Age-related effects over bilingual language control and executive control

The aim of the present study is two-fold. First, we investigate age-related changes to bilingual language control (bLC) mechanisms across lifespan. Second, we explore the relation between bLC mechanisms and those of the domain-general executive (EC) system by looking at age effects on these two systems. To do so, we compare the performances of the three age groups of bilinguals (young, middle-aged and elderly) in a language switching task to those of non-linguistic switching task. We found an age-related change in the non-linguistic switch cost but not in the language switch cost. Moreover, we did not find any correlation between the magnitudes of the switch costs. Taken together these results indicate that bLC is not affected by age as the EC system is, and interestingly, we add new evidence that the bLC mechanisms are not fully subsidiary to those of the domain-general EC system.

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Symmetries of comprehension-based language switch costs in conflicting versus non-conflicting contexts

International Journal of Bilingualism ◽

10.1177/1367006919848487 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 588-598

Author(s):

Cong Liu ◽

Kalinka Timmer ◽

Lu Jiao ◽

Ruiming Wang

Keyword(s):

Adaptive Control ◽

Language Comprehension ◽

Switch Cost ◽

Mixed Effects ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Language Control ◽

Control Hypothesis ◽

Switching Task ◽

Accuracy Data

Aims: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of contexts (i.e., non-conflicting context versus conflicting context) on bilingual language switch costs during language comprehension. Methodology: Thirty-two unbalance Chinese-English bilinguals completed a modified comprehension-based language-switching task in two contexts. They made a judgement about the colour meaning of the word. In the non-conflicting context all words were presented in white ink, while in the conflicting context the words were printed in an inconsistent ink colour. Data and analysis: Reaction time and accuracy data were analysed using mixed-effects models. Findings/conclusions: Results showed that the switch costs were larger in the conflicting context than in the non-conflicting context. Further, in the non-conflicting context an asymmetrical switch cost with larger costs for the second language was observed as compared to symmetrical switch costs in the conflicting context. Originality: This is the first study that indicates that bilingual comprehension-based language control adapts flexibly depending on the context, just as during bilingual production. Significance/implications: These findings supported and expanded the classic adaptive control hypothesis.

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Age-Related Changes in Attentional Refocusing during Simulated Driving

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci10080530 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 530

Author(s):

Eleanor Huizeling ◽

Hongfang Wang ◽

Carol Holland ◽

Klaus Kessler

Keyword(s):

Response Times ◽

Age Groups ◽

Simulated Driving ◽

Switching Performance ◽

Road Sign ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Age Related ◽

Gerontological Research ◽

Spatial Tasks ◽

Age Related Changes

We recently reported that refocusing attention between temporal and spatial tasks becomes more difficult with increasing age, which could impair daily activities such as driving (Callaghan et al., 2017). Here, we investigated the extent to which difficulties in refocusing attention extend to naturalistic settings such as simulated driving. A total of 118 participants in five age groups (18–30; 40–49; 50–59; 60–69; 70–91 years) were compared during continuous simulated driving, where they repeatedly switched from braking due to traffic ahead (a spatially focal yet temporally complex task) to reading a motorway road sign (a spatially more distributed task). Sequential-Task (switching) performance was compared to Single-Task performance (road sign only) to calculate age-related switch-costs. Electroencephalography was recorded in 34 participants (17 in the 18–30 and 17 in the 60+ years groups) to explore age-related changes in the neural oscillatory signatures of refocusing attention while driving. We indeed observed age-related impairments in attentional refocusing, evidenced by increased switch-costs in response times and by deficient modulation of theta and alpha frequencies. Our findings highlight virtual reality (VR) and Neuro-VR as important methodologies for future psychological and gerontological research.

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Age-related Changes in Attentional Refocusing During Simulated Driving

10.20944/preprints202007.0329.v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Eleanor Huizeling ◽

Hongfang Wang ◽

Carol Holland ◽

Klaus Kessler

Keyword(s):

Response Times ◽

Age Groups ◽

Simulated Driving ◽

Switching Performance ◽

Road Sign ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Age Related ◽

Gerontological Research ◽

Spatial Tasks ◽

Age Related Changes

We recently reported that refocusing attention between temporal and spatial tasks becomes more difficult with increasing age, which could impair daily activities such as driving (Callaghan et al., 2017). Here we investigated the extent to which difficulties in refocusing attention extend to naturalistic settings such as simulated driving. 118 participants in five age groups (18-30; 40-49; 50-59; 60-69; 70-91 years) were compared during simulated driving, where they switched from a spatially focal yet temporally complex task (braking due to traffic ahead) to a spatially more distributed task (reading a motorway road sign). Sequential-Task (switching) performance was compared to Single-Task performance (road sign only) to calculate age-related switch-costs. Electroencephalography was recorded in 34 participants (17 in the 18-30 and 17 in the 60+ years groups) to explore age-related changes in the neural oscillatory signatures of refocusing attention while driving. We indeed observed age-related impairments in attentional refocusing, evidenced by increased switch-costs in response times and by deficient modulation of theta and alpha frequencies. Our findings highlight virtual reality (VR) and Neuro-VR as important methodologies for future psychological and gerontological research.

