Abstract:
Recent studies deal with disorders and deficits caused by vascular syndrome in efforts for prediction and prevention. Cardiovascular health declines with age due to vascular risk factors, and this leads to an increasing risk of cognitive decline. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is defined as the negative cognitive changes beyond what is expected in normal aging. The purpose of the study was to compare older adults with vascular risk factors (VRF), MCI patients, and healthy controls (HC) in social cognition and especially in theory of mind ability (ToM). The sample comprised a total of 109 adults, aged 50 to 85 years (M = 66.09, SD = 9.02). They were divided into three groups: (a) older adults with VRF, (b) MCI patients, and (c) healthy controls (HC). VRF and MCI did not differ significantly in age, educational level or gender as was the case with HC. Specifically, for assessing ToM, a social inference test was used, which was designed to measure sarcasm comprehension. Results showed that the performance of the VRF group and MCI patients is not differentiated, while HC performed higher compared to the other two groups. The findings may imply that the development of a vascular disorder affecting vessels of the brain is associated from its \"first steps\" to ToM decline, at least regarding specific aspects of it, such as paradoxical sarcasm understanding.
摘要:
最近的研究涉及血管综合征引起的疾病和缺陷,以努力预测和预防。由于血管危险因素,心血管健康随着年龄的增长而下降,这导致认知能力下降的风险增加。轻度认知障碍(MCI)被定义为超出正常衰老预期的负面认知变化。该研究的目的是比较患有血管危险因素(VRF)的老年人,MCI患者,社会认知,特别是心理能力理论(ToM)中的健康控制(HC)。样本共包括109名成年人,年龄50至85岁(M=66.09,SD=9.02)。他们分为三组:(a)患有VRF的老年人,MCI患者,和(c)健康对照(HC)。VRF和MCI在年龄上没有显著差异,教育水平或性别,如HC。具体来说,为了评估ToM,使用了社会推断测试,旨在衡量讽刺理解。结果显示,VRF组和MCI患者的表现并不明显,而HC表现高于其他两组。这些发现可能暗示,影响脑血管的血管疾病的发展是从其“第一步”到ToM下降,至少在它的特定方面,比如自相矛盾的讽刺理解。