Biomedical subjects

K Erngrund

Publications and source records attributed to K Erngrund.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Genetic markers associated with high versus low performance on episodic memory tasks.

Associations were studied between six serum protein polymorphisms (C3, BF, HP, ORM, TF, and GC) and high versus low scoring on episodic memory tasks in an attempt to identify QTL (quantitative trait loci) contributing to the heritability of this quantitative trait. Since a highly significant sex difference (p = .00002) was found with respect to the distribution of high and low scoring, with men showing a poorer performance, associations were studied separately for males and females. In females significant differences (p < .05) between the high and the low groups were found in four of six marker systems (C3, HP, TF, and CG), whereas in males a significant difference was found only in the HP system. Significant differences from population frequencies were also found more frequently in females than in males. The strongest marker associations were found with complement C3 and the acute-phase reactant HP, which suggests that immune response factors may be of importance in preserving episodic memory function. The overall results appear to indicate that episodic memory is a multifactorial and heritable quantitative trait where sex is an important determinant.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Age differences in episodic memory, semantic memory, and priming: relationships to demographic, intellectual, and biological factors.

This study examined age differences in episodic memory, semantic memory, and priming using a random sample of 1,000 men and women from 10 age groups (35, 40, 45, . . . 80 years). The main purpose was to determine whether an age effect existed after differences on various demographic, intellectual, and biological factors had been controlled for. The simple correlations of age with episodic and semantic memory performance were found to be significant, whereas no relationship was found between age and levels of priming. After controlling for differences on the background factors, age predicted episodic but not semantic memory performance. It is proposed that the failure to account for the age effect on episodic memory is because it is caused by age-related neuronal changes.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Adult age differences in source recall: a population-based study.

Age differences in source recall were investigated in a population-based sample of healthy adults aged 35 to 80 years (N = 1000). Participants, who were screened on a variety of demographic, psychological, and biological variables, studied facts about well-known and unknown persons that were presented in four different ways, depicting four different sources of item information. An age-related deterioration of both item and source recall was observed, with source recall being more impaired than item recall. Source error analyses revealed an increase of source amnesia in subjects aged 75-80 years. Individual differences in background variables, age, gender, and word comprehension were related to source recall of well-known items, whereas age and years of formal education were related to source recall of unknown items. Source amnesia was accentuated in the two oldest cohorts and related to word comprehension. The age-related tendency to forget the source even when the fact is retained is suggested to be a specific feature of cognitive aging.

Adult↗