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Sources of cognitive conflict and their relevance to Theory of Mind proficiency in healthy ageing. A preregistered study.

10.31234/osf.io/mzv5u ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Foyzul Rahman ◽

Sabrina Javed ◽

Ian Apperly ◽

Peter Hansen ◽

Carol Holland ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Executive Control ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Age Groups ◽

Response Speed ◽

Cognitive Conflict ◽

Mental States ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Age Related ◽

Outcome Knowledge

Age-related decline in Theory of Mind (ToM) may be due to waning executive control, which is necessary for resolving conflict when reasoning about others’ mental states. We assessed how older (OA; n=50) versus younger adults (YA; n=50) were affected by three theoretically relevant sources of conflict within ToM: competing Self-Other perspectives; competing cued locations and outcome knowledge. We examined which best accounted for age-related difficulty with ToM. Our data show unexpected similarity between age groups when representing a belief incongruent with one’s own. Individual differences in attention and motor response speed best explained the degree of conflict experienced through conflicting Self-Other perspectives. However, OAs were disproportionately affected by managing conflict between cued locations. Age and spatial working memory were most relevant for predicting the magnitude of conflict elicited by conflicting cued locations. We suggest that previous studies may have underestimated OA’s ToM proficiency by including unnecessary conflict in ToM tasks.

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Age-related changes in behavioural and emotional problems in Smith–Magenis syndrome measured with the Developmental Behavior Checklist

Journal of Intellectual Disabilities ◽

10.1177/1744629519901056 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 174462951990105 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Heidi Elisabeth Nag ◽

Terje Nærland

Keyword(s):

Age Groups ◽

Emotional Problems ◽

Chromosome 17 ◽

Adaptive Behaviour ◽

Genetic Syndrome ◽

Developmental Behavior ◽

Age Related ◽

Autism Symptomatology ◽

Behavioural And Emotional Problems ◽

Age Related Changes

Smith–Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a genetic syndrome most often caused by a deletion on chromosome 17 or more rarely by a mutation in the retinoic acid-induced 1 gene. The aim of this study was to investigate the Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC) profile of persons with SMS and the associations between behavioural and emotional problems, age, gender, adaptive behaviour and autism symptomatology. Twenty-eight persons with SMS were represented by their parents in this study. DBC Total scores are reduced with age, but they still show a mean that is clearly above the cut-off of 46. The differences between the age groups <9 years and 9–17 years ( p = 0.024) and between the age groups <9 years and >18 years ( p = 0.007) are significant. We found a significant decrease in behavioural and emotional problems with age in SMS. We did not find a relationship between adapted behaviour and communication and behavioural and emotional problems.

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Investigation of Age-Related Changes in the Skin Microbiota of Korean Women

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms8101581 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. 1581

Author(s):

Minseok Kim ◽

Tansol Park ◽

Jung Im Yun ◽

Hye Won Lim ◽

Na Rae Han ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Age Groups ◽

Alpha Diversity ◽

Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Korean Women ◽

Skin Microbiota ◽

Microbial Distribution ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Related Changes

The microbiota of human skin is influenced by host and environmental factors. To determine if chronological age influences the composition of the skin microbiota on the forehead and hands, 73 Korean women were sorted into one of three age groups: (1) 10–29 years (n = 24), (2) 30–49 years (n = 21), and (3) 50–79 years (n = 28). From the 73 women, 146 skin samples (two skin sites per person) were collected. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was then conducted to analyze the skin microbiota. The overall microbial distribution varied on the forehead but was similar on the hands across the three age groups. In addition, the composition of the skin microbiota differed between the forehead and hands. Commensal microbiota, such as Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Cutibacterium, and Corynebacterium, which contribute to maintaining skin health via dominant occupation, were affected by increasing age on forehead and hand skin. Alpha diversity indices increased significantly with age on forehead skin. This study indicates that older people may be more susceptible to pathogenic invasions due to an imbalanced skin microbiota resulting from age-related changes. The results of our study may help develop new strategies to rebalance skin microbiota shifted during aging.

