Revisiting the dedifferentiation hypothesis with longitudinal multi-cohort data

The present longitudinal multi-cohort study examines whether interindividual variability in cognitive performance and change increases in old age, and whether associations among developments of different cognitive functions increase with adult age. Multivariate multiple-group latent growth modeling was applied to data from narrow cohorts separated by five years of age. Tests assessing episodic recall, semantic knowledge, semantic fluency, and visuospatial ability were administered to 1000 non-demented adults (initially aged 35–80 years), participating in the Betula Project at three occasions over a 10-year period. Greater interindividual differences in change were noted in older age groups. Age-related increases in correlations among performance scores were noted for different cognitive measures beginning in old age, but not earlier. Our study supports a dynamic view of dedifferentiation of cognitive aging.