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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, METHODS, METHODS, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Aged, Caffeine, Cholinergic Antagonists, Cognition, Cognition Disorders, Drug Antagonism, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests, Reaction Time.
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Is cognitive slowing associated with elevated serum anticholinergic activity in older individuals decreased by caffeine use? Context: This study examined whether some of the age-associated decrements in basic cognitive resources (information-processing speed and working memory) result from anticholinergic medication use (as measured by serum anticholinergic activity [SAA]) and whether such decrements are lessened by caffeine. Cross-sectional observational study. University medical center. One hundred fifty-two normal-elderly community volunteers. Two tests each of information-processing speed and of working memory were administered, and blood samples were drawn before and after cognitive testing to determine serum levels of anticholinergic activity and of paraxanthine-a caffeine metabolite. Elevated SAA was associated with a significant but modest slowing in information-processing time but only in those individuals who had low levels of serum paraxanthine. SAA did not correlate with performance on tests of working memory.
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These results suggest that anticholinergic medications are a relatively minor contributor to the decrements in basic processing resources commonly found in studies of normal aging. Final Decision: yes