The Impact of Environmental Factors on the Cognitive-Linguistic Profile of Superagers

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify differences between superagers (SA) and the general older adult group based on the context of the individual, family, and social environments surrounding SA, and to identify factors that predict and distinguish the cognitive-linguistic profile of the SA group. METHODS: This study included 17 SA aged 80 years or older and 19 general older adults. Environmental factors were examined in terms of individual (cognitive reserve [CR], foreign language use, physical activity, smoking), family (parental age at death, presence of oldest-old siblings, family history of cognitive impairment), and social (network diversity/size, working life, presence of cohabitants) aspects. In addition, performance in basic cognition (attention, working memory), higher-order cognition (reasoning, problem-solving, executive function), subjective language (naming, calculation, figurative language, etc.), and objective language (comprehension, expression, reading/writing, pragmatics) was analyzed to derive cognitive-linguistic profiles. RESULTS: The main results were as follows. First, there were significant differences between SA and general older adults in individual environmental factors such as CR, foreign language use, and physical activity, family environmental factors such as parental age at death and family history of cognitive impairment, and all social environmental factors. Second, basic cognition in SA could be significantly predicted by CR, higher-order cognition by smoking, subjective language by network diversity and paternal age at death, and objective language by network diversity and smoking. Third, paternal age at death, CR, maternal age at death, network size, and foreign language use were major factors that discriminated the SA group. CONCLUSIONS: By examining contextual factors that distinguish SA from general older adults, this study identified socio-environmental factors that contribute to preserving cognitive-linguistic function. It also provided groundbreaking insights into successful aging by elucidating the complex mechanisms that characterize SA. These findings will serve as evidence-based guidance for designing preventive intervention protocols and implementing strategies across the lifespan by prioritizing factors favorable to securing a cognitive-linguistic advantage in later life.