Exploring structural dynamics within and between sensory and intellectual functioning in old and very old age: Longitudinal evidence from the Berlin Aging Study

Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of age-heterogeneous samples have revealed correlational links between and within intellectual, sensory, and sensorimotor domains. Due to basic limitations of cross-sectional designs and a reluctance to disentangle antecedent–consequent relations in longitudinal designs, the functional significance and dynamics of these links have remained unclear. Advanced structural equation models allow representing multivariate longitudinal changes as a function of time-based and directed relations. We applied this methodology to longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study (at inception total N =516; age range=70–103 years) to explore the structural dynamics among perceptual speed, verbal knowledge, close visual acuity, and distance visual acuity. We found reliable, occasion-based, age-partialed latent regression paths that influence longitudinal changes within and across intellectual and sensory domains. We conclude that intellectual and sensory domains are dynamically linked in old and very old age, and discuss implications of this finding for theories of cognitive aging. D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.