Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Neurobiol Aging. 2013 Jun;34(6):1674-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2012.12.012. Epub 2013 Jan 18.
We examined the effects of early life stress on cognitive ability and decline among men of the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, 10% of whom were separated temporarily (mean age at separation = 4.1 years) from their parent(s) during World War II. The men underwent the Finnish Defense Forces Basic Intellectual Ability Test twice, at 20 years and retest at 70 years. Compared with the men without childhood separation and matched for year of birth (n = 186), men separated from their parents (n = 93) scored lower by 5.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], -9.2 to -1.7), 4.2 (95% CI, -8.1 to -0.3), 3.1 (95% CI, -7.0 to 0.8), and 4.5 (95% CI, -10.5 to -1.4) standardized points (SD = 15) on verbal, visuospatial, arithmetic, and general cognitive ability, respectively, at 70 years. Longer duration of separation was associated with lower test scores. Though early life stress was also associated significantly with weaker cognitive performance at the ages 20 and 70 years, it was not associated with cognitive decline over the 50-year period within this sample.
我们研究了人生早期压力对赫尔辛基出生队列研究中男性认知能力及其下降的影响，该研究中有 10%的男性在二战期间曾与父母短暂分离（分离时的平均年龄为 4.1 岁）。这些男性接受了两次芬兰国防军基本智力测试，一次在 20 岁时，另一次在 70 岁时重新测试。与没有童年分离且出生年份匹配的男性（n=186）相比，与父母分离的男性（n=93）在 70 岁时的言语、视空间、算术和一般认知能力标准化分数分别低 5.5（95%置信区间，-9.2 至-1.7）、4.2（95%置信区间，-8.1 至-0.3）、3.1（95%置信区间，-7.0 至 0.8）和 4.5（95%置信区间，-10.5 至-1.4）（SD=15）。分离持续时间较长与测试分数较低有关。尽管早期生活压力也与 20 岁和 70 岁时认知表现较弱显著相关，但在该样本中，它与 50 年内的认知衰退无关。
