Sleep Onset/Maintenance Difficulties and Cognitive Function in Nondemented Older Adults: The Role of Cognitive Reserve

Objectives: Framed within a life course perspective and cognitive reserve theory, this study examined the mediating role of educational attainment for the association between child–parent relationships during childhood and cognitive function among older adults in rural China. Methods: Data were obtained from three waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study ( N = 9809). We employed latent growth curve modeling to test the association among early child–parent relationship quality, educational attainment, and cognitive function in later life. Results: Early child–mother relationship quality was associated with the level and change in cognitive function. Early child–father relationship quality was only related to baseline cognitive function. Educational attainment mediated the relationship between early child–parent relationship quality with mothers and fathers and cognitive function. Discussion: Parental relationship experience in childhood was one distal factor related to cognitive function among older adults. The findings supported the long-term impacts of childhood conditions for later life health consequences.

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Gait Variability and Fall Risk in Older Adults: The Role of Cognitive Function

Falls and Cognition in Older Persons ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-24233-6_7 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 107-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Frederico Pieruccini-Faria ◽

Manuel Montero-Odasso ◽

Jeffrey M. Hausdorff

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Fall Risk ◽

Gait Variability

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Duration of Poverty and Subsequent Cognitive Function and Decline Among Older Adults in China, 2005–2018

Neurology ◽

10.1212/wnl.0000000000012343 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 10.1212/WNL.0000000000012343

Author(s):

Xuexin Yu ◽

Wei Zhang ◽

Lindsay C. Kobayashi

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Late Life ◽

Tobit Regression ◽

Annual Household Income ◽

Middle Income ◽

Healthy Longevity ◽

Rate Of Decline ◽

Statistical Yearbook

Objective:To investigate the relationship between late-life duration of poverty exposure and cognitive function and decline among older adults in China.Methods:Data were from 3,209 participants aged ≥64 in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). Duration of poverty, defined according to urban and rural regional standards from the China Statistical Yearbook, was assessed based on annual household income from 2005-2011 (never in poverty; 1/3 of the period in poverty; ≥2/3 of the period in poverty). Cognitive function was measured by the Chinese Mini Mental State Exam (CMMSE) from 2011-2018. We used attrition-weighted, multivariable mixed-effects Tobit regression to examine the association of duration of poverty with cognitive function and rate of decline.Results:A total of 1,162 individuals (36.21%) were never in poverty over the period from 2005-2011, 1,172 (36.52%) were in poverty 1/3 of the period, and 875 (27.27%) were in poverty ≥2/3 of the period. A longer poverty duration was associated with lower subsequent CMMSE scores with a dose-response relationship (1/3 vs. never in poverty: β = -0.98; 95% CI: -1.61 to -0.35; ≥2/3 vs. never in poverty: β = -1.55; 95% CI: -2.29 to -0.81). However, a longer duration of poverty was associated with a slower rate of CMMSE score decline over time from 2011-2018.Conclusion:These findings provide valuable evidence on the role of cumulative late-life poverty in relation to cognitive health among older adults in a rapidly urbanizing and aging middle-income country. Our findings may support a compensation hypothesis for cognitive reserve in this setting.

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The association between injurious falls and older adults’ cognitive function: the role of depressive mood and physical performance

The Journals of Gerontology Series A ◽

10.1093/gerona/glab061 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Caterina Trevisan ◽

Enrico Ripamonti ◽

Giulia Grande ◽

Federico Triolo ◽

Stina Ek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Physical Performance ◽

