A longitudinal study on cognitive aging in autism

Longitudinal studies on cognitive aging in autism are scarce, and largely underpowered, yet essential to obtain more conclusive results on cognitive changes in autism during adulthood. In the largest longitudinal study on cognition thus far, we aimed to get more insight into cognitive aging in autism. As pre-registered, we computed reliable change indices (RCIs) and multilevel models to estimate cognitive changes in 128 autistic, and 112 non-autistic adults (range: 24-85 yrs.) over two to three timepoints (average interval: 3.5 yrs.). Participants were tested on 15 outcome measures, covering verbal memory, visual (working) memory, prospective memory, theory of mind, fluency, response speed, inhibition, planning, and switching. RCIs showed no significant differences between groups (autism/no-autism) in changes over time. Using multilevel models, most tasks showed sensitivity to cross-sectional age-related effects, and/or longitudinal changes, with worse performance at older age, and later timepoints. However, effects were not significantly different between the autism and no-autism group. This lack of group differences was substantiated by additional Bayesian analyses. In sum, the current study provides evidence for parallel (similar) cognitive aging in autism. Specifically, autistic individuals diagnosed in adulthood, without intellectual disability, do not seem at risk for accelerated cognitive decline.