a cue (e.g. taking a pill after dinner). “Complex” PM is the act of selecting amongst behavior choices in response to a cue (e.g. taking a certain pill before dinner and another afterward). This study examines the roles of cognitive flexibility and switching in PM in healthy older controls (HC) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Method Participants included 58 HC and 52 persons with MCI. Simple PM was measured by asking participants to request a pill after each of a series of neuropsychological tests. Complex PM was assessed by requesting one pill after a memory task and two pills after a non-memory task. Cognitive flexibility was measured with Trail Making Test B (TMT-B), and switching was measured with P/R condition from the Letter Fluency task and the Fruit/Furniture condition from the Category Fluency task. Results Multiple regression analyses revealed that in HC, cognitive fluency and switching did not predict either subtype of PM. In MCI, these skills predicted simple PM, with cognitive flexibility being a unique predictor, but not complex PM. Conclusion Findings reveal that cognitive flexibility contributes to simple PM in MCI, but not in healthy aging. This suggests that in older adults with early cognitive difficulties, the ability to adjust behavior to switch from an ongoing task to new circumstances is critical for executing intended actions.