scholarly journals Dimensions of Religious Involvement Represent Positive Pathways in Cognitive Aging

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 868-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Zarina Kraal ◽  
Neika Sharifian ◽  
Afsara B. Zaheed ◽  
Ketlyne Sol ◽  
Laura B. Zahodne
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Intervention Development ◽  
Growth Curves ◽  
Religious Involvement ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Latent Growth Curves ◽  
Private Prayer

Older Black and Hispanic adults report more religious involvement, and religious involvement has been linked to better cognition. This study examined which aspects of religious involvement are associated with better longitudinal episodic memory and whether religious involvement offsets racial and ethnic inequalities in episodic memory. Using Health and Retirement Study data ( N = 16,069), latent growth curves estimated independent indirect pathways between race and ethnicity and 6-year memory trajectories through religious attendance, private prayer, and religious belief, controlling for nonreligious social participation, depressive symptoms, chronic health diseases, age, education, and wealth. Negative direct effects of Black race and Hispanic ethnicity on memory were partially offset by positive indirect pathways through more private prayer and religious attendance. While results were significant for memory intercept and not subsequent memory change, religious attendance and private prayer were independently associated with better cognitive health among diverse older adults. Findings may inform culturally relevant intervention development to promote successful aging and reduce older adults’ cognitive morbidity.

scholarly journals Social Engagement and Episodic Memory in Non-Hispanic Black and White Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 343-343
Author(s):  
Abbey Hamlin ◽  
A Zarina Kraal ◽  
Laura Zahodne
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Activities ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Cross Sectional

Abstract Social engagement may confer cognitive benefits in older adulthood, but studies have typically been restricted to largely non-Hispanic White (NHW) samples. Levels of social engagement vary across race such that NHW report larger social networks, more frequent participation in social activities, and greater social support than non-Hispanic Blacks (NHB). Associations between social engagement and cognition may also vary by race, but research is sparse. The current cross-sectional study examined associations between different aspects of social engagement and episodic memory performance, as well as interactions between social engagement and race among NHB and NHW participants in the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project (N = 247; 48.4% NHB; age = 64.19 ± 2.92). Social engagement (network size, activities, support) was self-reported. Episodic memory was a z-score composite of immediate, delayed, and recognition trials of a list-learning task. Separate hierarchical linear regression models quantified interactions between race and each of the three social engagement variables on episodic memory, controlling for sociodemographics, depressive symptoms, and health conditions. Results showed a main effect of more frequent social activity on better episodic memory, as well as an interaction between race and social support indicating a significant positive association in NHB but not NHW. These preliminary findings suggest that participating in social activities may be equally beneficial for episodic memory across NHB and NHW older adults and that social support may be particularly beneficial for NHB. Future research is needed to determine the potential applications of these results in reducing cognitive inequalities through the development of culturally-relevant interventions.

Episodic Future Thinking and Cognitive Aging

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Schacter ◽  
Aleea L. Devitt ◽  
Donna Rose Addis
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Episodic Future Thinking ◽  
Future Thinking ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Prosocial Intentions ◽  
Age Related Changes

Episodic future thinking refers to the ability to imagine or simulate experiences that might occur in an individual’s personal future. It has been known for decades that cognitive aging is associated with declines in episodic memory, and recent research has documented correlated age-related declines in episodic future thinking. Previous research has considered both cognitive and neural mechanisms that are responsible for age-related changes in episodic future thinking, as well as effects of aging on the functions served by episodic future thinking. Studies concerned with mechanism indicate that multiple cognitive mechanisms contribute to changes in episodic future thinking during aging, including episodic memory retrieval, narrative style, and executive processes. Recent studies using an episodic specificity induction—brief training in recollecting episodic details of a recent experience—have proven useful in separating the contributions of episodic retrieval from other non-episodic processes during future thinking tasks in both old and young adults. Neuroimaging studies provide preliminary evidence of a role for age-related changes in default and executive brain networks in episodic future thinking and autobiographical planning. Studies concerned with function have examined age-related effects on the link between episodic future thinking and a variety of processes, including everyday problem-solving, prospective memory, prosocial intentions, and intertemporal choice/delay discounting. The general finding in these studies is for age-related reductions, consistent with the work on mechanisms that consistently reveals reduced episodic detail in older adults when they imagine future events. However, several studies have revealed that episodic simulation nonetheless confers some benefits for tasks tapping adaptive functions in older adults, such as problem-solving, prospective memory, and prosocial intentions, even though age-related deficits on these tasks are not eliminated or reduced by episodic future thinking.

scholarly journals Moving toward a neuroplasticity view of bilingualism, executive control, and aging

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 857-894 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHARI BAUM ◽  
DEBRA TITONE
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Neurocognitive Functions ◽  
Age Related

