Parallel age-related cognitive effects in autism: A cross-sectional replication study.

This study looked at how thinking skills change with age in autistic adults compared to non-autistic adults. Researchers tested 176 adults aged 30-89 on memory, problem-solving, and social understanding tasks. They found that autistic adults had ongoing difficulties with understanding others' thoughts and word-finding, regardless of age. Both groups showed similar patterns of age-related changes in thinking skills, with no special protection from aging effects in autistic adults.

This cross-sectional replication study examined cognitive aging patterns in 88 autistic adults compared to 88 matched non-autistic adults (ages 30-89 years). Using both frequentist and Bayesian statistical approaches, researchers assessed six cognitive domains: verbal memory, visual memory, working memory, Theory of Mind, verbal fluency, and processing speed, plus self-reported cognitive failures. Results confirmed that autistic adults showed persistent difficulties in Theory of Mind and verbal fluency across all ages. Importantly, age-related cognitive decline occurred at parallel rates between groups, with no evidence of protective effects in autism.

Autistic participants also reported more cognitive failures in daily life.

Findings suggest autistic adults maintain consistent cognitive profiles throughout aging, with ongoing needs for social cognition and verbal fluency support. Parallel aging patterns indicate similar vulnerability to age-related decline, warranting proactive planning for cognitive health maintenance and support service continuity in older autistic adults.

Cross-sectional design limits causal inferences about aging trajectories. Sample characteristics and recruitment methods not fully detailed. Self-reported cognitive failures may be influenced by awareness differences between groups.

Findings on age-related cognitive effects in autism in adulthood are inconsistent across studies. As these studies substantially differ in their methodology, replication studies are needed. In this replication study frequentist (i.e., null-hypothesis significance testing), and Bayesian statistics were used to investigate the hypothesis that in autistic adults compared to non-autistic adults mostly parallel, but also protective age-related cognitive effects can be observed. Participants were 88 autistic adults, and 88 non-autistic matched comparisons (age range: 30-89 years, mean age: 55 years).

Cognitive measures were administered on the following six domains: verbal memory, visual memory, working memory, Theory of Mind (ToM), verbal fluency, and processing speed, and self-reported cognitive failures. Non-autistic adults outperformed autistic adults on ToM, verbal fluency, and verbal memory, but only the first two were confirmed with Bayesian replication analyses. Also, more cognitive failures were reported by autistic adults. No interactions between group and age were observed, suggesting a parallel age-related effect on all cognitive domains.

In sum, previously observed difficulties in ToM and verbal fluency were replicated which seem to persist at older age. Previously reported parallel age-related cognitive patterns were replicated, yet no evidence for protective age-related patterns was found. LAY SUMMARY: We investigated whether our previous findings on cognitive aging in autism could be confirmed in a new study measuring the cognitive effects of age in autistic and non-autistic adults. As expected, tasks that younger autistic adults had difficulties with (theory of mind, fluency) were also difficult for older autistic adults, and the effect of age itself was similar in autistic and non-autistic adults.

Unexpectedly, we observed no protective effects (less cognitive aging) in autism.