Age and cognitive decline in the UK Biobank

ObjectivesAge-related cognitive decline is a well-known phenomenon after age 65 but little is known about earlier changes and prior studies are based on relatively small samples. We investigated the impact of age on cognitive decline in the largest population sample to date including young to old adults.MethodBetween 100,352 and 468,534 participants aged 38–73 years from UK Biobank completed at least one of seven self-administered cognitive functioning tests: prospective memory (PM), pairs matching (Pairs), fluid intelligence (FI), reaction time (RT), symbol digit substitution, trail making A and B. Up to 26,005 participants completed at least one of two follow-up assessments of PM, Pairs, FI and RT. Multivariable regression models examined the association between age (ResultsFI was higher between ages 50 and 64 and lower at 65+ compared to ConclusionsOur findings suggest that declines in cognitive abilities