Stability of genetic and environmental influences on executive functions in midlife.

ABSTRACT: Research on executive functions (EFs) has revealed that individual differences in general EF abilities are highly correlated across the first few decades of life, especially at the level of genetic influences. Our work has also provided evidence for substantial heritability of this Common EF factor in midlife, but it remains unclear whether individual differences in Common EFs continue to show strong stability in middle age. We examined data from 1,464 middle-aged twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging, most of whom completed 7 neuropsychological measures of EFs at 2 points in middle age (M_ages = 56 and 62). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that individual differences in Common EF, a latent factor explaining variation in seven neuropsychological EF tasks, were high

SUBMITTER: Gustavson DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5905725 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature