Autism not linked with increased age-related cognitive decline, finds study

There isn’t a distinction over time within the spatial working reminiscence of older individuals who have autistic traits and those that are neurotypical, finds a brand new research led by UCL researchers.

The brand new analysis, revealed in The Gerontologist, is the primary research to discover age-related fee of decline in spatial working reminiscence in older individuals who could also be autistic.

Spatial working reminiscence helps folks to recollect and use details about the place issues are and the way they’re organized. It’s sometimes used for duties that contain navigating areas or organizing objects.

As folks become old, spatial working reminiscence can typically grow to be much less efficient, which is an instance of cognitive decline.

This decline may be part of regular getting old, but it surely will also be extra pronounced in situations like Alzheimer’s illness.

Spatial working reminiscence will also be affected in autistic folks—particularly in the case of duties that contain remembering and organizing visible data. Consequently, there has beforehand been debate over whether or not autism might result in elevated threat of cognitive decline and, by extension, future dementia.

For the brand new research, the analysis group used information from 10,060 folks over the age of fifty within the UK who had been assessed as having autistic traits—resembling issue with social communication and interplay, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or pursuits—from the PROTECT research.

They discovered that 1.5% of the cohort had excessive ranges of autistic traits and could also be autistic, which is akin to prevalence estimates of autism within the normal inhabitants.

The group analyzed this information utilizing a technique referred to as progress combination modeling to see how contributors’ spatial working reminiscence modified over a seven-year interval.

The findings of the research confirmed that most individuals, whether or not they had excessive ranges of autistic traits or not, maintained their cognitive means over time. This advised that autistic folks weren’t extra more likely to expertise cognitive decline on this area.

Corresponding writer, Professor Joshua Stott (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) mentioned, “Autism is a neurodevelopmental situation related to variations in social communication and repetitive patterns of sensory motor behaviors.

“It’s recognized that autistic folks usually even have cognitive variations relative to non-autistic folks. In gentle of this and a present international World Well being Group-led concentrate on prevention of cognitive decline and dementia, there was appreciable curiosity in whether or not having a neurodevelopmental situation like autism can have an effect on your threat of age-related cognitive decline, and doubtlessly dementia.

“Our work gives no assist for any distinction between autistic folks and neurotypical folks by way of elevated threat of age-related cognitive decline.

“Whereas there are limitations and extra research are wanted, wanting straight at different features of cognitive decline and dementia threat locally relatively than well being care data samples, this analysis gives helpful proof that may hopefully assist to reassure autistic folks about this regarding concern.”

Earlier analysis has indicated that there could also be larger dementia charges in older adults with autism.

Nonetheless, these research, which take a look at well being care data, are hindered by the very low diagnostic fee of autism in older folks (round one in 9 adults over the age of fifty are identified within the UK), which means that they solely take a look at a really specific and small subsample of autistic folks, who in all probability have extra well being care difficulties and consequently are at larger threat of dementia than autistic folks typically.

In the meantime, different research that assist the idea that autism has no further impact on cognitive decline have beforehand solely checked out whether or not autistic folks differ in cognition from non-autistic (neurotypical) folks at a single time level—relatively than monitoring modifications over time.

Senior writer Dr. Gavin Stewart, British Academy Postdoctoral Analysis Fellow on the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s Faculty London, mentioned, “Understanding how getting old intersects with autism is a crucial but understudied matter. Getting older usually comes with a variety of modifications, together with in well being and cognition.

“As autistic folks may be at larger threat of sure well being issues and have cognitive variations to non-autistic folks, we have to know whether or not autistic folks can have totally different patterns of getting old than their non-autistic friends.

“This research gives some reassuring proof that some features of cognition change equally in autistic and non-autistic populations.”

Future research ought to check folks for an extended time and embrace a wider age vary to know reminiscence modifications higher. These findings additionally must be replicated in samples who meet diagnostic standards for autism.

Research limitations

The research solely included individuals who may use a pc and the web, so it won’t characterize all older adults within the UK.

In the meantime, the check for autistic traits primarily checked out social and communication points, not different autism-related behaviors, which could have an effect on the outcomes.

And most contributors had been white, so the findings won’t apply to folks from different ethnic backgrounds.