scholarly journals Increasingly capable at the ripe old age? Cognitive abilities from 2004 to 2013 in Germany, Spain, and Sweden

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254038
Author(s):  
Julia Grasshoff ◽  
Johannes Beller ◽  
Beatrice G. Kuhlmann ◽  
Siegfried Geyer
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Cohort Effects ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Starting Point

Background Life expectancy is increasing in most high-income countries, but gains in life years are maximized if spent in good health and if cognitive abilities are maintained until old age. Age-related decline of cognitive abilities does nevertheless occur, but the pace of decline is decisive. This was the starting point for our study that aims to examine cohort effects of cognitive aging in women and men in Germany, Spain and Sweden by analyzing changes from 2004 to 2013 by estimating cohort effects within age groups starting from the age of 50 years. Methods A cohort study was conducted that was based on data of the surveys 2004 (N = 6,081) and 2013 (N = 8,650) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The analyses were based on data of female and male respondents aged 50 years and older. Age-specific means of verbal fluency and delayed recall from the German, Spanish and Swedish samples were the cognitive domains considered in the study. Results In both domains of cognitive ability the achievements in the later surveys were higher than in the earlier ones. This was found in all countries, abut achievement levels increased markedly in the German and the Spanish samples, while the scores of the Swedish samples were not significantly different. While the highest scores were found for Sweden, Germany ranked in the middle and the lowest scores were found in the Spanish samples. Over time, the scores of the German samples approached those of Sweden. Conclusions From the first to the second survey, improvements of older adults’ cognitive abilities were found for all countries considered. This may indicate improvements of the underlying educational systems, but also increasingly stimulating general living conditions.

Cognitive Aging in a Precision Sport Context

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Molander ◽  
Lars Bäckman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adult ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Intervention Programs ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
High Arousal ◽  
Memory And Attention ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Principal Finding

Highly skilled miniature golf players were examined in a series of field and laboratory studies. The principal finding from these studies is that young and young adult players (range = 15-38 years) score equally well or better in competition than in training whereas older adult players (range = 46-73 years) perform worse in competitive events than under training conditions. It was also found that the impairment in motor performance on the part of the older players is associated with age-related deficits in basic cognitive abilities, such as memory and attention. These results support the hypothesis that older players may be able to compensate for age-related deficits under relaxed conditions, but not under conditions of high arousal. The possibility of improving the performance of the older players in stressful situations by means of various intervention programs is discussed.

scholarly journals Gene Expression Profile in Different Age Groups and Its Association with Cognitive Function in Healthy Malay Adults in Malaysia

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1611
Author(s):  
Nur Fathiah Abdul Abdul Sani ◽  
Ahmad Imran Zaydi Amir Amir Hamzah ◽  
Zulzikry Hafiz Abu Abu Bakar ◽  
Yasmin Anum Mohd Mohd Yusof ◽  
Suzana Makpol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Genetic Network ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

The mechanism of cognitive aging at the molecular level is complex and not well understood. Growing evidence suggests that cognitive differences might also be caused by ethnicity. Thus, this study aims to determine the gene expression changes associated with age-related cognitive decline among Malay adults in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 healthy Malay subjects, aged between 28 and 79, and recruited around Selangor and Klang Valley, Malaysia. Gene expression analysis was performed using a HumanHT-12v4.0 Expression BeadChip microarray kit. The top 20 differentially expressed genes at p < 0.05 and fold change (FC) = 1.2 showed that PAFAH1B3, HIST1H1E, KCNA3, TM7SF2, RGS1, and TGFBRAP1 were regulated with increased age. The gene set analysis suggests that the Malay adult’s susceptibility to developing age-related cognitive decline might be due to the changes in gene expression patterns associated with inflammation, signal transduction, and metabolic pathway in the genetic network. It may, perhaps, have important implications for finding a biomarker for cognitive decline and offer molecular targets to achieve successful aging, mainly in the Malay population in Malaysia.

