scholarly journals Retirement Age Modifies the Association Between Education/Occupation and Cognition

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 715-716
Author(s):  
Monica Nelson ◽  
Ross Andel
Keyword(s):  
High Education ◽  
Cognitive Reserve ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Effect Modification ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
Occupational Position ◽  
Status Effect ◽  
Retirement Timing ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Introduction According to the cognitive reserve and use-it-or-lose-it hypotheses, engagement in stimulating activities seems to benefit cognition, with engagement often associated with more education or higher occupational position. However, whether retirement may modify the association between education/occupation and cognition is unclear. We aimed to assess how age at retirement may modify the relationship between education/occupation and cognition. Methods Older adults (n=360) from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative who were cognitively normal and retired at baseline participated. Linear regression was used to assess how educational attainment (high/low) or occupational position (managerial, intermediate/clerical, routine/manual) related to executive functioning (EF) or memory, controlling for age, sex, depressive symptoms, and health status. Effect modification by retirement (early, on-time, late). Results High education (EF: b=0.37, SE=0.08, p<.001; memory: b=0.22, SE=0.05, p<.001), intermediate (EF: b=0.26, SE=0.11, p=.019; memory: b=0.18, SE=0.08, p=.018) and managerial (EF: b=0.23, SE=0.12, p=.045; memory: b=0.16, SE=0.08, p=.045) occupations (compared to routine/manual occupations) were associated with better EF and memory performance. High education was significantly associated with better EF and memory for participants who retired early (EF: b=0.43, SE=0.12, p<.001; memory: b=0.29, SE=0.10, p=.004) or on-time (EF: b=0.51, SE=0.15, p=.001; memory: b=0.24, SE=0.10, p=.014), but not for participants who retired late (EF: b=0.19, SE=0.15, p=.200; memory: b=0.09, SE=0.09, p=.334). Intermediate occupations were associated with EF only for participants who retired on-time (b=0.58, SE=0.21, p=.007). Conclusion Education and occupational position may influence cognition after retirement differently based on retirement timing, with effects most apparent for on-time retirement and substantially reduced for late retirement.

scholarly journals Lower functional hippocampal redundancy in mild cognitive impairment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Langella ◽  
◽  
Muhammad Usman Sadiq ◽  
Peter J. Mucha ◽  
Kelly S. Giovanello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Potential Mechanism ◽  
Network Efficiency ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
Normal Individuals ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractWith an increasing prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in response to an aging population, it is critical to identify and understand neuroprotective mechanisms against cognitive decline. One potential mechanism is redundancy: the existence of duplicate elements within a system that provide alternative functionality in case of failure. As the hippocampus is one of the earliest sites affected by AD pathology, we hypothesized that functional hippocampal redundancy is protective against cognitive decline. We compared hippocampal functional redundancy derived from resting-state functional MRI networks in cognitively normal older adults, with individuals with early and late MCI, as well as the relationship between redundancy and cognition. Posterior hippocampal redundancy was reduced between cognitively normal and MCI groups, plateauing across early and late MCI. Higher hippocampal redundancy was related to better memory performance only for cognitively normal individuals. Critically, functional hippocampal redundancy did not come at the expense of network efficiency. Our results provide support that hippocampal redundancy protects against cognitive decline in aging.

scholarly journals Education as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Episodic Memory and Amyloid Load in Normal Aging

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 1820-1826
Author(s):  
Maude Joannette ◽  
Christian Bocti ◽  
Pénélope Sévigny Dupont ◽  
Marie Maxime Lavallée ◽  
Jim Nikelski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Reserve ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
University Education ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
Amyloid Load ◽  
University Degree ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Linear Regressions

Abstract The current study explored whether education, a proxy of cognitive reserve, modifies the association between episodic memory (EM) performance and βeta-amyloid load (Aβ), a biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease, in a cohort of cognitively normal older adults. One hundred and four participants (mean age 73.3 years) evenly spread out in three bands of education were recruited. Participants underwent neuropsychological assessment, structural MRI as well as PET imaging to quantify Aβ load. Moderation analyses and the Johnson–Neyman technique were carried out to examine the interaction of education with Aβ load to predict EM performance. Linear regressions were then performed within each group of education to better illustrate the interaction effect (all analyses were controlled for age and sex). The interaction between education and Aβ load was significant (p < .05) for years of education, reaching a cutoff point of 13.5 years, above which the relationship between Aβ load and EM was no longer significant. Similarly, significant associations were found between Aβ and EM among participants with secondary (p < .01) and pre-university education (p < .01), but not with a university degree (p = .253). EM performance is associated with Aβ load in cognitively normal older individuals, and this relationship is moderated by educational attainment.

scholarly journals BDNF Val66Met moderates the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and memory in cognitively normal older adults