Walking Speed ◽

Depressive Mood ◽

Time Interval ◽

Injurious Falls

Abstract Background The impact of falls on cognitive function is unclear. We explored whether injurious falls are associated with cognitive decline in older adults, and evaluated the role of changes in psychological and physical health as mediators of such association. Methods This prospective study involved 2,267 community-dwelling participants in the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (≥60 years). Data on injurious falls (i.e., falls requiring medical attention) during each 3-year time interval of follow-up were obtained from national registers. Assessment of cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination[MMSE]), depressive mood (Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale), and physical performance (walking speed) were carried out every 3 or 6 years over a 12-year follow-up. The association between falls and cognition was estimated through linear mixed effects models, and the mediating role of changes in depressive mood and physical performance was tested using mediation analysis. Results After adjusting for potential confounders, individuals who experienced injurious falls had a greater annual decline in MMSE in the subsequent time interval (β=-1.49, 95%CI:-1.84;-1.13), than those who did not. The association increased with the occurrence of ≥2 falls (β=-2.13, 95%CI:-2.70;-1.56). Worsening of walking speed and depressive mood explained around 26% and 8%, respectively, of the association between falls and cognitive decline. Conclusions Injurious falls are associated with greater cognitive decline, and this association is partly mediated by worsening of physical performance and, in a lesser extent, of depressive mood. These findings suggest that physical deficits and low mood are potential therapeutic targets for mitigating the association between falls and cognitive decline.

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Does Education Moderate the Relationship between Social Capital and Cognitive Function among Older Adults? Evidence from Suzhou City, China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17186560 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (18) ◽

pp. 6560

Author(s):

Jingyue Zhang ◽

Nan Lu ◽

Wenxiu Wang

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Social Capital ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Group Analysis ◽

Later Life ◽

Multiple Group ◽

Education Group ◽

Quota Sampling ◽

The Relationship

While social capital is recognized as an important protective determinant of cognitive function in later life, there is a lack of research examining the potential moderators and mediators in the mechanisms linking social capital to cognitive function. This study investigated the moderating role of education on the relationship between social capital and cognitive function among older adults in urban Chinese communities. Data were derived from a community survey conducted in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, in late 2015. A quota sampling method was applied to recruit respondents aged 60 years or older from 16 communities in the Gusu district. The final analytic sample size was 446. Multiple group analysis was applied to test the proposed model. The results show that cognitive social capital was significantly associated with cognitive function in the high education group only. Structural social capital was not significantly associated with cognitive function. The findings highlight the important role of social capital in influencing cognitive function in later life. Social capital interventions could be particularly useful as a preventive approach to help older adults sustain their cognitive function levels. Policy and intervention implications are discussed.

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The role of diet on cognitive function in older adults

Nursing and Residential Care ◽

10.12968/nrec.2008.10.8.30629 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 387-391

Author(s):

Caroline S Stokes

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function

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The Impact of Working Memory Training on Cognitive Abilities in Older Adults: The Role of Cognitive Reserve

Current Aging Science ◽

10.2174/1874609812666190819125542 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 52-61

Author(s):

Sara Mičič ◽

Marina Horvat ◽

Karin Bakracevic

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Executive Functioning ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Control Group ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

The Impact ◽

Experimental Group

Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine whether Working Memory (WM) training improves the cognitive functioning of older adults and to determine the role of cognitive reserve in WM training. Method: Twenty-one older adults, aged between 65 and 91 years were included in the study. Ten of them were in the experimental group and 11 in the passive control group. The experimental group underwent 15 training sessions of n-back training over a period of five weeks, whereas the control group remained passive. All participants (from the experimental and control group) were tested before the training, one week after the training, and three months after the training with Rey– Osterrieth/Taylor Complex Figure test (ROCF), Digit span, and TMT (part A and part B). Results and Conclusion: Results of our study suggest that although the experimental group slightly improved their performance on the trained task, the progress was not statistically significant. There was also no statistically significant transfer of training effects onto tasks of visual-spatial and verbal memory, as well as those related to executive functioning. However, the study did identify a statistically significant correlation between cognitive reserve and certain tests performed at the final testing: tasks measuring executive functioning and spatial ability. Results also revealed that the group that showed improvement in the training task was significantly better in the ROCF test in comparison with the group that had not improved their performance on the N-back task. Thus, visual-spatial abilities (visual perception, construction, and memory) were more connected with success in WM training, than other measured cognitive abilities (e.g. verbal and numerical memory).

