Ten German versions of Rey’s auditory verbal learning test: Age and sex effects in 4,000 adults of the Rhineland Study

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Detecting early pathological cognitive decline is critical for dementia and aging-related research and clinical diagnostics. Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) is commonly used to measure episodic verbal memory. The test requires participants to learn a list of 15 words over several trials. Since multiple testing is often required to detect cognitive decline, but repeating the same test can bias results, we developed 10 German AVLT word lists.

Method

We randomly assigned the lists to 4,000 participants (aged 30–94 years) from a population-based cohort to test their comparability, as well as aging effects and sex differences.

Results

Nine lists were highly comparable, with only one being slightly more difficult. Recall performance decreased on average by 0.6–1.1 words per trial per decade of age. Perseveration errors decreased with increasing age. Women remembered on average between 0.8 and 1.5 words per trial more than men, regardless of age. Women also outperformed men in the sum of Trials 1–5, learning over trials, retroactive inhibition, and false-positive and interference errors. Proactive inhibition remained stable across age and was unaffected by sex.

Conclusion

This German AVLT version presents comparable lists including detailed age and sex references and therefore allows test repetition excluding training effects. These versions are a valuable resource for research and clinical application.

KEYWORDS:

• Verbaler Lern- und Merkfähigkeitstest (VLMT)
• episodic memory
• cognitive aging
• sex differences
• cohort studies

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Correction

Acknowledgments

We thank all participants of the Rhineland Study and the study personnel, which were involved in the extensive data collection for this study. Special thanks go to Dr Natascha Merten and Dr David D. Ward for their helpful discussions during our “cognition meetings.” Finally, we would like to thank our IT and data management team, especially Christof Meigen and André Medek for their contribution on data processing and management.

Data and instrument availability statement

The datasets for this manuscript are not publicly available because of data protection regulations. Access to data can, however, be provided to scientists in accordance with the Rhineland Study’s Data Use and Access Policy. Test instrument information including the word list versions, are not publicly available to avoid pre-knowledge effects in participants who will continuously attend the study. Requests to access datasets or test instrument information should be directed to Dr Monique Breteler, [email protected].

Disclosure statement

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

The Rhineland Study at the DZNE is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia through the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE).