scholarly journals Effects of dual-task interference on swallowing in healthy aging adults

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253550
Author(s):  
Rahul Krishnamurthy ◽  
Rhea Philip ◽  
Radish Kumar Balasubramanium ◽  
Balaji Rangarathnam
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Hemispheric Dominance ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Swallowing Function ◽  
Dual Task Paradigm ◽  
Aging Adults

A wide body of literature has demonstrated that the neural representation of healthy swallowing is mostly bilateral, with one hemisphere dominant over the other. While several studies have demonstrated the presence of laterality for swallowing related functions among young adults, the data on older adults are still growing. The purpose of this paper is to investigate potential changes in hemispheric dominance in healthy aging adults for swallowing related tasks using a behavioral dual-task paradigm. A modified dual-task paradigm was designed to investigate the potential reduction in hemispherical specialization for swallowing function. Eighty healthy right-handed participants in the study were divided into two groups [Group 1: young adults (18–40 years) and Group 2: older adults (65 and above)]. All the participants performed a timed water swallow test at baseline and with two interference conditions (silent word repetition, and facial recognition). The results of the study revealed the following 1) a statistically significant effect of age on swallow performance; 2) statistically significant effect of each of the interference tasks on two of the swallow measures (VPS and VPT) in younger adults; and 3) no significant effect of the interference tasks on the swallowing performance of older adults. These findings suggest that aging substantially affects swallowing in older individuals, and this potentially accompanies a reduction in the hemispheric specialization for swallowing related tasks.

scholarly journals A modulating circle reduces listening effort and improves spoken word recognition in older adults

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violet Aurora Brown ◽  
Julia Feld Strand ◽  
Kristin J. Van Engen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Visual Stimulus ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Dual Task Paradigm

Objectives. Perceiving spoken language in noise can be a cognitively demanding task, particularly for older adults and those with hearing impairment. The current research assessed whether an abstract visual stimulus—a circle that modulates with the acoustic amplitude envelope of the speech—can affect speech processing in older adults. We hypothesized that, in line with recent research on younger adults, the circle would reduce listening effort during a word identification task. Given that older adults have slower processing speeds and poorer auditory temporal sensitivity than young adults, we expected that the abstract visual stimulus may have additional benefits for older adults, as it provides another source of information to compensate for limitations in auditory processing. Thus, we further hypothesized that, in contrast to the results from research on young adults, the circle would also improve word identification in noise for older adults.Design. Sixty-five older adults ages 65 to 83 (M = 71.11; SD = 4.01) with age-appropriate hearing completed four blocks of trials: two blocks (one with the modulating circle, one without) with a word identification task in two-talker babble, followed by two more word identification blocks that also included a simultaneous dual-task paradigm to assess listening effort.Results. Relative to an audio-only condition, the presence of the modulating circle substantially reduced listening effort (as indicated by faster responses to the secondary task in the dual-task paradigm) and also moderately improved spoken word intelligibility. Conclusions. Seeing the face of the talker substantially improves spoken word identification, but this is the first demonstration that another form of visual input—an abstract modulating circle—can also provide modest intelligibility benefits and substantial reductions in listening effort. These findings could have clinical or practical applications, as the modulating circle can be generated in real time to accompany speech in noisy situations, thereby improving speech intelligibility and reducing effort or fatigue for individuals who may have particular difficulty recognizing speech in background noise.

scholarly journals Are the Acute Effects of THC Different in Aging Adults?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 590
Author(s):  
Raeghan L. Mueller ◽  
Jarrod M. Ellingson ◽  
L. Cinnamon Bidwell ◽  
Angela D. Bryan ◽  
Kent E. Hutchison
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Young Group ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Aging Adults

In recent years of expanding legalization, older adults have reported the largest increase in cannabis use of any age group. While its use has been studied extensively in young adults, little is known about the effects of THC in older adults and whether the risks of cannabis might be different, particularly concerning intoxication and cognition. The current study investigated whether age is associated with the deleterious effects of THC on cognitive performance and other behavioral measures before and after ad libitum self-administration of three different types of cannabis flower (THC dominant, THC + CBD, and CBD dominant). Age groups consisted of young adults (ages 21–25) and older adults (ages 55–70). Controlling for pre-use scores on all measures, the THC dominant chemovar produced a greater deleterious effect in younger adults compared with older adults in tests of learning and processing speed, whereas there were no differences between old and young in the effects of the other chemovars. In addition, the young group reported greater cannabis craving than the older group after using the THC chemovar. Consistent with some reports in the preclinical literature, the findings suggest that older adults may be less sensitive to the effects of THC on cognitive and affective measures.

