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The role of cognitive reserve as mediator for addition and multiplication skills in late adulthood

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Abstract

Background

The role played by cognitive reserve for the maintenance of numeracy skills in late adulthood is still not sufficiently explored.

Aims

This study mainly investigated whether cognitive reserve (i.e., vocabulary) mediates on the relationship between non-verbal reasoning and addition and multiplication skills of older individuals. Moreover, the impact of schooling and gender on written calculation was examined, controlling for the effect of cognitive decline.

Methods

One hundred and six 68–94-year-old participants completed a battery of tests assessing numeracy, executive functions, and cognitive reserve skills.

Results

Significant correlations were found between age, cognitive reserve, numeracy, and executive functions measures. Besides, mediation analyses indicated that cognitive reserve and non-verbal reasoning explain 23% and 29% of the variance in written addition and multiplication conditions, respectively. Finally, more educated individuals performed better numeracy tasks, whereas the solution of additions and multiplications was not impact by gender.

Conclusions

Cognitive reserve impacts numeracy in late adulthood.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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Author notes

  1. Ilaria Mulas

    Present address: Department of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Cagliari, Via Is Mirrionis 1, 09123, Cagliari, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Via Is Mirrionis 1, 09123, Cagliari, Italy

    Ilaria Mulas, Marilena Ruiu & Maria Chiara Fastame

Authors
  1. Ilaria Mulas
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  2. Marilena Ruiu
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  3. Maria Chiara Fastame
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Contributions

The first and the second authors recruited the participants, collected the data, and were responsible for the scoring and the preparation of the input databases. The third author conceived the study, was in charge of overall direction and planning, and she took the lead in conducting the data analyses and writing the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Chiara Fastame.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

Ethical approval

The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was given by all participants prior to participation.

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Mulas, I., Ruiu, M. & Fastame, M.C. The role of cognitive reserve as mediator for addition and multiplication skills in late adulthood. Aging Clin Exp Res 33, 1377–1382 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01632-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01632-x

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