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda M. Brown ◽  
Natalie Castalanelli ◽  
Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith ◽  
James Doecke ◽  
Michael Weinborn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cardiorespiratory Fitness ◽  
Intervention Studies ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Peak Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Visuospatial Memory ◽  
Cognitive Health ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
Normal Men ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractHigher cardiorespiratory fitness has been associated with enhanced cognitive function in older adults; yet, this relationship demonstrates a degree of variability. Thus, it is hypothesised that variation in genetic factors may influence the relationship between fitness and cognitive health. In this study we evaluate whether the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism moderates the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and verbal and visuospatial memory. Data from ninety-nine cognitively normal men and women aged 60 – 80 years were used. Fitness was assessed by peak oxygen consumption, and verbal and visuospatial memory were evaluated using well-validated measures. Participants were categorised into: lower-fit Met carriers, higher-fit Met carriers, lower-fit Val/Val, or higher-fit Val/Val. A significant interaction was observed between BDNF Val66Met and fitness on visuospatial memory performance; whereby lower-fit Met carriers performed 1SD lower than higher-fit Met carriers (p=0.04). We observed higher levels of fitness mitigated the deleterious effect of BDNF Met allele carriage on visuospatial memory. Future intervention studies should evaluate the effect of structured exercise on cognitive health between BDNF Val66Met carriers and Val/Val homozygotes.

The Relationship Between Interoception and Metacognition

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Meessen ◽  
Verena Mainz ◽  
Siegfried Gauggel ◽  
Eftychia Volz-Sidiropoulou ◽  
Stefan Sütterlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Metacognitive Awareness ◽  
Interoceptive Awareness ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Heartbeat Perception ◽  
Interoceptive Accuracy ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Recently, Garfinkel and Critchley (2013) proposed to distinguish between three facets of interoception: interoceptive sensibility, interoceptive accuracy, and interoceptive awareness. This pilot study investigated how these facets interrelate to each other and whether interoceptive awareness is related to the metacognitive awareness of memory performance. A sample of 24 healthy students completed a heartbeat perception task (HPT) and a memory task. Judgments of confidence were requested for each task. Participants filled in questionnaires assessing interoceptive sensibility, depression, anxiety, and socio-demographic characteristics. The three facets of interoception were found to be uncorrelated and interoceptive awareness was not related to metacognitive awareness of memory performance. Whereas memory performance was significantly related to metamemory awareness, interoceptive accuracy (HPT) and interoceptive awareness were not correlated. Results suggest that future research on interoception should assess all facets of interoception in order to capture the multifaceted quality of the construct.

scholarly journals Moderating Effect of Cognitive Reserve on Brain Integrity and Cognitive Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 285-285
Author(s):  
Monica Nelson ◽  
Ross Andel ◽  
Julie Martinkova ◽  
Kateřina Čechová ◽  
Hana Marková ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Cognitive Reserve ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Hippocampal Volume ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Occupational Position ◽  
Using Data

Abstract Dementia is arguably the most devastating condition of older adulthood with treatment options still elusive. Alzheimer’s is the most prevalent form of dementia where cognitive deficits relate strongly to underlying brain pathology. However, there exist cases in which cognitive performance does not match the corresponding level of neuropathology. Attempts to explain this phenomenon often include the concept of cognitive reserve (CR), whereby greater CR (e.g., more education or higher occupational position) presumably results in less impairment relative to the extent of pathology early in disease progression but also greater impairment once cognitive symptoms manifest. We examined the influence of CR proxy variables (education and occupation) on the relationship between hippocampal volume and cognitive performance on tests of executive control and memory using data from the Czech Brain Aging Study (CBAS). Participants were cognitively normal/with subjective cognitive decline but without actual impairment (CN; n=115; M(age)=66.43; M(education)=15.90; 37 men) or had amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI; n=165; M(age)=71.37; M(education)=14.92; 85 men). We found that hippocampal volume was significantly related to executive control (b=-.0001, p=.03) and memory (b=.0002, p<.001) for participants with aMCI, but only memory (b=.0002, p=.03) for CN participants. Occupational position moderated the association between memory and hippocampal volume in aMCI, with the result approaching significance (p=.07), whereby a greater link between memory problems and hippocampal atrophy was present in those previously in high occupational positions. No other moderations for occupational position or education emerged (ps>.25). We found evidence for the concept of CR using occupational position as proxy.

scholarly journals Disaggregation of official demographic projections in sub-groups by education level: the neglected “composition effect” in the future path of life expectancy

Genus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Ginebri ◽  
Carlo Lallo
Keyword(s):  
High Education ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Composition Effect ◽  
Education Group ◽  
Population Forecasts ◽  
Low Education ◽  
Mortality Differential ◽  
Education Groups