scholarly journals Fear of Falling and Cognitive Decline in Healthy Aging Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 265-265
Author(s):  
Rebecca Kraut ◽  
Roee Holtzer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Fear Of Falling ◽  
Composite Score ◽  
Cognitive Measures ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Memory And Attention ◽  
Aging Adults

Abstract Fear of Falling (FOF) is common and associated with poor mobility in aging but whether persistence of FOF endorsement influences cognitive decline has not been reported. Here we determined the effect of FOF, measured dichotomously and after accounting for persistence, on decline in global cognitive function (GCF), memory, and attention/executive functions. Older adults with persistent FOF (n=81; mean age=77.63±6.67 yrs; %female=74.1), transient FOF (n=60; mean age=76.93±6.01 yrs; %female=61.7), and no FOF (n=286; mean age=75.77±6.42 yrs; %female=49.3) were included. FOF was assessed through yes/no responses to “do you have a fear of falling?” at baseline. GCF was assessed using RBANS; memory was assessed using a composite score comprising the immediate and delayed recall index scores from RBANS; attention/executive functions were assessed via a composite score comprising TMT A & B, letter and category fluency tasks, and digit symbol modalities. Cognitive measures were administered annually for up to six years. Linear mixed effects models revealed that persistent FOF was associated with a worse decline in GCF compared to both transient FOF (estimate=0.78, p=.022) and no FOF (estimate=0.75, p=.004). Persistent FOF was also associated with a worse decline in memory compared to those with transient FOF (estimate=0.08, p=.004) and those with no FOF (estimate=0.06, p=.006). Associations between FOF status and decline in attention/executive functions were not significant. These findings demonstrate that persistent FOF is a risk factor for cognitive decline in community-residing older adults.

scholarly journals The Association between High Neuroticism-Low Extraversion and Dual-Task Performance during Walking While Talking in Non-demented Older Adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 519-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany C. LeMonda ◽  
Jeannette R. Mahoney ◽  
Joe Verghese ◽  
Roee Holtzer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Gait Velocity ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Dual Task Performance

AbstractThe Walking While Talking (WWT) dual-task paradigm is a mobility stress test that predicts major outcomes, including falls, frailty, disability, and mortality in aging. Certain personality traits, such as neuroticism, extraversion, and their combination, have been linked to both cognitive and motor outcomes. We examined whether individual differences in personality dimensions of neuroticism and extraversion predicted dual-task performance decrements (both motor and cognitive) on a WWT task in non-demented older adults. We hypothesized that the combined effect of high neuroticism-low extraversion would be related to greater dual-task costs in gait velocity and cognitive performance in non-demented older adults. Participants (N=295; age range,=65–95 years; female=164) completed the Big Five Inventory and WWT task involving concurrent gait and a serial 7’s subtraction task. Gait velocity was obtained using an instrumented walkway. The high neuroticism-low extraversion group incurred greater dual-task costs (i.e., worse performance) in both gait velocity {95% confidence interval (CI) [−17.68 to −3.07]} and cognitive performance (95% CI [−19.34 to −2.44]) compared to the low neuroticism-high extraversion group, suggesting that high neuroticism-low extraversion interferes with the allocation of attentional resources to competing task demands during the WWT task. Older individuals with high neuroticism-low extraversion may be at higher risk for falls, mobility decline and other adverse outcomes in aging. (JINS, 2015, 21, 519–530)

scholarly journals Age-related Neural Changes during Memory Conjunction Errors

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1348-1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly S. Giovanello ◽  
Elizabeth A. Kensinger ◽  
Alana T. Wong ◽  
Daniel L. Schacter
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Laboratory Procedure ◽  
Conjunction Errors ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Memory Distortions ◽  
Memory Conjunction Errors

Human behavioral studies demonstrate that healthy aging is often accompanied by increases in memory distortions or errors. Here we used event-related fMRI to examine the neural basis of age-related memory distortions. We used the memory conjunction error paradigm, a laboratory procedure known to elicit high levels of memory errors. For older adults, right parahippocampal gyrus showed significantly greater activity during false than during accurate retrieval. We observed no regions in which activity was greater during false than during accurate retrieval for young adults. Young adults, however, showed significantly greater activity than old adults during accurate retrieval in right hippocampus. By contrast, older adults demonstrated greater activity than young adults during accurate retrieval in right inferior and middle prefrontal cortex. These data are consistent with the notion that age-related memory conjunction errors arise from dysfunction of hippocampal system mechanisms, rather than impairments in frontally mediated monitoring processes.

scholarly journals Retrospective Attention in Short-Term Memory Has a Lasting Effect on Long-Term Memory Across Age

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 1317-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Strunk ◽  
Lauren Morgan ◽  
Sarah Reaves ◽  
Paul Verhaeghen ◽  
Audrey Duarte
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Short And Long Term

