School of Education, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China.
School of Wushu, Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan 430079, China.
Behav Brain Res. 2023 Aug 24;452:114604. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114604. Epub 2023 Jul 28.
This study aimed to examine the organization of executive functions (EFs), specifically working memory updating, prepotent response inhibition, and mental-set shifting in old age, with a particular focus on determining whether the shifting function was behaviorally and genetically separated from the other functions. A total of 248 healthy older Chinese individuals participated, and multiple measures of executive functions were collected. Additionally, measures of fluid intelligence were included to explore the varying relationships between the three executive functions and this higher-order cognitive ability. Furthermore, genetic data were gathered and analyzed to investigate the associations between EFs and six candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mapped to dopaminergic, serotonergic, or glutamatergic genes. The results indicated that both the three-factor model and the two-factor model, which combined updating and inhibition, demonstrated a good fit. Furthermore, shifting was found to be behaviorally separated from the other two functions, and the correlation between shifting and fluid intelligence was smaller compared to the correlations between updating and inhibition with fluid intelligence. Moreover, the DRD2 SNPs showed significant associations with shifting, rather than with updating and inhibition. These findings provide evidence that shifting is distinct and separate from updating and inhibition, highlighting the diversity of EFs among older adults.
本研究旨在探究老年人执行功能（EFs）的组织情况，特别是工作记忆更新、优势反应抑制和心理定势转换，特别关注转换功能是否在行为和遗传上与其他功能分离。共有 248 名健康的中国老年人参与了研究，收集了多种执行功能的测量数据。此外，还包括流体智力的测量，以探索三种执行功能与这种更高阶认知能力之间的不同关系。此外，还收集和分析了遗传数据，以研究执行功能与六个候选单核苷酸多态性（SNP）之间的关联，这些 SNP 映射到多巴胺能、血清素能或谷氨酸能基因上。结果表明，三因素模型和结合更新和抑制的两因素模型都表现出良好的拟合度。此外，转换在行为上与其他两种功能分离，与更新和抑制与流体智力的相关性相比，转换与流体智力的相关性更小。此外，DRD2 SNP 与转换有显著关联，而与更新和抑制没有关联。这些发现提供了证据表明转换与更新和抑制不同，突出了老年人执行功能的多样性。
