Trajectories of episodic memory in midlife: Historical change from a cross-country perspective.

ABSTRACT: According to the Flynn effect, performance on cognitive ability tests has improved over the past decades. However, we know very little about whether such historical improvements generalize to middle-aged adults (aged 45-65) and differ across nations. We used harmonized data on episodic memory from nationally representative longitudinal panel surveys across a total of 16 countries (United States, Mexico, China, England, and countries in Continental, Mediterranean, and Nordic Europe). We compared historical change in age-related trajectories of episodic memory among middle-aged adults. Our sample included 117,231 participants who provided 330,390 observations. Longitudinal multilevel regression models revealed that today's middle-aged adults in the United States perform worse on episodic mem

SUBMITTER: Wettstein M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11875983 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature