Relationship between Aging and Executive Functions in Older Adults with Autism: A Systematic Literature Review
Keywords:
autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, Executive Functions, elderlyAbstract
A systematic literature review (SLR) was realized to analyze the existing lack information about the relation between ageing and the Executive Functions (EF) in elderly people with a diagnosis of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For this reason, the following questions were formulated: 1) How are the Executive Functions affected in people with autism during their elderly years? 2) What abilities of the Executive Functions are more frequently affected in elderly people with autism? We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for the searching process and there were two rounds of quality evaluation based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The five articles selected presented different findings. Some suggest that the age does affect some of the EF skills, such as: sustained attention, working memory, verbal fluency, planification, organization, initiation, visual working memory, and processing speed. However, other authors mention the possibility that the intelligence quotient (IQ) is related to these ageing effects. Lastly, various studies were not able to find a significant difference in the changes of the EF skills caused by ageing between the elderly with ASD and their neurotypical peers. This SLR shows the necessity to keep investigating and studying elderly people with autism. Thus, focusing on more subjective measures and studies to acquire more data about the effects of old age in the Executive Functions of people with autism.
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