认知功能正常老化的发生时间:早发还是晚发?

Timing of Cognitive Decline: Early or Late Onset?

个体认知功能正常老化（以下简称认知老化）的起始时间尚不明确,但这个问题却事关认知老化的最佳干预时间.本文首先以三个大型认知老化追踪研究项目（西雅图项目、Betula项目、Virginia项目）为例,从2009年的高峰论战切入,系统描述了近些年认知老化早发（20~30岁,基于横向研究的结论）还是晚发（50~60岁,基于纵向研究的结论）的争论现状,并详细介绍了该争论的产生原因及解决方法.其次,本文着重介绍准纵向研究方法在该争论中的应用,大多数准纵向研究结果表明认知老化早发,但仍需进一步的研究.同时,本文也首次尝试从神经生物学视角来梳理该问题.最后,建议今后的相关研究应注重被试选取、测量指标及计分方式等细节改进,加强神经生物学的研究,并结合开发有效干预技术的应用研究等.

The issue about when cognitive aging onset has been a hot point both in aging psychology and gerontology. The answer to this question is critical in determining the optimum time of cognitive intervention.According to three large scale longitudinal studies（Seattle Longitudinal Study, Betula Project, Virginia Cognitive Aging Project）, longitudinal studies show that the onset of average decline in cognitive abilities occurs at considerably later ages（e.g. age 50 ~60） than that suggested by cross-sectional studies（e.g. age 20 ~30）.Moreover, the debate of onset of cognitive decline was discussed from the perspective of quasi-longitudinal,which reveals nearly monotonic declines in cognitive performance from early adulthood. However, the answer for the timing of cognitive decline is elusive now. Future research on the timing of cognitive aging should clarify the methods, and combine the neurobiological study in the cognitive performance.