Change in Intra-Individual Variability in Older Adults and Individual Differences: A Longitudinal Study

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delphine Fagot ◽  
Nathalie Mella ◽  
Anik De Ribaupierre
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Variability

Patterns of Adjustment to Partner Loss in Old Age: The Widowhood Adaptation Longitudinal Study

2002 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berna Van Baarsen ◽  
Marijtje A. J. Van Duijn ◽  
Johannes H. Smit ◽  
Tom A. B. Snijders ◽  
Kees P. M. Knipscheer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Classification Criteria ◽  
Adjustment Process ◽  
Partner Death ◽  
Emotional Loneliness ◽  
Social Loneliness

The present longitudinal study aims to explain emotional and social loneliness experienced by older adults ( N=99) during two-and-a-half years of widowhood. Utilization of multilevel analysis and a “visual” cluster analysis with prescribed classification criteria enabled us to search for average adaptational developments as well as individual variability in the adjustment process. Results were interpreted within the theory of mental incongruity. Adjustment to loneliness appears to develop along different individual-specific curves. About 30 percent of the bereaved had not adapted in two-and-a-half years to their loss in terms of emotional loneliness. Presence of favorable opportunities such as good health and high self-esteem as well as coping efforts like social behavior resulted in lower levels of emotional and social loneliness. It is concluded that the adjustment process among older bereaved does not exist. Moreover, including measures of cognitions and attitudes that are related to the relational needs and desires of widow(er)s may enlarge our knowledge of how older adults adapt to partner death.

scholarly journals Disrupted neural synchrony mediates the relationship between white matter integrity and cognitive performance in older adults

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Hinault ◽  
M. Kraut ◽  
A. Bakker ◽  
A. Dagher ◽  
S.M. Courtney
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
White Matter Integrity ◽  
Neural Basis

AbstractOur main goal was to determine the influence of white matter integrity on the dynamic coupling between brain regions and the individual variability of cognitive performance in older adults. EEG was recorded while participants performed a task specifically designed to engage working memory and inhibitory processes, and the associations among functional activity, structural integrity, and cognitive performance were assessed. We found that the association between white matter microstructural integrity and cognitive functioning with aging is mediated by time-varying alpha and gamma phase-locking value (PLV). Specifically, older individuals with better preservation of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus showed greater task-related modulations of alpha and gamma long-range PLV between the inferior frontal gyrus and occipital lobe, lower local phase-amplitude coupling in occipital lobes, and better cognitive control performance. Our results help delineate the role of individual variability of white matter microstructure in dynamic synchrony and cognitive performance during normal aging, and show that even small reductions in white matter integrity can lead to altered communications between brain regions, which in turn can result in reduced efficiency of cognitive functioning.Significance statementCognitive aging is associated with large individual differences, as some individuals maintain cognitive performance similar to that of young adults while others are significantly impaired. We hypothesized that individual differences in white matter integrity would influence the functional synchrony between frontal and posterior brain regions, and cognitive performance in older adults. We found that the association between reduced tract integrity and worse cognitive performance in older adults was mediated by task-related modulations of coupling synchrony in the alpha and gamma bands. Results offer a mechanistic explanation for the neural basis of the variability of cognitive performance in older adults who do not have any clinically diagnosable neuropathology, and for the association between structural network integrity and cognition in older adults.

Inter-individual variation shapes the human microbiome

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily F. Wissel ◽  
Leigh K. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Human Microbiome ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Microbiota Composition ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Microbiome Research

Abstract The target article suggests inter-individual variability is a weakness of microbiota-gut-brain (MGB) research, but we discuss why it is actually a strength. We comment on how accounting for individual differences can help researchers systematically understand the observed variance in microbiota composition, interpret null findings, and potentially improve the efficacy of therapeutic treatments in future clinical microbiome research.

Individual differences in executive functions and retrieval efficacy in older adults.

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1105-1114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fergus I. M. Craik ◽  
Eldar Eftekhari ◽  
Ellen Bialystok ◽  
Nicole D. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Executive Functions

scholarly journals Social isolation, rather than loneliness, is associated with cognitive decline in older adults: the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Bin Yu ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Yongjie Chen ◽  
Xiaohua Jia
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Mental Status ◽  
Chinese Older Adults ◽  
Confounding Variables

Abstract Background Social isolation and loneliness have each been associated with cognitive decline, but most previous research is limited to Western populations. This study examined the relationships of social isolation and loneliness on cognitive function among Chinese older adults. Methods This study used two waves of data (2011 and 2015) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and analyses were restricted to those respondents aged 50 and older. Social isolation, loneliness, and cognitive function were measured at baseline. Follow-up measures on cognitive function were obtained for 7761 participants (mean age = 60.97, s.d. = 7.31; male, 50.8%). Lagged dependent variable models adjusted for confounding factors were used to evaluate the association between baseline isolation, loneliness, and cognitive function at follow-up. Results Loneliness was significantly associated with the cognitive decline at follow-up (episodic memory: β = −0.03, p < 0.01; mental status: β = −0.03, p < 0.01) in the partially adjusted models. These associations became insignificant after additional confounding variables (chronic diseases, health behaviors, disabilities, and depressive symptoms) were taken into account (all p > 0.05). By contrast, social isolation was significantly associated with decreases in all cognitive function measures at follow-up (episodic memory: β = −0.05, p < 0.001; mental status: β = −0.03, p < 0.01) even after controlling for loneliness and all confounding variables. Conclusions Social isolation is associated with cognitive decline in Chinese older adults, and the relationships are independent of loneliness. These findings expand our knowledge about the links between social relationships and the cognitive function in non-Western populations.

scholarly journals Self-compassion as predictor of daily physical symptoms and chronic illness across older adulthood

2021 ◽  
pp. 135910532110023
Author(s):  
Heather Herriot ◽  
Carsten Wrosch
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Chronic Illness ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Early Old Age

This study examined whether self-compassion could benefit daily physical symptoms and chronic illness in early and advanced old age. The hypotheses were evaluated in a 4-year longitudinal study of 264 older adults. Results showed that self-compassion predicted lower levels of daily physical symptoms across the study period in advanced, but not early, old age ( T-ratio = −1.93, p = 0.05). In addition, self-compassion was associated with fewer increases in chronic illness in advanced, but not early, old age ( T-ratio = − 2.45, p < 0.02). The results of this study suggest that self-compassion may be particularly adaptive towards the end of life.

Examining public transport usage by older adults with smart card data: A longitudinal study in Japan

2021 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 103046
Author(s):  
Shasha Liu ◽  
Toshiyuki Yamamoto ◽  
Enjian Yao ◽  
Toshiyuki Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Smart Card ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Smart Card Data
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