ABSTRACTNormal aging is an inevitable race between increasing knowledge and decreasing cognitive capacity. Crucial to understanding and promoting successful aging is determining which of these factors dominates for particular neurocognitive functions. Here, we focus on the human capacity for language, for which healthy older adults are simultaneously advantaged and disadvantaged. In recent years, a more hopeful view of cognitive aging has emerged from work suggesting that age-related declines in executive control functions are buffered by life-long bilingualism. In this paper, we selectively review what is currently known and unknown about bilingualism, executive control, and aging. Our ultimate goal is to advance the views that these issues should be reframed as a specific instance of neuroplasticity more generally and, in particular, that researchers should embrace the individual variability among bilinguals by adopting experimental and statistical approaches that respect the complexity of the questions addressed. In what follows, we set out the theoretical assumptions and empirical support of the bilingual advantages perspective, review what we know about language, cognitive control, and aging generally, and then highlight several of the relatively few studies that have investigated bilingual language processing in older adults, either on their own or in comparison with monolingual older adults. We conclude with several recommendations for how the field ought to proceed to achieve a more multifactorial view of bilingualism that emphasizes the notion of neuroplasticity over that of simple bilingual versus monolingual group comparisons.

scholarly journals Relational binding and holistic retrieval in aging

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi Ngo ◽  
Nora Newcombe
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Verbal Iq ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Associative Deficit ◽  
General Cognitive Status ◽  
Relational Binding

Episodic memory binds together diverse elements of an event into a cohesive unit. This property enables the reconstruction of multidimensional experiences when triggered by a cue related to a past event via pattern completion processes. Such holistic retrieval is evident in young adults, as shown by dependency in the retrieval success for different associations from the same event (Horner & Burgess, 2013, 2014). Aspects of episodic memory capacity are vulnerable to aging processes, as shown by reduced abilities to form linkages within an event through relational binding (associative deficit hypothesis: Naveh-Benjamin, 2002). However, prior work has not examined whether this reduction affects holistic retrieval in typical aging. Here, we leveraged dependency analyses to examine whether older adults remember or forget events holistically, and whether the degree of holistic retrieval declines with old age. We found evidence for continued holistic retrieval, because accuracy for one aspect of an event predicted accuracy for other aspects of the same event. Younger and older adults did not differ in the degree of holistic recollection, despite robust age-related differences in relational binding. However, within the group of older adults, holistic recollection showed a significant decline with advancing age, controlling for pairwise relational binding performance, verbal IQ, and general cognitive status. These results suggest that a decline in holistic retrieval is an aspect of episodic memory decrements later in cognitive aging.

scholarly journals Effects of Stress Exposure Versus Appraisal on Episodic Memory Trajectories: Evidence for Risk and Resilience among Black Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily P Morris ◽  
Lauren L Brown ◽  
Afsara B Zaheed ◽  
Jordan D Palms ◽  
Ketlyne Sol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
Stress Appraisal ◽  
Latent Growth Curves

Abstract Objectives Chronic stressors, experienced disproportionately by Black older adults, are a risk factor for memory impairment. Racially patterned stress exposure may contribute to higher rates of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) among Black older adults compared with Whites, but less is known about the role of stress appraisal. This study examined whether chronic stress exposure mediates racial disparities in memory and whether stress appraisal moderates these associations. Methods Participants included 16,924 older adults (Mage= 67.39, 21% Black) from the 2010 and 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study who completed measures of chronic stress exposure (health, financial, housing, relationships, and caregiving) and appraisal. Latent growth curves modeled longitudinal performance on a word list memory task over six years. Results Black older adults reported greater stress exposure than Whites, and greater stress exposure partially mediated Black-White disparities in initial memory (standardized indirect effect=–.002, p=.009). However, Black older adults appraised stressors as less upsetting than Whites. While stress appraisal did not moderate links between stress exposure and memory, appraising stressors as less upsetting was independently associated with better initial memory. Thus, Black-White disparities in initial memory was partially offset by Blacks participants' appraisal of stressors as less upsetting (standardized indirect effect=.002, p=.016). Discussion Reducing chronic stress exposure may reduce racial disparities in ADRD risk. The counteractive effect of stress appraisal on Black-White disparities in episodic memory highlights resilience factors among Black older adults that should be characterized in future research to move beyond deficit models of ADRD inequality.