Concrete and Formal Operational thought Processes in Young Adulthood and Old Age

1976 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Clayton ◽  
Willis F. Overton
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Crystallized Intelligence ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Concrete Operational ◽  
Fluid And Crystallized Intelligence

A study was conducted to examine the role of concrete and formal operations in a young and old population. In addition, the present study explored the relation between operational thought and Cattell's concept of fluid and crystallized intelligence, as well as the role of differential living arrangements in maintaining operational thought. Eighty females from three age groups (18–20 years, 60–70 years and 70–80 years of age) were tested on a series of Piagetian tasks and indices of fluid and crystallized intelligence. The findings supported the notion that age-related performance differences occur in the area of formal operational thought prior to the time they occur in concrete operational thought. Except for the young sample, the operational tasks were found to be unrelated to fluid intelligence at the age levels represented in this study. Living independently as opposed to living in an old age home did not appear to be a significant factor in maintaining operational thought. Discussion focused on the necessity of identifying those factors which influence the developmental course of formal operational thought across the life span.

scholarly journals ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND MEMORY: A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF RECIPROCAL IMPACTS ACROSS OLD AGE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S651-S651
Author(s):  
Oliver K Schilling
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Longitudinal Change ◽  
Moderate Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Lagged Effects

Abstract Research on the association of alcohol consumption with cognitive aging revealed mixed evidence: Whereas a u-shaped relationship has been found in many studies, suggesting that low to moderate alcohol consumption predicts more favorable cognitive outcomes than abstinence, other findings suggest that alcohol is a more linearly related risk factor for cognitive decline. These inconsistencies may partly be due to methodological variation in the statistical modeling of intraindividual changes in both, alcohol consumption and cognition across old age. The present study analyzed longitudinal change in and the mutual effects between alcohol consumption habits and verbal episodic memory (word list recall), using vector autoregressive (VAR) mixed models with nonlinear cross-lagged effects. Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing was examined, including N=13388 aged 50+ (M=67.6, SD=9.25; 54.7% female), assessed at up to eight occasions with two-year follow-up intervals (2002/3–2016/17). The self-reported one-year frequency of alcohol drinking days (ADD) served as indicator of alcohol consumption. Basically, ADD predicted follow-up memory performance in a reverse u-shaped fashion, indicating best memory performance after moderate ADD, compared with both ends of the ADD continuum (i.e., drinking never vs. every day). Considering moderators, most notably age did not interact with cross-lagged effects, suggesting that those observed across an older age-range were not more (or less) vulnerable to effects of alcohol consumption on memory performance. Thus, this study adds further support for non-detrimental, if not beneficial, effects of moderate alcohol consumption on cognitive aging – regarding in particular age-related loss of episodic memory.

scholarly journals Assessment of Cognitive Aging Using an SSVEP-Based Brain–Computer Interface System

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saraswati Sridhar ◽  
Vidya Manian
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Detection Accuracy ◽  
Cognitive Deterioration ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Frequency Detection ◽  
Band Power ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Bci System

Cognitive deterioration caused by illness or aging often occurs before symptoms arise, and its timely diagnosis is crucial to reducing its medical, personal, and societal impacts. Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) stimulate and analyze key cerebral rhythms, enabling reliable cognitive assessment that can accelerate diagnosis. The BCI system presented analyzes steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) elicited in subjects of varying age to detect cognitive aging, predict its magnitude, and identify its relationship with SSVEP features (band power and frequency detection accuracy), which were hypothesized to indicate cognitive decline due to aging. The BCI system was tested with subjects of varying age to assess its ability to detect aging-induced cognitive deterioration. Rectangular stimuli flickering at theta, alpha, and beta frequencies were presented to subjects, and frontal and occipital Electroencephalographic (EEG) responses were recorded. These were processed to calculate detection accuracy for each subject and calculate SSVEP band power. A neural network was trained using the features to predict cognitive age. The results showed potential cognitive deterioration through age-related variations in SSVEP features. Frequency detection accuracy declined after age group 20–40, and band power declined throughout all age groups. SSVEPs generated at theta and alpha frequencies, especially 7.5 Hz, were the best indicators of cognitive deterioration. Here, frequency detection accuracy consistently declined after age group 20–40 from an average of 96.64% to 69.23%. The presented system can be used as an effective diagnosis tool for age-related cognitive decline.

Old Age Affects Survival but Not Response in Philadelphia Positive (Ph+) Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) Patients Treated with Imatinib (IM): A Study of the GIMEMA CML WORKING PARTY.

Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 1118-1118
Author(s):  
Gabriele Gugliotta ◽  
Fausto Castagnetti ◽  
Francesca Palandri ◽  
Massimo Breccia ◽  
Marilina Amabile ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Chronic Phase ◽  
Working Party ◽  
Molecular Response ◽  
Free Survival ◽  
Intention To Treat ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Prognostic Importance

Abstract Abstract 1118 Poster Board I-140 Background The median age of an unselected population of Ph+ CML patients is close to 60 years. In the prognostic classifications (Sokal, Blood 1984; Hasford, JNCI 1998) that were elaborated before the introduction of IM, age was a significant and important prognostic factor. The most recent IM studies have not clarified the prognostic importance of age and IM therapy is still denied to several elderly patients. Aim to asses the relationship between age (less and more than 65 years) and outcome, in CML patients treated front-line in early chronic phase (ECP). Methods We analyzed the data of 559 previously untreated ECP patients who were assigned to receive IM 400 mg daily (76%) or 800 mg daily (24%) in three controlled, prospective studies of GIMEMA (Clin Trials Gov. NCT00514488 and NCT00510926; and an observational study of IM 400 mg). The median follow-up is currently 42 (extremes 1 – 64) months. There were 115 patients more than 65 years old (median age 71 years), while 444 (79%) were less than 65 years (median age 46 years). The proportion of patients who were treated with IM 800 mg daily was the same in both age groups. Results The cumulative complete cytogenetic and major molecular response rates were identical in the two age groups (88% vs 88% and 82% vs 83%, respectively). However, overall survival (86% vs 93%, p = 0.01), failure-free survival (72% vs 81%, p=0.03) and particularly event-free survival (calculated based on the intention-to-treat principle, where events were any failure [according to the European LeukemiaNet criteria – Baccarani, Blood 2006] and treatment discontinuation for any cause) (60% vs 71%, p=0.006) were significantly inferior in the older age group. All these difference were mainly due to comorbidities leading to more deaths in CP (table). Conclusions/Methods These data show that response to IM was not affected by old age. Survival curves were affected because of age-related complications and comorbidities. Age should never be a contraindication to IM treatment. Acknowledgments: European LeukemiaNet, COFIN, University of Bologna and BolognAIL. Disclosures Saglio: Novartis: Honoraria. Baccarani:Novartis Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Mayer Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau.

scholarly journals When longevity meets vitality

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudi G. J. Westendorp ◽  
Frank H. Schalkwijk
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Functional Decline ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Ageing Process ◽  
Social Security Systems ◽  
Average Life Expectancy ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Age Related

Alarmed by the sustainability of our health and social security systems, longevity has become a great societal challenge. In line with evolutionary logic we see a continuous increase of average life expectancy and maximal lifespan. Striving for a healthy old age, however, is an infelicitous expression as for human subjects the ageing process cannot be ultimately postponed. Not disregarding the huge variation in health trajectories, in old age we will all suffer from frailty and infirmity. As yet efforts of the biomedical arena are almost exclusively focused on stalling the ageing process and preventing dysfunction. Too little effort is spend on how to inspire and coach the great majority of people who still feel relatively well notwithstanding the presence of multiple age-related disorders. There is a strong rationale to separate the quest to live in good health for longer from actively and effectively negotiating the challenge of functional decline in old age. In particular, we emphasise a focus on adjusting the environment in order to correct the gene–environment mismatch that contributes to ill health. An additional strategy is to empower people to set ambitions and to realise appropriate goals, in spite of infirmity. Striving for vitality presents a striking opportunity to achieve subjective feelings of life satisfaction when ageing.

scholarly journals COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PARAMETERS OF THE CEREBELLUM OF MEN AT A YOUNG AND OLD AGE ACCORDING TO MAGNETIC RESONANCE TOMOGRAPHY

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 68-72
Author(s):  
Anatoly A. Balandin ◽  
Lev M. Zheleznov ◽  
Irina A. Balandina ◽  
Valery S. Shelud'ko
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Tomography ◽  
Cerebellar Hemisphere ◽  
Morphometric Study ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Group I ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Right

