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

There is no different Over Time in the Spatial Working Memory of Older People who have autistic traits and thhose who are neurotypical, finds a new Study Led by Ucl Researchers.

The New Research, published in The Gerontologistis the First Study to Explore Age-Relanted Rate of Decline in Spatial Working Memory in Older People Who May Be Autistic.

Spatial Working Memory Helps People to Remember and Use Information About Where Things Are and How they are arranged. IT IS TYPICALLY USED FOR TASKS THAT I ADVOVE NAVIGATING SPACES OR ORGANIZING OBJECTS.

People Get Older, Spatial Working Memory Can Sometimes Become Less Effective, Which is an Example of Cognitive Decline.

This decline can be a part of Normal Aging, But It Can Also Be More Pronounced In Conditions Like Alzheimer’s Disease.

SPATIAL WORKING MEMORY CAN ALSO BE AFFED IN AUTISTIC PEOPLE – SPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO TASKS THAT I ADVOVE REMEMBERING AND ORGANIZING VISUAL INFORMATION. Consequently, there has Has Previously Been Debate Over when Autism May Lead to Increaded Risk of Cognitive Decline and, by Extension, Future Dementia.

For the New Study, The Research Team Used Data from 10,060 People Over the Age of 50 In the Uk Who Had Been Assessed as Having Autistics Traits – Such As Diffulousity With Social Communication and Interaction, and Restricted Or Repeative Behaviors or Interests – Offom The Protect Study.

They Found That 1.5% of the cohort Had High Levels of Autistic Traits and May Be Autistic, Which is comparable to prevalence Estimates of Autism in the General Population.

The Team Analyzed this Data Using a Method Called Growth Mixture Modeling to See How Participants’ Spatial Working Memory Changed Over A Seven-Year Period.

The Findings of the Study Showed That Most People, Whether have Had High Levels of Autistic Traits Or not, Mintained Their Cognitive Ability Over Time. This suggesteed that autistic people were not more like Likely to Experience Cognitive Decline in This Domain.

Corresponding Author, Professor Joshua Stott (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) Said, “Autism is a neurodevelopmental conditioning associated with differentances in social communication and repeative patterns of sensory engine behaviors.

“IT IS KNOWN THAT AUTISTIC PEOPLE OFTEN ALSO HAVE COGNETIVE DIFFERENCES RELATIVE TO NON-AUTISTIC PEOPLE. In Light of This Global World Health Organization-Led Focus on Prevention of Cognitive Decline and Dementia, There is Been Consideral Interestt In Whether Having A Neurodevelopmental Condition Like autism can affect your risk of age-related cognitive decline, and potentially dementia.

“Our Work Provides in Support for Any Difference Between Autistic People and Neurotypical People in Terms of Increased Risk of Age-Relanted Cognitive Decline.

“While There are Limetations and More Studies Are Needed, Looking Directly at other aspects of cognitive decline and dementia risk in the community raather than health care samples, this research provides useful evidence that con hopefully helpus autistic people About This Concerning Issue. “

Previous Research has Indicated That There May Be Higher Dementia Rates in Older Adults With Autism.

However, These Studies, Which Look at Health Care Records, are hindered by the very low diagnostic rate of autism in the Old in nine adults over the age of 50 are diagnosed in the uk), meaning that they only look at the private and small subsample of autistic PEOPLE, WHO PROBABLY HAVE MORE HEALTH CARE DIFFICULTIES AND CONSEQUENTLY ARE GREATER RISK OF DEMENTION THAN AUTISTIC PEOPLE IN GENERAL.

Meanwhile, Other Studies That Support the theory that autism has in the Extra Effect on cognitive decline has previassly only looked at whether autistic people differ in cognition from non -utism Over Time.

Senior Author Dr. Gavin Stewart, British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, Said, “Undersstanding How Aging Intersects with Autism is an Importadied Topic. Getting Older. OFTEN COMES WITH RANGE OF CHANGES, INCLUDING IN HEALTH AND COGNITION.

“Autistics People can be at Greater Risk of Certain Health Problems and Have Cognitive Differences To Non-Autistic People, We Need To Know Whether Autistic People Will Have Different Patterns of Aging Than Their Their Their-Autistic Peers.

“This Study Provides disappears Reassuring Evidence That Some Aspects of Cognition Change Similarly in Autistic and Non-Autistic Population.”

FUTURE STUDIES SHOULD TEST PEOPLE FOR A LONG TIME AND INCLUDE A WIDER AGE RANGE TO UNERSTAND MEMORY CHANGES BETTER. These findings also need to be replicted in samples who meet diagnostic criteria for autism.

Study Limitations

The Study Only Included People Who Could Use A Computer and the Internet, So It Might Not Representa All Older Adults in the UK.

Meanwhile, The Test for Autistic Traits Mainly Looked at Social and Communication Issues, Not other autism-Related Behaviors, Which Might Affect the Results.

And MOST Participants Were White, so the Findings Might Not Apply to People From Other Ether Ethnic Backgrounds.