Abstract of M. Zemach Lecture

INTELLIGENCE AND MEMORY CHANGES AMONG ADULTS AND
ELDERLY WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY COMPARED WITH
ADULTS WITH TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT: ACCELERATED OR
PARALLEL TRAJECTORY


M. Zemach, H. Lifshitz, E. Vakil
Bar Ilan UniversityIsrael


The aim of the current study is to assess intelligence and memory
changes among adults with non specific intellectual disability (NSID)
compared to typically developed (TD) adults. The uniqueness of the
study is the simultaneous assessment of a number of cognitive
variables within broad age groups in the NSID population, in light of
two theoretic cognitive aging trajectories: Accelerated (AT) or parallel
(PT) trajectories compared to the TD population. According to the AT
we hypothesize that the occurrence and rate of cognitive decline in
NSID group will occur earlier and be greater than TD group. On the
other hand, according to the PT, we hypothesize that the occurrence
and rate of cognitive decline will be similar between the two groups,
other than the difference in the baseline cognitive level. Further
differences will be assessed regarding the occurrence and rate of
decline in intelligence measures (crystallized/ fluid) and memory
measures (working/ episodic). The participants in the study will be
adults with mild intellectual disability (IQ = 56-74) and normal
intelligence (IQ = 90-120), divided in to three age groups (40-49; 50-
59; 60-69). All the participants will be tested individually in seven
formal testes, assessing changes in four measures; crystallized
intelligence, fluid intelligence, working memory and episodic memory.
The findings will aid our understanding of the occurrence and rate of
cognitive aging among NSID population and characterize the unique
trajectory, accelerated or parallel in each measure compared to TD
population.

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