# AGING AND MENTAL RETARDATION: CHANGES IN PROCESSING RATE

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF MENTAL HEALTH · 1993 · $247,121

## Abstract

DESCRIPTION:  (Adapted From The Applicant's Abstract) Advances over the
last several decades in medical and habilitative technologies have
dramatically increased the life expectancy of mentally retarded people.
Because of their increased lifespan, large numbers of older retarded adults
must now cope with developmental changes associated with old age.  While
considerable effort has been directed at investigating many relevant
issues, there is a paucity of information available regarding the
influences of aging on basic cognitive processes in this population.
However, as studies of nonretarded adults have repeatedly shown, the speed
of cognitive processes underlying performance decreases as a result of
normal aging.  Retarded adults are likely to experience similar declines in
their information processing speed.  The indirect impact of any loss in
processing efficiency on everyday behavior could be more severe than for
their nonretarded peers, who have greater compensatory cognitive resources.
The proposed research will determine how aging affects the speed of mental
processes of adults with mild to moderate mental retardation (40 to 70 IQs)
without Down syndrome, ages 54 to 74, and compare their performance to that
of younger retarded adults (ages 40 to 48) and nonretarded adults of equal
age.  In addition, because adults with Down syndrome exhibit many
indications of precocious aging, the performance profiles of retarded
adults with and without Down syndrome will be compared to determine if
age-associated slowing of information processing speed occurs earlier in
the Down syndrome population.

A cross-sequential design will be employed, with performance of all
subjects assessed four times at one year intervals.  The investigators will
recruit as subjects 192 retarded adults without Down syndrome, 48 with DS,
and 140 nonretarded adults (total n = 380).  Each test cycle will include a
test of visual activity and 4 experimental protocols requiring subjects to
perform various two-choice ("same/different") reaction time (RT) tasks.
Experimental tasks consist of well researched protocols embedded within
full color animated graphics routines developed in the PI's laboratory.

These procedures will provide subjects with a stimulating context, concrete
communication of task demands, and effective trial by trial feedback and
reinforcement.  Data obtained from the four protocols (correct RTs and
percent errors) will provide a set of converging measures of the rate at
which subjects can compare symbols and will permit quantification of
age-associated changes in processing efficiency within the older adult
mentally retarded population.

The four different protocols to be tested are presented within the context
of a 'space invaders' type game.  Helicopters appear on the screen and
descend to capture the subjects attention.  The helicopters are then
overwritten by a square that contains stimuli for comparison.  Subjects
must then make a same or different respons...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3121293
- **Project number:** 5R01AG009439-03
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF MENTAL HEALTH
- **SAM.gov UEI:** KZEDWKPHGLF3
- **Principal Investigator:** WAYNE P. SILVERMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1993
- **Award amount:** $247,121
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1991-03-01 → 1996-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3121293

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3121293, AGING AND MENTAL RETARDATION: CHANGES IN PROCESSING RATE (5R01AG009439-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3121293. Licensed CC0.

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