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Table 1 Summary of the measures of cognitive function used in this study and the domains that they aim to assess

From: Changes in six domains of cognitive function with reproductive and chronological ageing and sex hormones: a longitudinal study in 2411 UK mid-life women

Domain

Test

Domain description

Brief description of what the test consisted of

Verbal episodic memory

Immediate logic memory test

A measure of ability to remember experienced events and other familiar, contextual information, immediately after events.

Told a ‘story’ in a standardised way (tape recording) then asked about key facts immediately after the ‘story’ was completed. Score reflects number of facts correctly remembered [5].

Verbal episodic memory

Delayed logic memory test

A measure of ability to remember experienced events and other familiar, contextual information, after a short delay.

As above but asked to recall key facts after undergoing other cognitive tests. Score reflects number of facts correctly remembered [5].

Working memory

Backward digit span test

A measure of ability of the ‘executive function’ to temporarily retain and manipulate information.

A test in which the tester says three digits (e.g. 9-1-7) and the participants were asked to repeat three digits backwards (i.e. 7-1-9). Score reflects number of trials passed [6, 7].

Processing speed

Digit symbol coding test

A measure of the speed at which the executive function can manipulate information.

Participants were asked to fill in symbols corresponding to certain numbers and given two minutes to complete as many entries as possible. Score reflects number of correct entries done in allocated time [7].

Verbal intelligence

Spot-the-word test

A measure of language-based general cognitive ability.

Participants were asked to identify the real word from a pair in which one is real and the other one is a made-up word. The score is the number of real words correctly identified [8].

Verbal fluency

Same letter word test

A measure which relates both to vocabulary as well as the speed at which information can be retrieved.

Participants were asked to list as many words as they could beginning with the letter ‘C’ in 1 min. This was repeated for the letters ‘F’ and ‘L’. The score reflects the number of correct words beginning with the letters that were freely recalled in the allocated time [6].