Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition最新文献

Relative to younger adults, older adults have a preference and memory advantage for appeals framed to focus on emotion goals (e.g., loving or caring) or positive outcomes (e.g., benefits of health behaviors). Here we examined whether combining goal (emotion vs. future) and valence framing (positive vs. negative) could optimize older adults' appraisal and memory for health appeals. Sixty younger (ages 18-29) and 60 older (ages 64-87) adults viewed, rated and recalled one of the four versions of a health pamphlet, each with a unique combination of goal and valence framing. The results showed a memory advantage for pamphlets focusing on emotion over future goals in both age groups. Older adults also showed a more favorable appraisal and a weak memory advantage for the positively- and emotion-framed pamphlet, relative to younger adults. Thus combining goal and valence framing could optimize the effectiveness of older adults' health appeal communication..

In Alzheimer's dementia (AD), greater declines in semantic fluency (SF) relative to letter fluency (LF) have been assumed to reflect semantic disintegration. However, the same pattern is observed in typical aging and neurodegenerative disorders besides AD. We examined this assumption by comparing different aspects of SF and LF performance in older adults with and without dementia, and identifying which verbal fluency measures most clearly distinguish AD from typical aging. Verbal fluency data were compared from 109 individuals with AD and 66 typically aging adults. Correct items, clusters, and errors were analyzed using both raw counts and proportions. Regression analyses examined Task-by-Group interactions and the impact of demographic variables on verbal fluency measures. ROC analyses examined the sensitivity and specificity of the different outcome measures. In regressions, interactions were found for raw but not proportional data, indicating that different group patterns were driven largely by the number of correct items produced. Similarly, in ROC analyses, raw SF totals showed stronger discriminability between groups than either raw discrepancy scores (SF-LF) or discrepancy ratios (SF/LF). Age and cognitive status (MMSE) were the strongest individual predictors of performance. Findings suggest that AD entails quantitative declines in verbal fluency, but qualitatively similar patterns of performance relative to typically aging adults. Thus, SF declines in AD seem to be at least partially attributable to an exaggeration of the underlying mechanisms common to typical aging, and do not necessarily implicate semantic disintegration.

Recently, two new recognition subtests for the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) were developed and initially validated in a cohort of older adults who were cognitively intact or classified as amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). The current paper extends that validation by comparing the recall and recognition subtests of the RBANS, including the existing and recently developed scores, to three commonly used biomarkers in AD in an expanded sample from the initial validation. One hundred fifty-four older adults (65 intact, 46 MCI, 43 AD) were administered the RBANS, which included the recently developed subtests for Story Recognition and Figure Recognition (hits, false positives, total correct), as part of a study on memory and biomarkers. Participants also completed magnetic resonance imaging to obtain hippocampal volumes, positron emission tomography to obtain amyloid plaque deposition, and a blood draw to obtain APOE ε4 status. Whereas correlations between recall scores and biomarkers tended to be moderate (average r = ±0.48), these correlations were comparable across the three recognition total scores (average r = ±0.42), but tended to be lower for recognition hits (average r = ±0.28) and false positives (average r = ±0.38). These results further validate the existing and recently developed recognition scores on the RBANS as providing useful information about brain and genetic pathology in older adults with intact and impaired cognitive functioning.

It is not yet known which specific qualities of cognitively stimulating activities are most likely to enhance cognitive reserve in older adults. Taking an inductive approach to this problem, we asked 504 older adults with subjective and/or cognitive impairment to complete the Cognitively Stimulating Activities Questionnaire (CSA-Q). Exploratory factor analysis identified a 4-factor structure within a split-half sample, after which confirmatory factor analysis cross-validated the model. Retaining 12 CSA-Q items, the 4 factors were dubbed CSA-Processing, CSA-Challenging, CSA-Connecting and CSA-Socializing. Resulting factor weights were analyzed relative to cognitive reserve proxies and neuropsychological domains. All factors except CSA-Challenging were positively linked to cognitive reserve. Neuropsychologically, CSA-Challenging was modestly and positively correlated with processing speed and executive function, while CSA-Processing was positively correlated with executive function. CSA-Socializing had a small positive correlation with processing speed. Our findings offer new insights into late-life stimulating activities, laying the groundwork for longitudinal and intervention studies.

 .Given ageism's negative impacts on older adults, the theoretical model for awareness of age-related change (AARC) hypothesized that experiencing ageism may mediate the relationship of cognitive functioning to AARC. We tested this hypothesis and alternatively proposed that cognitive functioning mediated the relationship of ageism to AARC. Analyses were conducted using measures of memory and inductive reasoning for 215 older adults (66-90 years) recruited online. Significant direct effects of ageism, memory, and inductive reasoning and significant mediated effects were found in both models, with more support for cognition mediating the relationship between ageism and AARC than for ageism mediating the relationship between cognitive functioning and AARC. This study added to the literature by empirically investigating theoretically proposed antecedents of AARC. Policymakers should address ageism to support healthy aging. Findings may assist therapists working to help older adults gain insights regarding how ageism impacts cognitive functioning and awareness of age-related changes.

Subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) in cognitively intact older adults have been investigated as a clinically important symptom that may portend the onset of a neurodegenerative disorder such as Alzheimer's disease. Few studies have concurrently incorporated demographic features, depressive symptoms, neuropsychological status, and neuroimaging correlates of SCC and evaluated whether these differ in White and African American older adults. In the current study, 131 (77 White, 54 African American) healthy participants ≥50 years old completed the Cognitive Function Instrument (CFI) to assess SCC, and they underwent objective cognitive testing, assessment of mood, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Pearson Product Moment correlations were performed to evaluate associations of the CFI self-ratings with the above measures for the combined group and separately for White and African American participants. SCC were associated with greater depressive symptoms in both White and African American participants in adjusted models controlling for overall cognitive status, education, and hypertension. Greater white matter hyperintensities, lower cortical thickness, older age, and slower set shifting speed were associated with increased SCC in White participants. Although the correlations were not significant for African Americans, the strength of the associations were comparable to White participants. Hippocampal volume was not associated with either total SCC or items specific to memory functioning in the entire group. Longitudinal studies are needed to further evaluate the clinical significance of these associations with risk of conversion to mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Despite extensive use of the Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog) in AD research, exploration of memory subtests or process scores from the measure has been limited. The current study sought to establish validity for the ADAS-Cog Word Recall Immediate and Delayed Memory subtests and learning slope scores by showing that they are sensitive to AD biomarker status. Word Recall subtest and learning slope scores were calculated for 441 participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (aged 55 to 90). All participants were categorized using the NIA-AA Research Framework - based on PET-imaging of β-amyloid (A) and tau (T) deposition - as Normal AD Biomarkers (A-T-), Alzheimer's Pathologic Change (A + T-), or Alzheimer's disease (A + T+). Memory subtest and learning slope performances were compared between biomarker status groups, and with regard to how well they discriminated samples with (A + T+) and without (A-T-) biomarkers. Lower Word Recall memory subtest scores - and scores for a particular learning slope calculation, the Learning Ratio - were observed for the AD (A + T+) group than the other biomarker groups. Memory subtest and Learning Ratio scores further displayed fair to good receiver operator characteristics when differentiating those with and without AD biomarkers. When comparing across learning slopes, the Learning Ratio metric consistently outperformed others. ADAS-Cog memory subtests and the Learning Ratio score are sensitive to AD biomarker status along the continuum of the NIA-AA Research Framework, and the results offer criterion validity for use of these subtests and process scores as unique markers of memory capacity.

Cognitive Reserve (CR) is a theoretical construct that influences the onset and course of cognitive and structural changes that occur with aging and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). There is a paucity of research that examines the relationship of CR and brain volumes in amnestic (aMCI) and nonamnestic (naMCI) separately. This study is a retrospective chart review of MCI patients who underwent neuropsychological evaluation and brain MRI with NeuroReader™ (NR). NR is an FDA-cleared software that standardizes MRI volumes to a control sample. Classifications of aMCI and naMCI were based on Petersen criteria. CR was measured as education, occupation, and word reading. Data analysis included bivariate correlations between CR, neuropsychological test scores, and NR-brain volumes by MCI subtype. The Benjamini-Hochberg method corrected for multiple comparisons. The sample included 91 participants with aMCI and 41 with naMCI. Within naMCI, positive correlations were observed between CR and whole brain volume, total gray matter, bifrontal, left parietal, left occipital, and bilateral cerebellum. Within aMCI, no significant correlations were observed between CR and brain volumes. Positive correlations with CR were observed in language, attention, and visual learning in both aMCI and naMCI groups. The current study adds to the minimal literature on CR and naMCI. Results revealed that CR is associated with volumetrics in naMCI only, though cognitive findings were similar in both MCI groups. Possible explanations include heterogeneous disease pathologies, disease stage, or a differential influence of CR on volumetrics in MCI. Additional longitudinal and biomarker studies will better elucidate this relationship.

       The present study investigates the impact of process-based and strategy-based cognitive training to boost performance in healthy older adults. Three groups trained with either a dichotic listening training (process-based training, n = 25), an implementation intention strategy training (strategy-based training, n = 23), or served as a non-contact control group (n = 30). Our results demonstrated that training participants improved their performance in the trained tasks (process-based training: d = 3.01, strategy-based training: d = 2.6). For untrained tasks, the process-based training group showed significant working memory (d = .58) as well as episodic memory task improvement (d = 1.19) compared to the strategy-based training and to the non-contact control group (all d < .03). In contrast, in the strategy-based training group there was a tendency towards some performance gain in a fluid intelligence test (d = .92). These results indicate that cognitive training can be tailored to improve specific cognitive abilities.