Table 1 Demographical, clinical and neuropsychological data of sample group.
From: Aging, sex and cognitive Theory of Mind: a transcranial direct current stimulation study
Anodal vs. sham tDCS (n = 30) | Cathodal vs. sham tDCS (n = 30) | p-value* | Cut-off | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Male (n = 15) | Female (n = 15) | Male (n = 15) | Female (n = 15) | |||
Age (years) | 68.3 (5) | 67.5 (7) | 67.1 (4) | 68.1 (5) | 0.895 | |
Education (years) | 10.4 (5) | 11.6 (4) | 11.1 (4) | 11.4 (4) | 0.882 | |
Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), total score | 88.5 (8) | 90.0 (8) | 87.1 (9) | 91.9 (10) | 0.569 | |
Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) | 21.1 (4) | 23.1 (3) | 20.7 (5) | 21.4 (4) | 0.534 | |
Mood and Anxiety Assessment | ||||||
Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) | 2.4 (2) | 4.8 (5) | 2.5 (2) | 5.1 (4) | 0.120 | <11 |
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)-State | 30.4 (7) | 31.9 (7) | 30.1 (6) | 31.3 (6) | 0.600 | |
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)-Trait | 33.9 (7) | 36.2 (9) | 32.7 (6) | 38.9 (10) | 0.350 | |
Subjective Memory Complaints | ||||||
Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ) | 46.1 (15) | 45.5 (15) | 46.9 (11) | 44.9 (11) | 0.918 | |
Cognitive Reserve | ||||||
Cognitive Reserve Index (CRI), total score | 111.3 (15) | 116.4 (16) | 110.5 (16) | 117.1 (15) | 0.553 | |
Cognitive Assessment | ||||||
Screening for dementia | ||||||
MMSE | 28.9 (1) | 28.9 (1) | 28.5 (1) | 29.1 (1) | 0.618 | ≥24 |
Non-Verbal Reasoning | ||||||
Raven’s colored progressive matrices | 30.8 (3) | 29.7 (5) | 30.4 (3) | 30.9 (4) | 0.896 | >17.5 |
Memory | ||||||
Digit Span (forward) | 5.6 (1) | 6.0 (1) | 5.3 (1) | 5.9 (1) | 0.489 | >4.25 |
Story Recall | 12.5 (3) | 14.0 (4) | 12.0 (4) | 14.0 (3) | 0.432 | >7.5 |
RAVLT (Immediate recall) | 44.0 (8) | 47.6 (7) | 44.3 (10) | 53.2 (9) | 0.020 | >28.52 |
RAVLT (Delayed recall) | 8.5 (2) | 10.2 (3) | 8.9 (2) | 11.6 (3) | 0.028 | >4.68 |
Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF), recall | 17.8 (6) | 16.6 (6) | 18.1 (6) | 18.3 (3) | 0.766 | >9.46 |
Language | ||||||
Token Test | 33.7 (2) | 34.0 (1) | 33.4 (2) | 34.3 (1) | 0.280 | >26.25 |
Verbal Fluency, phonemic | 36.0 (9) | 39.1 (14) | 35.4 (10) | 42.4 (9) | 0.291 | >16 |
Verbal Fluency, semantic | 49.1 (9) | 48.9 (12) | 50.1 (7) | 48.1 (8) | 0.959 | >24 |
Naming Objects (B.A.D.A) | 28.9 (1) | 27.9 (2) | 28.8 (1) | 28.6 (1) | 0.733 | |
Naming Actions (B.A.D.A) | 26.5 (1) | 25.5 (3) | 25.9 (1) | 26.4 (2) | 0.471 | |
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Vocabulary | 38.6 (13) | 44.0 (7) | 36.7 (13) | 41.5 (8) | 0.412 | |
Praxis | ||||||
Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF), copy | 31.6 (3) | 30.9 (4) | 31.5 (2) | 30.9 (3) | 0.896 | >28.87 |
Attentional and Executive Functions | ||||||
Trial Making Test-A (sec) | 35.9 (7) | 41.5 (15) | 36.0 (8) | 40.9 (15) | 0.769 | <94 |
Trial Making Test-B (sec) | 137.2 (67) | 118.8 (60) | 149.1 (77) | 114.7 (44) | 0.204 | <283 |
Stroop test – interference effect on time (sec) | 24.5 (12) | 23.9 (8) | 25.5 (13) | 24.0 (9) | 0.904 | <36.92 |
Stroop test – interference effect on errors | 0.6 (1) | 0.8 (1) | 0.6 (1) | 0.7 (1) | 0.919 | <4.24 |
Digit Span (backward) | 4.6 (1) | 4.7 (1) | 4.3 (1) | 4.5 (1) | 0.558 | >2.64 |
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WSCT) – Global score | 66.5 (35) | 58.5 (43) | 77.5 (34) | 48.5 (36) | 0.250 | <90.6 |
WSCT – Perseverative responses | 21.4 (15) | 22.2 (17) | 26.3 (17) | 19.8 (19) | 0.647 | <42.7 |
WSCT – Non Perseverative errors | 20.9 (12) | 17.1 (13) | 24.1 (12) | 14.1 (11) | 0.095 | <30.0 |
WSCT – Failure to maintain the set | 1.5 (1) | 1.0 (1) | 1.5 (1) | 0.9 (1) | 0.207 | <4 |
Flanker Task–Effect of Incongruency on RTs (ms) | 174.4 (74) | 134.1 (99) | 174.2 (71) | 137.4 (38) | 0.366 | |
Flanker Task–Effect of Congruency on RTs (ms) | 2.2 (54) | 0.5 (45) | 0.6 (56) | 4.3 (42) | 0.968 | |