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Cognitive Reserve Moderates Associations Between Walking Performance Under Single and Dual-Task Conditions and Incident Mobility Impairment in Older Adults

The Journals of Gerontology Series A ◽

10.1093/gerona/glab178 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Catherine O’Brien ◽

Roee Holtzer

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Dual Task ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Mobility Impairment ◽

Gait Performance ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Wide Range ◽

Walking Performance ◽

Incident Cases

Abstract Background Among older adults, walking performance is a reliable indicator of adverse health outcomes including incident mobility impairment. Whereas, attention and executive functions have been implicated in cognitive control of locomotion, much less is known about the role of Cognitive Reserve (CR) in predicting mobility impairments among older adults. Specifically, whether CR moderates the relationship between gait performance and incident mobility impairment, has not been reported. To address this gap in the literature, we examined whether gait performance under Single-Task-Walk (STW) and Dual-Task-Walk (DTW) conditions predicted incident mobility impairment and whether CR moderated this relationship. Methods Participants were 176 (mean age=75.57; %female=53) older adults with baseline SPPB scores of 10-12. Participants completed neuropsychological testing, the SPPB, and a dual-task walking protocol. CR was evaluated using the Wide Range Achievement Test 3 rd edition (WRAT-3). Participants were followed for three years; individuals whose SPPB scores declined below 10 were defined as incident cases of mobility impairment (n=42). Results Moderation analyses revealed significant interaction effects of CR with walking velocity under STW (b = 0.09, 95% CI [0.01, 0.17], z = 2.30, p = 0.02), and DTW (b = 0.10, 95% CI [0.02, 0.17], z = 2.55, p = 0.01) conditions wherein slower gait predicted increased risk of incident mobility impairment among individuals with lower CR. Conclusion These findings extend knowledge about the interrelation of cognitive and mobility functions, revealing the critical role of CR in identifying older adults at risk of developing incident mobility impairment.

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Verbal intelligence is a more robust cross-sectional measure of cognitive reserve than level of education in healthy older adults

Alzheimer s Research & Therapy ◽

10.1186/s13195-021-00870-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

R. Boyle ◽

S. P. Knight ◽

C. De Looze ◽

D. Carey ◽

S. Scarlett ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Cognitive Outcome ◽

Verbal Intelligence ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Occupational Complexity

Abstract Background Cognitive reserve is most commonly measured using socio-behavioural proxy variables. These variables are easy to collect, have a straightforward interpretation, and are widely associated with reduced risk of dementia and cognitive decline in epidemiological studies. However, the specific proxies vary across studies and have rarely been assessed in complete models of cognitive reserve (i.e. alongside both a measure of cognitive outcome and a measure of brain structure). Complete models can test independent associations between proxies and cognitive function in addition to the moderation effect of proxies on the brain-cognition relationship. Consequently, there is insufficient empirical evidence guiding the choice of proxy measures of cognitive reserve and poor comparability across studies. Method In a cross-sectional study, we assessed the validity of 5 common proxies (education, occupational complexity, verbal intelligence, leisure activities, and exercise) and all possible combinations of these proxies in 2 separate community-dwelling older adult cohorts: The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA; N = 313, mean age = 68.9 years, range = 54–88) and the Cognitive Reserve/Reference Ability Neural Network Study (CR/RANN; N = 234, mean age = 64.49 years, range = 50–80). Fifteen models were created with 3 brain structure variables (grey matter volume, hippocampal volume, and mean cortical thickness) and 5 cognitive variables (verbal fluency, processing speed, executive function, episodic memory, and global cognition). Results No moderation effects were observed. There were robust positive associations with cognitive function, independent of brain structure, for 2 individual proxies (verbal intelligence and education) and 16 composites (i.e. combinations of proxies). Verbal intelligence was statistically significant in all models. Education was significant only in models with executive function as the cognitive outcome variable. Three robust composites were observed in more than two-thirds of brain-cognition models: the composites of (1) occupational complexity and verbal intelligence, (2) education and verbal intelligence, and (3) education, occupational complexity, and verbal intelligence. However, no composite had larger average effects nor was more robust than verbal intelligence alone. Conclusion These results support the use of verbal intelligence as a proxy measure of CR in cross-sectional studies of cognitively healthy older adults.

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