The question of "normal" aging can be approached by considering cross-sectional information and, usually separately, longitudinal information. This study does both using recently developed statistical methods. We conclude that there is a small but significant decline in scores on the MMSE with increasing population age. The effect can be masked in longitudinal cohorts by a learning effect (especially early in follow-up) and other factors associated with repeated testing.
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Unger et al. (1999) studied this question.
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