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Biomedical subjects

D Arenberg

Publications and source records attributed to D Arenberg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Misclassification of "probable senile dementia--Alzheimer's type" in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Several papers in the literature refer to 27 men in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study as "probable Senile Dementia--Alzheimer's Type." The method used to identify these presumed cases was based on a retrospective review of archival records. An examination of the cognitive performance data of these 27 men is described in this report. Of the 27 presumed cases of SDAT, 15 had cognitive performance measures concurrent with (or later than) the latest historical records available for case identification; the cognitive data for 12 of those 15 men were inconsistent with SDAT. Conclusions based on the number and characteristics of these presumed cases of SDAT must be viewed with skepticism.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Individual-differences assessment of the relationship between change in and initial level of adult cognitive functioning.

Methodological factors may have been partially responsible for the inconsistency in findings from previous investigations into the relationship between change in, and initial level of, adult cognitive functioning. An alternative data-analytic procedure is proposed and applied to data from 277 men (25-76 years of age at initial testing) over 3 measurement occasions (interwave intervals of 6.7 years). Performances on both the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test (BVRT) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Vocabulary subtest were analyzed. The findings demonstrate that the significant negative relationships between change and initial status, found on both tests, were partially a function of measurement error. Once adjustments were made for errors of measurement, the previously significant negative relationship for the BVRT data became significantly positive, whereas for the WAIS the relationship remained significantly negative, although to a lesser degree. The importance of accounting for errors of measurement is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Collapse of intercellular spaces of canine tracheal mucosa by epinephrine.

Variations in the volume and width of lateral intercellular spaces (LICS) of dog tracheal mucosa in vitro were investigated by use of stereological and linear measurements of electron micrographs. Alterations in the volume or width of LICS were then correlated with physiological conditions and electrical parameters. LICS were quite narrow between the ciliated cells compared with those around the nonciliated dark cells (goblet, brush, and basal cells). LICS comprised 6.8 +/- 2.9% of tissue volume in preparations that were mounted in an Ussing chamber and short-circuited, whereas in unmounted and open-circuited tissues it occupied only 1 +/- 0.2% of the volume of the preparations (P less than 0.016, n = 5). The effects of stimulation of Cl secretion by 1 microM epinephrine were tested. In seven epinephrine-treated tissues LICS volume was 2.9 +/- 0.9% of total epithelial volume compared with 8.7 +/- 2.9% in control tissues (P less than 0.015). The width of LICS around dark cells in epinephrine-treated tissues was 0.42 +/- 0.06 micron compared with 0.98 +/- 0.13 micron in control tissues (P less than 0.001). The data suggest that LICS act as pliable fluid reservoirs that empty and collapse on stimulation of Cl secretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Declines in divergent thinking with age: cross-sectional, longitudinal, and cross-sequential analyses.

Six measures of divergent thinking were administered to 825 men ranging in age from 17 to 101 over the period from 1959 to 1972; repeat administrations were given to a subset of 278 men after a 6-year interval. Cross-sectional analyses showed curvilinear trends, with an increase in scores for men under 40 and a decline thereafter. Repeated measures analyses on subjects initially aged 33 to 74 generally replicated this finding, whereas cross-sequential analyses suggested a decline for all cohorts tested at a later time. Additional analyses suggested that not all of the decline could be attributed to reduced speed of response production. These longitudinal findings confirm earlier cross-sectional reports of decline in divergent thinking abilities with age.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

A longitudinal study of cognitive performance in noninsulin dependent (type II) diabetic men.

Diabetic men (noninsulin dependent, Type II) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging were compared with nondiabetics on two cognitive performance tests--the Benton Visual Retention Test, a measure of nonverbal memory, and the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Cross-sectional comparisons of 52 diabetics with matched controls and with 610 controls (covaried for age and education) found no group differences and no support for an accelerated cognitive aging effect of diabetes. In addition, longitudinal comparisons over six years and over twelve years found no effect of diabetes on change in cognitive performance. Possible reasons for disagreements of cross-sectional findings in the literature are discussed. One possibility is that only specific aspects of cognitive performance are adversely affected by diabetes. It is also possible that lower socio-economic status (as indexed by education) may be a risk factor in the effect of diabetes on cognitive performance, perhaps by delaying diagnosis and treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Differences and changes with age in the Benton visual retention test.

