Dementia does not explain correlation between age and scores on Boston Naming Test

The major purpose of this study was to determine if the correlation between age and performance on the Boston Naming Test that has been reported by some investigators results from inclusion of people in the early stages of dementia in those samples. The correlation between age and naming score was −.36 in 125 carefully evaluated nondemented individuals aged 60-88 years who were enrolled in the control group at an Alzheimer's Disease Research Center between 1985 and 1998. All participants remained undemented for at least 2 years after testing. The magnitude of the correlation between naming scores and age was similar to that found in unscreened samples. Increased confrontation naming difficulty appears to occur with normal aging.