Abstract Objectives Declines in both short- and long-term memory are typical of healthy aging. Recent findings suggest that retrodictive attentional cues (“retro-cues”) that indicate the location of to-be-probed items in short-term memory (STM) have a lasting impact on long-term memory (LTM) performance in young adults. Whether older adults can also use retro-cues to facilitate both STM and LTM is unknown. Method Young and older adults performed a visual STM task in which spatially informative retro-cues or noninformative neutral-cues were presented during STM maintenance of real-world objects. We tested participants’ memory at both STM and LTM delays for objects that were previously cued with retrodictive or neutral-cues during STM order to measure the lasting impact of retrospective attention on LTM. Results Older adults showed reduced STM and LTM capacity compared to young adults. However, they showed similar magnitude retro-cue memory benefits as young adults at both STM and LTM delays. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate whether retro-cues in STM facilitate the encoding of objects into LTM such that they are more likely to be subsequently retrieved by older adults. Our results support the idea that retrospective attention can be an effective means by which older adults can improve their STM and LTM performance, even in the context of reduced memory capacity.

scholarly journals Associations between Tactile Sensory Threshold and Postural Performance and Effects of Healthy Aging and Subthreshold Vibrotactile Stimulation on Postural Outcomes in a Simple Dual Task

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Dettmer ◽  
Amir Pourmoghaddam ◽  
Beom-Chan Lee ◽  
Charles S. Layne
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sensory Threshold ◽  
Vibrotactile Stimulation ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Postural Performance

Specific activities that require concurrent processing of postural and cognitive tasks may increase the risk for falls in older adults. We investigated whether peripheral receptor sensitivity was associated with postural performance in a dual-task and whether an intervention in form of subthreshold vibration could affect performance. Ten younger (age: 20–35 years) and ten older adults (70–85 years) performed repeated auditory-verbal 1-back tasks while standing quietly on a force platform. Foot sole vibration was randomly added during several trials. Several postural control and performance measures were assessed and statistically analyzed (significance set toα-levels of .05). There were moderate correlations between peripheral sensitivity and several postural performance and control measures (r=.45to .59). Several postural performance measures differed significantly between older and younger adults (p<0.05); addition of vibration did not affect outcome measures. Aging affects healthy older adults’ performance in dual-tasks, and peripheral sensitivity may be a contributor to the observed differences. A vibration intervention may only be useful when there are more severe impairments of the sensorimotor system. Hence, future research regarding the efficacy of sensorimotor interventions in the form of vibrotactile stimulation should focus on older adults whose balance is significantly affected.

scholarly journals Visual attention during seeing for speaking in healthy aging

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn L Rehrig ◽  
Taylor R. Hayes ◽  
John M. Henderson ◽  
Fernanda Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Logistic Mixed Effects Model ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

As we age, we accumulate a wealth of information, but cognitive processing becomes slower and less efficient. There is mixed evidence on whether world knowledge compensates for age-related cognitive decline (Umanath &amp; Marsh, 2014). We investigated whether older adults are more likely to fixate more meaningful scene locations than are young adults. Young (N=30) and older adults (N=30, aged 66-82) described scenes while eye movements and descriptions were recorded. We used a logistic mixed-effects model to determine whether fixated scene locations differed in meaning, salience, and center distance from locations that were not fixated, and whether those properties differed for locations young and older adults fixated. Meaning predicted fixated locations well overall, though the locations older adults fixated were less meaningful than those that young adults fixated. These results suggest that older adults’ visual attention is less sensitive to meaning than young adults, despite extensive experience with scenes.

scholarly journals Healthy, Active Aging for People and Dogs

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra McCune ◽  
Daniel Promislow
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
World Health ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Active Aging ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Physical Support ◽  
Companion Dogs ◽  
The Us

Dogs act as companions who provide us with emotional and physical support. Their shorter lifespans compel us to learn about the challenges and gifts of caring for older individuals. Our companion dogs can be exemplars of healthy or unhealthy aging, and sentinels of environmental factors that might increase or decrease our own healthy lifespan. In recent years, the field of aging has emphasized not just lifespan, but healthspan—the period of healthy, active lifespan. This focus on healthy, active aging is reflected in the World Health Organization's current focus on healthy aging for the next decade and the 2016 Healthy Aging in Action initiative in the US. This paper explores the current research into aging in both people and companion dogs, and in particular, how the relationship between older adults and dogs impacts healthy, active aging for both parties. The human-dog relationship faces many challenges as dogs, and people, age. We discuss potential solutions to these challenges, including suggestions for ways to continue contact with dogs if dog ownership is no longer possible for an older person. Future research directions are outlined in order to encourage the building of a stronger evidence base for the role of dogs in the lives of older adults.

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