Dysexecutive performance of healthy oldest old subjects on the Frontal Assessment Battery

BACKGROUND AND AIMSFrontal lobes and executive functions appear to be more vulnerable to normal aging than other cerebral regions and domains. The aim of the study was to evaluate executive functions by the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) in healthy oldest old subjects free of dementia. METHODSThirty-two healthy oldest old subjects (age range 85-97 yrs) and 32 young old subjects (aged 61-74 yrs) were studied. All subjects were living with their families or alone and were considered normal, since they were fully independent in their activities of daily living and without signs or symptoms characteristic of any type of dementia. Mental status was assessed by the Mini- Mental State Examination (MMSE) and executive functions by the FAB. RESULTSMean MMSE scores were 23.12 ± 4.68 in oldest old and 26.78 ± 2.60 in young old subjects (p