Cognitive-executive functions of brain frontal lobe in aged adults

Introduction: Immediate clinical diagnosis of cognitive disorders in older adults can cause timely intervention. The goal of this study was to investigate the executive-cognitive functions of Iranian older adults using clinical measures.   Method: This cross sectional study with categorical random sampling was conducted on ۱۵۰ elderly people in Qom Province in ۲۰۰۷ (Iran- Qom). Research instrument included mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and clinical tests of evaluation of cognitive executive functions of frontal lobe (Trail Making Test, Verbal Fluency Test and Digit Span Test). ANOVA and Independent T-Test were used for statistical analysis.   Results: Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) affected by age, gender and education (P ۰.۰۵). Semantic verbal fluency and working memory had higher performance in lower age and higher education (P< ۰.۰۱). Psychomotor speed (Trail Making Test first part), showed significant correlation with education (P۰.۰۵). Conclusion: Working memory performance is reduced with increasing the age and in all cognitive evaluations concerning cognitive functions the role of education should be taken into account. Education is a protector factor against cognitive deterioration resulted from senescence.

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Keywords: Cognitive-Executive Function ، Frontal lobe ، Elderly