Successful Aging

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilip Jeste ◽  
Jeanne Maglione
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Biological Aging ◽  
Medical Illness ◽  
Key Words Aging ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Multiple Domains

The number of older adults in our society is increasing rapidly. Aging is complex and may occur at varying rates across multiple domains, including biological aging, cognitive aging, and emotional aging. Age-related medical conditions are now among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among older adults, making healthy aging a major public health priority. Successful aging encompasses more than longevity, medical health, or freedom from disability. It can be viewed as a multidimensional construct including minimization of disability and medical illness combined with maximization of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning. We review the current literature regarding successful aging. We also discuss strategies to improve the likelihood of successful aging and several key advances, such as definitions of successful aging in different populations, neuroplasticity of aging, wisdom as an empirical construct, the concept of a good (or successful) death, and the development of age-friendly communities.  This review contains 3 figures, 5 tables, and 53 references. Key words: aging, elderly, older adult, successful aging, successful aging interventions

scholarly journals Using Mixture Modeling to Construct Subgroups of Cognitive Aging in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara M Moorman ◽  
Emily A Greenfield ◽  
Kyle Carr
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Mixture Modeling ◽  
Transition Analysis ◽  
Wisconsin Longitudinal Study ◽  
Advance Research ◽  
Low Performance

Abstract Objectives Longitudinal surveys of older adults increasingly incorporate assessments of cognitive performance. However, very few studies have used mixture modeling techniques to describe cognitive aging, identifying subgroups of people who display similar patterns of performance across discrete cognitive functions. We employ this approach to advance empirical evidence concerning interindividual variability and intraindividual change in patterns of cognitive aging. Method We drew upon data from 3,713 participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS). We used latent class analysis to generate subgroups of cognitive aging based on assessments of verbal fluency and episodic memory at ages 65 and 72. We also employed latent transition analysis to identify how individual participants moved between subgroups over the 7-year period. Results There were 4 subgroups at each point in time. Approximately 3 quarters of the sample demonstrated continuity in the qualitative type of profile between ages 65 and 72, with 17.9% of the sample in a profile with sustained overall low performance at both ages 65 and 72. An additional 18.7% of participants made subgroup transitions indicating marked decline in episodic memory. Discussion Results demonstrate the utility of using mixture modeling to identify qualitatively and quantitatively distinct subgroups of cognitive aging among older adults. We discuss the implications of these results for the continued use of population health data to advance research on cognitive aging.

scholarly journals Chronic Stress, C-Reactive Protein, and Cognition Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 362-362
Author(s):  
Emily Morris ◽  
Laura Zahodne
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
C Reactive Protein ◽  
Reactive Protein ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Hispanic White

Abstract Objective: Previous research suggests that chronic stress is associated with worse cognitive aging, but minimal research has examined potential mechanisms and moderators of these associations. Chronic stress is known to increase inflammation (e.g., C-reactive protein [CRP]), which has in turn been associated with worse cognition among older adults. The present study examined whether (1) CRP mediates associations between chronic stress and episodic memory and verbal fluency; and (2) these relationships differ by race/ethnicity. Methods: Participants included 18,968 adults (64% non-Hispanic White; 19% non-Hispanic Black; 14% Hispanic; 3% non-Hispanic other race/ethnicity; Mage=71.8; SDage=6.0) from the Health and Retirement Study. Chronic stress was operationalized as the occurrence and impact of eight ongoing stressors. Cross-sectional, stratified mediation models were conducted for three cognitive outcomes: immediate recall, delayed recall, and verbal fluency. Covariates included sociodemographics and vascular disease burden. Results: Chronic stress was associated worse immediate recall (beta=-.028). Higher CRP was not associated with any cognitive domains. Non-Hispanic Black participants reported more chronic stress than non-Hispanic White and Hispanic participants. Chronic stress was less strongly associated with higher CRP in non-Hispanic Black (beta=-.035) participants than non-Hispanic White (beta=.046) or Hispanic (beta=.059) participants. Discussion: Chronic stress may negatively influence episodic memory, but findings do not suggest that CRP mediates links between chronic stress and cognition. CRP may not track as closely with chronic stress among non-Hispanic Black older adults who may experience additional risk factors for inflammation and/or adapt to increased chronic stress.

scholarly journals Effects of Age Differences in Memory Formation on Neural Mechanisms of Consolidation and Retrieval

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam C. Sander ◽  
Yana Fandakova ◽  
Markus Werkle-Bergner
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Memory Processing ◽  
Memory Impairments ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Memory Network

Episodic memory decline is a hallmark of cognitive aging and a multifaceted phenomenon. We review studies that target age differences across different memory processing stages, i.e., from encoding to retrieval. The available evidence cumulates in the proposition that older adults form memories of lower quality than younger adults, which has negative downstream consequences for later processing stages. We argue that low memory quality in combination with age-related neural decline of key regions of the episodic memory network puts older adults in a double jeopardy situation that finally results in broader memory impairments in older compared to younger adults.

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