The relation of adult age and performance on memory for designs (Benton Revised Visual Retention Test) was determined for men by analyzing: (a) three cross-sectional samples (Ns = 402, 162, and 293); (b) two longitudinal samples (repeated measures at least 6 years apart, Ns = 268 and 82); and (c) within-cohort comparisons of men born in the same period, but tested at different times. The results were essentially the same for the age differences, age changes, and estimates of age changes based upon within-cohort differences. Increases in errors were small for the young groups, moderate for the men in their 50s and 60s, and substantial for the men over 70. WAIS Vocabulary measures for these same samples showed small cross-sectional differences favoring the older men, no overall longitudinal change but small relative deficits for the older participants, and small declines in estimates of age changes based upon comparisons of independent samples born during the same period. In general, the results indicate age declines in memory-for-designs performance for men particularly late in life, but only small (if any) age declines in vocabulary for the same samples. No correlation was found in either longitudinal sample between change in memory performance and change in vocabularly score.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Age changes, cohort differences, and cultural change on the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey.

The relation between adult age and temperament was investigated using the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey. Between the years 1958 and 1974, the GZTS was administered to 915 men from 17 to 98 years of age in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study. Repeated measures were obtained for 336 men approximately 7 years after initial testing. Each GZTS scale was analyzed cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Sequential analyses of independent samples were also carried out in an attempt to separate the effects of maturation from those of generational and cultural change. Results showed that Masculinity declined at all ages, but General Activity declined only after age 50. Thoughtfulness and Personal Relations showed cultural declines during the time period studied, whereas Friendliness showed a long-term cultural decline. Later-born cohorts were lower in Restraint and higher in Ascendance than early-born cohorts.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Disparate time spans in sequential studies of aging.

In several published studies of intelligence and adult age, a sequential design was used in which birth cohort and time of measurement were the independent variables in an ANOVA. The time span of these two variables were quite disparate; the cohort variable covered about 50 years whereas the time-of-measurement variable covered 7 or 14 years. It was demonstrated here that when time spans are disparate, even when all differences are attributable entirely to age changes, the F values typically will be larger for the cohort variable and errors in interpretations became likely. When cohort differences are statistically significant and time-of-measurement differences are not, the conclusion that age differences are "generational" and not due to age changes within individuals may be wrong.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Age differences in cognition in healthy educated men: a factor analysis of experimental measures.

Performance measures for a wide variety of cognitive laboratory tasks were factor analyzed, and the factors were identifiable as aspects of cognitive processing. The sample consisted of 96 healthy, educated men whose ages ranged from 20 to 80 yr. The factors were identified as speed of information processing, secondary memory, attention, and primary processing efficiency. Factor scores for each factor were correlated with age; r = -0.35, -0.30, -0.40, and -0.15 respectively, with better performance associated with lower age. The sample was divided into subsamples of 32 young (20-39), 32 middle (40-59), and 32 old (60-80) subjects; and each subsample was factor-analyzed separately to determine whether the factor structure was similar for all age groups. Evidence for factor-structure invariance with adult age was found in that all four factors in the primary analysis were identifiable in each of the age subsamples. The findings are consistent with a model of continual cognitive decline with age in healthy, educated adult males.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

The effects of input condition on free recall in young and old adults.

Free recall lists were presented to young (17 to 19, N = 42) and old (60 to 70, N = 42) males under three conditions: (a) active auditory - subjects read words aloud; (b) passive auditory - experimenter read words aloud as shown; (c) visual only - no one read words aloud. For words from the end of a list, recall was best at the active-auditory condition and worst at the visual-only condition for both age groups. For words from the beginning of a list, recall was best at the visual-only condition and worst at the active-auditory condition for both age groups. The young group recalled more words than the old at each presentation position under each condition.

Adolescent↗