scholarly journals Musical instrument engagement across the life course and episodic memory in late life: An analysis of 60 years of longitudinal data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253053
Author(s):  
Jamie L. Romeiser ◽  
Dylan M. Smith ◽  
Sean A. P. Clouston
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Reserve ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Rate Of Decline ◽  
Over Time

Background As the global burden of dementia increases, the absence of treatment underscores the need for identification of factors that may improve cognitive reserve–the ability to stave off cognitive decline in old age. The beneficial association between musical instrument engagement and episodic memory has been identified in children, young adults, and older adults. Yet, previous studies in musical instrument engagement have rarely examined the potential for adolescence and adulthood exposures to independently improve cognition, nor have they been linked with the rate of memory decline over time in older adults. We investigated whether adolescent musical instrument engagement and continued musical instrument engagement over the adult life course were separately associated with higher episodic memory, as well as rate of decline in a large longitudinal cohort. Methods Data were from a prospective cohort of high school graduates from 1957. High school music engagement (HSME) was ascertained through graduate yearbooks and assessed as membership in musical performance groups. A questionnaire was used to assess musical engagement through adulthood (MEA) at ages 35, 55, and 65. The episodic memory score was composed of immediate and delayed recall task scores, and was assessed when participants were aged approximately 65 and 72 years old among 5,718 individuals. Linear mixed models were used to assess the association between music, and memory performance and decline over time. Results Of high school graduates who participated in the study, 38.1% played music in high school, and 21.1% played music in adulthood. While musical engagement was more common in those who played in childhood, 40% of those who played continuously as an adult did not play in high school. High HSME (B = 0.348, p = 0.049) and continuous MEA (B = 0.424, p = 0.012) were associated with higher memory scores at age 65 after covariate adjustment. When examining memory decline, the benefits of high HSME decreased over time (B = -0.435, p = 0.048), while the rate of decline did not differ between MEA groups. Exploratory models revealed differential benefits for HSME and immediate recall, and MEA and delayed recall. Conclusion This study provides further evidence that musical engagement in childhood or adulthood is associated with non-musical cognitive reserve. These two exposures may act differentially in different domains of episodic memory. Further work is needed to determine the relationship between musicianship and the rate of cognitive decline.

scholarly journals Are Changes in Self-Rated Health Associated With Memory Decline in Older Adults?

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1410-1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Bendayan ◽  
Andrea M. Piccinin ◽  
Scott M. Hofer ◽  
Graciela Muniz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Good Pattern ◽  
Approach Method ◽  
Rate Of Decline ◽  
Fair Poor ◽  
With Memory

Objective: The association between patterns of change in self-rated health (SRH) and memory trajectories in older adults was examined using a systematic approach. Method: Data from the Health and Retirement Study ( n = 6,016) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing ( n = 734) were analyzed. Individuals were grouped into five categories according to their pattern of change in SRH over 8 years: stable excellent/very good/good, stable fair/poor, improvement, decline, and fluctuating pattern without a trend. Memory was measured using immediate and delayed recall tests. Kruskal–Wallis, chi-squares tests, and linear mixed models were used to examine the association. Results: Different rates of decline in memory can be identified in the different patterns of change in SRH. Those who had a stable excellent/very good/good pattern had the slowest rate of decline. Discussion: Our findings suggest that SRH status and patterns of change could be used as a marker of cognitive decline in prevention screening programs.

scholarly journals Alzheimer’s pathology is associated with dedifferentiation of functional memory networks in aging

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlin E. Cassady ◽  
Jenna N. Adams ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Anne Maass ◽  
Theresa M. Harrison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Amyloid Plaques ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Preclinical Phase ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Alzheimer’S Pathology ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Age Related Changes

AbstractIn presymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (AD), beta-amyloid plaques (Aβ) and tau tangles accumulate in distinct spatiotemporal patterns within the brain, tracking closely with episodic memory decline. Here, we tested whether age-related changes in the segregation of the brain’s functional episodic memory networks - anterior-temporal (AT) and posterior-medial (PM) networks - are associated with the accumulation of Aβ, tau and memory decline using fMRI and PET. We found that AT and PM networks were less segregated in older than younger adults and this reduced specialization was associated with more tau and Aβ in the same regions. The effect of network dedifferentiation on memory depended on the amount of Aβ and tau, with low segregation and pathology associated with better performance at baseline and low segregation and high pathology related to worse performance over time. This pattern suggests a compensation phase followed by a degenerative phase in the early, preclinical phase of AD.

Educational Pathways and Work Value Trajectories

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson ◽  
Glen H. Elder
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Young People ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Work Values ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Educational Pathways ◽  
Influence At Work ◽  
Investments In Education ◽  
Over Time

This study relates change and stability in work values to educational pathways in the transition to adulthood. Using panel data, we examine whether levels and rates of change in work values in the eight years after high school are linked to postsecondary education. Along some value dimensions, initial differences increased notably between those who finished their education with high school and those who obtained postsecondary degrees, with postsecondary students demonstrating larger change on average. Young people who continued their education beyond high school initially placed greater importance on having influence at work and less importance on job security than other young people. These tendencies strengthened over time. Along other dimensions, including extrinsic, altruistic, and social, high school graduates attached less importance to rewards over time, whereas those who obtained postsecondary degrees maintained their initial values to a greater extent. The findings are consistent with the idea that work values predict investments in education, yet also undergo change with continued schooling.

After Commencement, Clarity

ASHA Leader ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Freeman
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists

Without the supports of IEP programming, high school graduates on the autism spectrum may struggle. Here are five ways speech-language pathologists in schools can help them transition to what's next.

Combined genetic influences on episodic memory decline in older adults without dementia.

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 654-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika J. Laukka ◽  
Ylva Köhncke ◽  
Goran Papenberg ◽  
Laura Fratiglioni ◽  
Lars Bäckman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Genetic Influences ◽  
Memory Decline

Russian Education in the Mirror of Demography

2003 ◽  
pp. 4-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Grebnev
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
High School ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Demographic Indicators ◽  
Federal Districts ◽  
Stage System ◽  
Migration Flows ◽  
Russian Education

The dynamics of several demographic indicators of Russia - child and teenage cohorts in 1970-2000, life expectancy in 1995-2000, migration flows among federal districts in the period between two censuses of 1989 and 2002 - are considered in the article. The author puts forward the hypothesis about the influence of these indicators on the level of education in narrow and broad senses - in educational institutions and the society as a whole. He estimates the perspectives of regional higher educational institutions under conditions of absence of plan distribution of graduates and the double cyclical fall in the number of high school graduates. The agenda for the development of a two-stage system of higher education corresponding with international integration processes is formulated.

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