AbstractWe developed an innovative method to break down official population forecasts by educational level. The mortality rates of the high education group and low education group were projected using an iterative procedure, whose starting point was the life tables by education level for Italy, based on the year 2012. We provide a set of different scenarios on the convergence/divergence of the mortality differential between the high and low education groups. In each scenario, the demographic size and the life expectancy of the two sub-groups were projected annually over the period 2018–2065. We compared the life expectancy paths in the whole population and in the sub-groups. We found that in all of our projections, population life expectancy converges to the life expectancy of the high education group. We call this feature of our outcomes the “composition effect”, and we show how highly persistent it is, even in scenarios where the mortality differential between social groups is assumed to decrease over time. In a midway scenario, where the mortality differential is assumed to follow an intermediate path between complete disappearance in year 2065 and stability at the 2012 level, and in all the scenarios with a milder convergence hypothesis, our “composition effect” prevails over the effect of convergence for men and women. For instance, assuming stability in the mortality differential, we estimated a life expectancy increase at age 65 of 2.9 and 2.6 years for men, and 3.2 and 3.1 for women, in the low and high education groups, respectively, over the whole projection period. Over the same period, Italian official projections estimate an increase of 3.7 years in life expectancy at age 65 for the whole population. Our results have relevant implications for retirement and ageing policies, in particular for those European countries that have linked statutory retirement age to variations in population life expectancies. In all the scenarios where the composition effect is not offset by a strong convergence of mortality differentials, we show that the statutory retirement age increases faster than the group-specific life expectancies, and this finding implies that the expected time spent in retirement will shrink for the whole population. This potential future outcome seems to be an unintended consequence of the indexation rule.

scholarly journals Surrogate Endpoint Evaluation: Principal Stratification Criteria and the Prentice Definition

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Gilbert ◽  
Erin E. Gabriel ◽  
Ying Huang ◽  
Ivan S.F. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Causal Effect ◽  
Surrogate Endpoint ◽  
Effect Modification ◽  
Principal Stratification ◽  
Clinical Endpoint ◽  
Efficacy Trial ◽  
Marker Selection ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
High Utility ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractA common problem of interest within a randomized clinical trial is the evaluation of an inexpensive response endpoint as a valid surrogate endpoint for a clinical endpoint, where a chief purpose of a valid surrogate is to provide a way to make correct inferences on clinical treatment effects in future studies without needing to collect the clinical endpoint data. Within the principal stratification framework for addressing this problem based on data from a single randomized clinical efficacy trial, a variety of definitions and criteria for a good surrogate endpoint have been proposed, all based on or closely related to the “principal effects” or “causal effect predictiveness (CEP)” surface. We discuss CEP-based criteria for a useful surrogate endpoint, including (1) the meaning and relative importance of proposed criteria including average causal necessity (ACN), average causal sufficiency (ACS), and large clinical effect modification; (2) the relationship between these criteria and the Prentice definition of a valid surrogate endpoint; and (3) the relationship between these criteria and the consistency criterion (i.e. assurance against the “surrogate paradox”). This includes the result that ACN plus a strong version of ACS generally do not imply the Prentice definition nor the consistency criterion, but they do have these implications in special cases. Moreover, the converse does not hold except in a special case with a binary candidate surrogate. The results highlight that assumptions about the treatment effect on the clinical endpoint before the candidate surrogate is measured are influential for the ability to draw conclusions about the Prentice definition or consistency. In addition, we emphasize that in some scenarios that occur commonly in practice, the principal strata subpopulations for inference are identifiable from the observable data, in which cases the principal stratification framework has relatively high utility for the purpose of effect modification analysis and is closely connected to the treatment marker selection problem. The results are illustrated with application to a vaccine efficacy trial, where ACN and ACS for an antibody marker are found to be consistent with the data and hence support the Prentice definition and consistency.

scholarly journals Autonomic activity during sleep predicts memory consolidation in humans

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (26) ◽  
pp. 7272-7277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren N. Whitehurst ◽  
Nicola Cellini ◽  
Elizabeth A. McDevitt ◽  
Katherine A. Duggan ◽  
Sara C. Mednick
Keyword(s):  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Sleep Stages ◽  
Remote Associates Test ◽  
Daytime Nap ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
With Memory ◽  
Good Sleep ◽  
Variance Explained

Throughout history, psychologists and philosophers have proposed that good sleep benefits memory, yet current studies focusing on the relationship between traditionally reported sleep features (e.g., minutes in sleep stages) and changes in memory performance show contradictory findings. This discrepancy suggests that there are events occurring during sleep that have not yet been considered. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) shows strong variation across sleep stages. Also, increases in ANS activity during waking, as measured by heart rate variability (HRV), have been correlated with memory improvement. However, the role of ANS in sleep-dependent memory consolidation has never been examined. Here, we examined whether changes in cardiac ANS activity (HRV) during a daytime nap were related to performance on two memory conditions (Primed and Repeated) and a nonmemory control condition on the Remote Associates Test. In line with prior studies, we found sleep-dependent improvement in the Primed condition compared with the Quiet Wake control condition. Using regression analyses, we compared the proportion of variance in performance associated with traditionally reported sleep features (model 1) vs. sleep features and HRV during sleep (model 2). For both the Primed and Repeated conditions, model 2 (sleep + HRV) predicted performance significantly better (73% and 58% of variance explained, respectively) compared with model 1 (sleep only, 46% and 26% of variance explained, respectively). These findings present the first evidence, to our knowledge, that ANS activity may be one potential mechanism driving sleep-dependent plasticity.

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