Human-figure drawing and memory functioning across the adult life span

The main objective was to evaluate changes in the ability to draw the human figure (HFD) across adult life span and to relate these changes to those known to exist in memory function. Healthy adults (1000) from each of 10 five-year cohorts between 35 and 80 years were recruited randomly from a population in northern Sweden. Each participant was administered a health examination including cognitive testing and a drawing test, and an extensive examination of memory functions. For the drawing variables HFDarch and HFDtot, there is a steady decrease in episodic memory with poor drawers performing at a lower level. For semantic memory up to 65 years of age, there is no difference in performance, but thereafter a decrease. Good drawers show a better memory performance than poor drawers. For priming data for both HFDarch and HFDtot, there seems to be an interaction between age and drawing, such that poor drawers perform at a lower level for the two oldest groups but not for the youngest group. The HFDess is a valuable instrument and can support clinical evaluation as a screening for cognitive decline. The reduction of essential body details was strongly related to dementia progression, and thus as good a predictor of cognitive decline as episodic memory performance. The reduced capacity to perform a complex HFD declines with age and is most pronounced in the oldest age groups.