Investigation which devoted to the study of the age characteristics of the human body are becoming increasingly important. Magnetic resonance tomography is the most informative diagnostic method for intravital visualization of tissues and structures of the brain. It also allows you to more accurately see the picture of morphological features with age-associated changes. The aim of the study was to carry out a comparative analysis of the age-related morphometric characteristics of the cerebellum in male with mesocranic type of cranium in young and old age according to the data of magnetic resonance tomography. The analysis of the results of a morphometric study of the cerebellum on tomograms of 91 men examined for medical reasons was carried out. Depending on the age, the subjects were divided into two groups. Group I included 52 young men (22–27 years old, inclusive), group II included 39 elderly men (from 78 to 83 years old, inclusive). The transverse, longitudinal and vertical dimensions of the cerebellum were determined. When comparing the parameters of the linear dimensions of the cerebellum in the studied age groups of men, a statistically significant decrease in all indicators in old age compared with young age was revealed (p=0.042). There was no statistically significant difference between the parameters of the longitudinal and vertical sizes of the cerebellar hemispheres in individuals of each age group (p>0.05); there is a tendency for these sizes to prevail in the right cerebellar hemisphere. The results obtained can serve as the equivalent of the age-related anatomical norm of the cerebellum in young and old men, which will make it possible to use these data in basic and clinical research, as well as in medical practice.

Aging

Anthropology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Danely
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Age Related

Anthropological interest in age initially followed two strands that reflected the divide between structural functionalism in the United Kingdom and Europe, and culture and personality in the United States. The former was most interested in the ways societies accorded status based on age. If viewed vertically, age could be seen as a series of statuses one occupied over the life course, structuring the normative timing of events that were important for social reproduction, such as the transition from childhood to adulthood, marriage, and elder status. These statuses entailed ritual, political, and economic obligations between age classifications such as rights of property, ritual knowledge, or political authority. Viewed horizontally, however, age grades or sets formalized bonds between cohorts, stabilizing solidarity across territory or kinship boundaries. American anthropologists, on the other hand, saw the cultural mapping of life-course trajectories as a way of testing emerging psychological theories of human development derived from psychoanalysis and behaviorism. By collecting evidence on the norms and behaviors for different age categories, as well as the social and psychological dynamics within and between age categories, these anthropologists enriched our understanding of the malleability of relationships between age and personality. While culture and personality is most commonly associated with the study of child and adolescent development, anthropology was also vital in bringing attention to the continued developmental changes in adulthood and old age. In both of these strands, cross-cultural comparison yielded strong evidence that age was not only a fundamental axis on which social life revolved but also that the boundaries between groups and the meanings of age were socially rather than biologically determined in the same way that anthropologists now think about gender or race. These strands were further brought together by theories of ritual, wherein age-related status also entailed powerful symbolic reordering of subjective experiences. Other anthropologists pointed out the inequalities and tensions between age groups in ways that highlighted cultural attempts to mediate conflicts. From the 1960s, anthropologists began efforts to promote their perspective within the emerging fields of social gerontology and medical anthropology. Thus, the study of old age began to focus more on the ways health care and modern social welfare systems impacted lives. Anthropology continues to challenge universalizing biomedical reductionism of age though attention to cultural context, narrative, identity, and personhood. It has been further enriched by theories of care, mobility, globalization, and science and technology studies.

scholarly journals Cognitive aging and verbal labeling in continuous visual memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1196-1213
Author(s):  
Alicia Forsberg ◽  
Wendy Johnson ◽  
Robert H. Logie
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Age Related

Abstract The decline of working memory (WM) is a common feature of general cognitive decline, and visual and verbal WM capacity appear to decline at different rates with age. Visual material may be remembered via verbal codes or visual traces, or both. Souza and Skóra, Cognition, 166, 277–297 (2017) found that labeling boosted memory in younger adults by activating categorical visual long-term memory (LTM) knowledge. Here, we replicated this and tested whether it held in healthy older adults. We compared performance in silence, under instructed overt labeling (participants were asked to say color names out loud), and articulatory suppression (repeating irrelevant syllables to prevent labeling) in the delayed estimation paradigm. Overt labeling improved memory performance in both age groups. However, comparing the effect of overt labeling and suppression on the number of coarse, categorical representations in the two age groups suggested that older adults used verbal labels subvocally more than younger adults, when performing the task in silence. Older adults also appeared to benefit from labels differently than younger adults. In younger adults labeling appeared to improve visual, continuous memory, suggesting that labels activated visual LTM representations. However, for older adults, labels did not appear to enhance visual, continuous representations, but instead boosted memory via additional verbal (categorical) memory traces. These results challenged the assumption that visual memory paradigms measure the same cognitive ability in younger and older adults, and highlighted the importance of controlling differences in age-related strategic preferences in visual memory tasks.

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