Executive functions in elderly with autism: Neuropsychological testing versus self- and informant-report

Rationale: Cognitive autism research has mainly focussed on children and adults. The past few years, however, have shown an upsurge in studies on the cognitive development of elderly with autism. These studies suggest that... [ view full abstract ]

Rationale: Cognitive autism research has mainly focussed on children and adults. The past few years, however, have shown an upsurge in studies on the cognitive development of elderly with autism. These studies suggest that developmental trajectories of cognitive functioning differ between elderly with and without autism (ASD). However, the ecological validity of neuropsychological tests may be questioned and test performance tends to show low correlations with self-reported cognitive problems.
Objective: The main objective of this study is to measure executive functions at two levels. First, we will compare the neuropsychological test performance of elderly with autism with elderly without autism. Secondly, we will compare objective performance to a measurement of self- and informant-report.
Methods: 50 participants (age 60 and above) with ASD/50 elderly participants without ASD. The cognitive battery measured executive functioning. Subjective executive functioning was measured with the BRIEF-A.

Results: There appears to be little to no difference between groups in executive test performance. The self- and informant-reports showed a significant difference between groups, i.e. the autism group showed higher scores – indicating more severe problems in executive functioning. Self- versus informant reports did not differ for the non-autism group, in contrast to the autism-group, where the informant scores were significantly higher than the self-report scores.

Conclusion: These findings seem to contradict earlier research and question the validity and necessity of neuropsychological testing when ascertaining executive functioning in elderly with autism. The self- and informant reports of executive functioning may diverge significantly.