Page No 255-263
Trayambak Tiwari, Harshita Singh, Atul K. Gangwar, Dhanjit Sharma,
Anil Kumar Yadav,
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Anju L. Singh
Vasant Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Kamachha, Varanasi
Cognitive decline is a well-known aspect of the healthy aging process, which adversely
affects cognitive abilities, and frequently reflects a decline in executive functioning. To
gain a better knowledge of executive functions over the lifetime, a cross-sectional design
was utilized to examine the age-related changes in executive function across young
adults (n=20; Age range= 18 to 30 years; Mean Age = 24.85 years; S.D = 2.97) and old
adults (n=20; Age range=60 to 90 years; Mean Age = 74.10 years; S.D = 7.46). The
Executive Function Module of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery was
administered. The results indicate that aging has a major impact on executive functions.
The older age group performed worse on Executive function tasks highlighting the
challenges with planning, psychomotor speed, ineffective problem solving, diminished
capacity for decision-making, lower mental flexibility and response set, and diminished
generativity or verbal fluency than the young adults. The results of this study suggest
that age-related differences in executive functions exist and that measuring the rate at
which cognitive decline occurs can be a useful diagnostic strategy for dementia and
other conditions