RESUMO
Resumen Objetivo. En este trabajo, se pretende conocer la relación entre la edad, la memoria de trabajo verbal y visoespacial, y la reserva cognitiva en adultos mayores de 40 años. Método. Se trabajó con una muestra conformada por 50 personas de 40 años en adelante, de ambos sexos y sin patologías asociadas. Para la recolección de datos, se administraron las subpruebas de INECO frontal screening, que corresponden al índice de memoria de trabajo (IMT), y el Cuestionario de Reserva Cognitiva (CRC). Resultados. En esta muestra, se pudo determinar que, mientras mayor capacidad de reserva cognitiva posea una persona, mayor será su capacidad de memoria de trabajo, en especial, de tipo visoespacial.
Abstract Objective. In this work, it was intended to show the relationship between age, verbal and visuospatial working memory, and cognitive reserve in people over 40 years old. Method. The sample was composed of 50 people from 40 years old onwards, of both genders and without associated pathologies. For data collection, the INECO frontal screening subtests and the Cognitive Reserve Questionnaire (CRC) were administered. Results. In this sample, it was possible to determine that the greater the cognitive reserve capacity a person has, the greater their working memory capacity will be, specially the visuospatial type.
Assuntos
Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Adulto , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Envelhecimento , Reserva Cognitiva/fisiologia , Testes de Memória e Aprendizagem , Memória/fisiologiaRESUMO
Abstract Working memory is an active memory system serving the realization of complex cognitive tasks. Over the last decades' research has centered on studying the relationship of this memory system or any of its components with different cognitive functions, such as intelligence. The aim of this study is to analyze the relation between visuospatial working memory, processing speed and general intelligence, and the possible mediation role of some of these variables. To carry out this work, two studies were conducted. On Study 1 participated212 Spanish speaking college students, and a Spanish visuospatial working memory battery was designed and validated -the visuospatial Computerized Working Memory Battery (Batería Informatizada de Memoria de Trabajo Viso-Espacial; BIMeT-VE)-. On Study 2 participated 114 Spanish speaking college students, and the relationship among visuospatial working memory, processing speed and general intelligence was analyzed. The results showed that general intelligence is directly supported by the processing speed and to maintain visuospatial information for short periods of time, and indirectly by the ability to concurrently process visuospatial information.
Resumo A memória de trabalho é um sistema de memória ativo ao serviço da realização de tarefas cognitivas complexas. Nas últimas décadas as pesquisas têm-se centrado em estudar a relação entre a memória de trabalho ou seus subsistemas e outras funções cognitivas, como a inteligência. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a relação entre a memória de trabalho visuoespacial, a velocidade de processamento e a inteligência geral, e o possível papel mediador destas variáveis. Por esta razão, foram feitos dois estudos. No primeiro desenhou-se e validou-se a Bateria Computorizada de Memória de Trabalho Visual e Espacial (BIMeT-VE) numa amostra de 212 estudantes universitários. No segundo estudo que envolveu 114 estudantes universitários analisou-se a relação entre a memória de trabalho visual e espacial, a velocidade de processamento e a inteligência geral. Os resultados mostraram que a inteligência geral está diretamente associada com a velocidade de processamento e com a habilidade de manter a informação visual e espacial a curto prazo, e indiretamente pela habilidade de processar informação visual e espacial de maneira simultânea.
Resumen La memoria de trabajo es un sistema de memoria activo al servicio de la realización de tareas cognitivas complejas. En las últimas décadas las investigaciones se han centrado sobre la relación de este sistema de memoria o alguno de sus componentes con diferentes funciones cognitivas, como la inteligencia. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la relación entre la memoria de trabajo viso-espacial, la velocidad de procesamiento y la inteligencia general, y evaluar el posible rol mediador de alguna de estas variables. Para ello se realizaron dos estudios. En el Estudio 1 se diseñó y validó la Batería Informatizada de Memoria de Trabajo Viso-Espacial (BIMeT-VE) con 212 estudiantes universitarios hispanoparlantes. En el Estudio 2, en el que participaron 114 estudiantes universitarios hispanoparlantes se estudió la relación entre la memoria de trabajo viso-espacial, la velocidad de procesamiento y la inteligencia general. Los resultados mostraron que la inteligencia general está directamente relacionada con la velocidad de procesamiento y con la habilidad de mantener información viso-espacial por breves períodos de tiempo, e indirectamente por la habilidad de procesar concurrentemente información viso-espacial.
RESUMO
Resumen El artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación empírica sobre las relaciones evolutivas entre la memoria de trabajo visuoespacial y la planificación cognitiva en un grupo de 100 personas sanas con inteligencia normal y edades entre 10 y 30 años. Se aplicó el Subtest de Cubos de Corsi, de la Escala de Memoria de Wechsler m y la Torre de Londres. Los análisis de correlación para el rango completo (10-30) demostraron la existencia de una correlación estadísticamente significativa (0.43; p-value < 0.001). En los tres rangos de edad también se encontraron correlaciones estadísticamente significativas (p value < 0.008): 0.44 para el rango 10-15; 0.28 para el rango 16-20; y 0.32 para el rango 21-30. No se encontró un aumento en el funcionamiento ejecutivo asociado con la edad, pese a que la teoría y la evidencia empírica así lo demuestran. Se describen y discuten posibles explicaciones sobre los resultados.
Abstract The article presents the results of a correlational empirical research on the developmental relationships between visuospatial working memory and cognitive planning in a group of 100 healthy people with normal intelligence with ages between 10 and 30 years. The Corsi block test, from the Wechsler Memory Scale III, and the Tower of London were applied. Correlation analyzes for the full range (10-30) demonstrated the existence of a statistically significant correlation (0.43, p-value <0.001). In the three age statistically significant correlations (p value <0.008) were also found: 0.44 for the range 10-15; 0.28 for the range 16-20; and 0.32 for 21-30 range. No increase in executive functioning associated with age was found, although the theory and empirical evidence prove it. Possible explanations for the results are described and discussed.
RESUMO
Many studies have investigated the influence of emotion on memory processes across the human lifespan. Some results have shown older adults (OA) performing better with positive stimuli, some with negative items, whereas some found no impact of emotional valence. Here we tested, in two independent studies, how younger adults (YA) and OA would perform in a visuospatial working memory (VSWM) task with positive, negative, and neutral images. The task consisted of identifying the new location of a stimulus in a crescent set of identical stimuli presented in different locations in a touch-screen monitor. In other words, participants should memorize the locations previously occupied to identify the new location. For each trial, the number of occupied locations increased until 8 or until a mistake was made. In study 1, 56 YA and 38 OA completed the task using images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Results showed that, although YA outperformed OA, no effects of emotion were found. In study 2, 26 YA and 25 OA were tested using facial expressions as stimuli. Data from this study showed that negative faces facilitated performance and this effect did not differ between age groups. No differences were found between men and women. Taken together, our findings suggest that YA and OA's VSWM can be influenced by the emotional valence of the information, though this effect was present only for facial stimuli. Presumably, this may have happened due to the social and biological importance of such stimuli, which are more effective in transmitting emotions than IAPS images. Critically, our results also indicate that the mixed findings in the literature about the influence of aging on the interactions between memory and emotion may be caused by the use of different stimuli and methods. This possibility should be kept in mind in future studies about memory and emotion across the lifespan.