Differences in neuropsychological functioning associated with age, education, neurological status, and magnetic resonance imaging findings in neurologically healthy elderly individuals.

In a cross-sectional study, a sample of 113 individuals, 55 to 85 years old, without any neurological diseases was investigated. The study provides information on differences associated with age, education, and gender, and in relation to neurological status, magnetic resonance imaging, and cognitive functioning. Differences between age groups were shown in memory, constructional, and language functions, and especially in tests related to speed and attention. Education was related to most of the cognitive functions, but especially to verbal intellectual functions, visual and logical memory, language functions, and calculation. Gender differences were found in finger tapping, constructional functions, and verbal intellectual functions. Primitive reflexes showed a tendency to correlate with comprehension and memory of sentences. Extrapyramidal signs were related to psychomotor speed, and attention, verbal fluency, and set shifting together with intellectual functions and learning. Central atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging was related to memory functions in those 65 and 70 years of age, whereas in the oldest age groups immediate recall was associated with the severity of lesions.