Ageing, Social Cognition and Autism Spectrum Disorders (PhD in Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research)

这项研究将探讨社会理解技能如何随着年龄的增长而变化，这些变化是否先于与年龄相关的记忆和认知其他方面的下降，以及它们对身心健康和福祉的影响。为了做到这一点，我们将与老年自闭症患者一起工作，并与BACT研究一起工作，这是一项在线研究，涉及超过5，000名老年人（50岁以上），收集有关衰老和认知变化的纵向信息。老年的社会孤立和孤独与较低的幸福感和较高的抑郁/焦虑水平有关。它还与各种认知（例如记忆）能力的年龄相关性下降以及痴呆症风险增加有关。如果社会能力随着年龄的增长而下降，这可能会导致孤立-反之亦然-导致更差的心理和身体健康。 患有临床社交困难的自闭症成年人经常报告感到孤独，这与抑郁和焦虑有关。这可能会使他们面临更大的与年龄相关的认知能力下降和痴呆症的风险。关于孤独症患者的老年情况，我们知之甚少。 通过创建新的社交理解测试，以在线和亲自使用，这项研究旨在探索社交技能差是否与老年认知能力下降和生活质量有关。

This study will explore how social understanding skills change with age, whether these changes precede age-related decline of memory and other aspects of cognition, and what impact they have on mental and physical health and well-being. To do this we will be working with older autistic adults, and with the PROTECT study, an online study of >5,000 older adults (aged 50+) collecting longitudinal information on ageing and cognitive change. Social isolation and loneliness in old age are associated with lower well-being, and higher levels of depression/anxiety. It has also been linked to greater age-related decline of various cognitive (e.g. memory) abilities, and increased risk of dementia. If social abilities decrease with old age, this may contribute to isolation - or vice versa - leading to worse mental and physical health. Autistic adults, who have clinical-level social difficulties, often report feeling lonely, which is associated with depression and anxiety. This may put them at greater risk of age-related cognitive decline, and dementia. Very little is known about old age in autism. By creating new tests of social understanding to use online and in person, this study aims to explore whether poor social skills are linked to cognitive decline and quality of life in old age.