Psychology

Cognitive ageing journal club

Paper: A Watershed Model of Individual Differences in Fluid Intelligence

Abstract: Fluid intelligence is a crucial cognitive ability that predicts key life outcomes across the lifespan. Strong empirical links exist between fluid intelligence and processing speed on the one hand, and white matter integrity and processing speed on the other. We propose a watershed model that integrates these three explanatory levels in a principled manner in a single statistical model, with processing speed and white matter figuring as intermediate endophenotypes. We fit this model in a large (N=555) adult lifespan cohort from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) using multiple measures of processing speed, white matter health and fluid intelligence. The model fit the data well, outperforming competing models and providing evidence for a many-to-one mapping between white matter integrity, processing speed and fluid intelligence. The model can be naturally extended to integrate other cognitive domains, endophenotypes and genotypes.

Contact

The seminars are organised by members of the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology. For further information or to join the distribution list, please email Dr Stuart Ritchie.

Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology

Stuart Ritchie

Sep 26 2016 -

Cognitive ageing journal club

26 Sep 2016: A Watershed Model of Individual Differences in Fluid Intelligence

Room S38, Psychology Building, 7 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