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Age Related Changes in Weight of the Thymus Gland of Bangladeshi People

Bangladesh Journal of Anatomy ◽

10.3329/bja.v8i1.6101 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 10-12

Author(s):

Meherunnessa Begum ◽

Uttam Kumar Paul ◽

Md Jahangir Alam

Keyword(s):

Effect of aging on tracheal mucociliary clearance in beagle dogs

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/jappl.1987.62.3.1331 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 62 (3) ◽

pp. 1331-1334 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

S. L. Whaley ◽

B. A. Muggenburg ◽

F. A. Seiler ◽

R. K. Wolff

Keyword(s):

Young Adult ◽

Gamma Camera ◽

Mucociliary Clearance ◽

Age Groups ◽

Beagle Dogs ◽

Velocity Measurements ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Related Changes ◽

Made In

Tracheal mucous velocity measurements were made in 24 beagle dogs in five age groups, using a gamma camera to detect movement of instilled 99mTc-macroaggregated albumin. Age groups were defined as immature (9–10 mo), young adult (2.8–3.0 yr), middle aged (6.7–6.9 yr), mature (9.6–9.8 yr), and aged dogs (13.6–16.2 yr). Mean velocities were 3.6 +/- 0.4 (SE) mm/min in the immature dogs, 9.7 +/- 0.6 mm/min in the young adults, 6.9 +/- 0.5 mm/min in the middle-aged dogs, 3.5 +/- 0.8 mm/min in the mature dogs, and 2.9 +/- 0.5 mm/min in the aged dogs. Tracheal mucous velocity was significantly (P less than 0.05) greater in the young adult and middle-aged groups compared with the immature, mature, and aged dogs. This pattern of age-related changes was noted to be similar to age-related changes described for certain pulmonary function measurements.

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Age-related changes in muscle thickness and echo intensity of trunk muscles in healthy women: comparison of 20–60s age groups

European Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1007/s00421-020-04412-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 120 (8) ◽

pp. 1805-1814 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Megumi Ota ◽

Tome Ikezoe ◽

Takehiro Kato ◽

Hiroshige Tateuchi ◽

Noriaki Ichihashi

Keyword(s):

Age Groups ◽

Muscle Thickness ◽

Trunk Muscles ◽

Echo Intensity ◽

Healthy Women ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Related Changes

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Maximal lactate steady state declines during the aging process

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/japplphysiol.00298.2003 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 95 (6) ◽

pp. 2576-2582 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Craig O. Mattern ◽

Margaret J. Gutilla ◽

Darrin L. Bright ◽

Timothy E. Kirby ◽

Kenneth W. Hinchcliff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Steady State ◽

Exercise Intensity ◽

Citrate Synthase ◽

Age Groups ◽

Type I ◽

Training Intensity ◽

Maximal Lactate Steady State ◽

Age Related ◽

Competitive Cyclists ◽

Age Related Changes

Increased participation of aged individuals in athletics warrants basic research focused on delineating age-related changes in performance variables. On the basis of potential age-related declines in aerobic enzyme activities and a shift in the expression of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms, we hypothesized that maximal lactate steady-state (MLSS) exercise intensity would be altered as a function of age. Three age groups [young athletes (YA), 25.9 ± 1.0 yr, middle-age athletes (MA), 43.2 ± 1.0 yr, and older athletes (OA), 64.6 ± 2.7 yr] of male, competitive cyclists and triathletes matched for training intensity and duration were studied. Subjects performed a maximal O2 consumption (V̇o2 max) test followed by a series of 30-min exercise trials to determine MLSS. A muscle biopsy of the vastus lateralis was procured on a separate visit. There were differences ( P < 0.05) in V̇o2 max among all age groups (YA = 67.7 ± 1.2 ml · kg-1 · min-1, MA = 56.0 ± 2.6 ml · kg-1 · min-1, OA = 47.0 ± 2.6 ml · kg-1 · min-1). When expressed as a percentage of V̇o2 max, there was also an age-related decrease ( P < 0.05) in the relative MLSS exercise intensity (YA = 80.8 ± 0.9%, MA = 76.1 ± 1.4%, OA = 69.9 ± 1.5%). There were no significant age-related changes in citrate synthase activity or MHC isoform profile. The hypothesis is supported as there is an age-related decline in MLSS exercise intensity in athletes matched for training intensity and duration. Although type I MHC isoform, combined with age, is helpful in predicting ( r = 0.76, P < 0.05) relative MLSS intensity, it does not explain the age-related decline in MLSS.

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