PURPOSE: to analyze the cognitive functions in elderly during normal aging and check if variables such as sex, age and education interfere in the profile of those abilities. METHODS: a prospective, traverse and observational study was accomplished with a sample constituted by 50 institutionalized elderly without neurological compromising and memory-related complaint, with age varying from 65 to 89 years and having an education grade varying from 0 to 15 years. The test used in this study was the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). RESULTS: the feminine gender obtained significant difference in the Memory, Recall and Recognition tests. The age group: 65 - 75 years, obtained significant difference in the Recall tests. The range of education from 8 to 15 years obtained significant difference in the Boston tests and in the Fluency test. CONCLUSION: women had a better performance in the tests that involved memory. The elderly considered youths were better in the proof of memory related to recall. The individuals that had a better instruction grade obtained a better performance in the abilities that involved language.
Aged; Neuropsychology; Cognition
