Daily social interactions related to daily performance on mobile cognitive tests among older adults

The lack of social contact or good social relationships has been linked with cognitive decline and higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. One important but unexamined question is how daily social interactions relate to older adults’ cognitive function in daily life. The present study examined how changes in daily social interactions related to fluctuations in older adults’ performance on mobile cognitive tests from day to day. Using an ecological momentary assessments approach, 312 older adults (aged 70 to 90 years) completed surveys on social interactions and mobile cognitive tests five times a day for 16 consecutive days using smartphones. Multilevel modeling was used for analyses. Results demonstrated that having more daily social interactions, especially more pleasant social interactions, related to better cognitive performance the same day and over the subsequent two days. Cognitive performance, however, did not predict subsequent changes in social interactions across days. At the between-person level, older adults who had more (vs. less) frequent interactions with close partners on average, especially with their friends, had better cognitive performance. Finally, the average levels of social interactions also moderated the within-person associations between daily social interactions and the same-day cognitive performance. In sum, results from this study highlight the importance of having pleasant social interactions and frequent interactions with friends for older adults’ cognitive function in daily life, and have important implications for future behavioral interventions targeting certain features of daily social interactions to reduce risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

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Motor/Psychomotor Dysfunction in Normal Aging, Mild Cognitive Decline, and Early Alzheimer's Disease: Diagnostic and Differential Diagnostic Features

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610297005048 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 9 (S1) ◽

pp. 307-316 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Alan Kluger ◽

John G. Gianutsos ◽

James Golomb ◽

Steven H. Ferris ◽

Barry Reisberg

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

At Risk ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Cognitive Tests ◽

Psychomotor Tests ◽

Complex Motor ◽

Motor Tests ◽

Early Alzheimer’S Disease

To determine the association between cognitive dysfunction and motor behavior in older adults, 41 cognitively normal elderly (NL), 25 nondemented patients exhibiting mild cognitive impairment (MI) and at risk for future decline to dementia, and 25 patients with mild (early) Alzheimer's disease (AD) were examined using a wide array of motor/psychomotor and cognitive assessments. The three groups were recruited from an aging and dementia research center and were composed of well-characterized physically healthy volunteers, with similar ages and gender distributions. The outcome measures included 16 motor/psychomotor tests categorized a priori into gross, fine, and complex, as well as eight cognitive tests of memory and language. Relative to the NL group, MI individuals performed poorly on cognitive, fine, and complex motor measures but not on gross motor tests; AD patients performed worse on cognitive and all motor domains. Differences in complex motor function persisted after adjustment for performance on cognitive and on less complex motor tests. Classification analyses showed similar accuracies in discriminating NL from MI and NL from AD cases for both complex motor (79% and 92% accuracy, respectively) and cognitive tests (80% and 93% accuracy, respectively). Less complex motor tests produced poorer accuracies. Among nondemented subjects, education correlated with several cognitive scores but no motor scores. These results indicate that motor impairment is an important aspect of cognitive decline in older adults. Motor/psychomotor assessments were found to be comparably sensitive to traditional tests of cognitive function in identifying persons affected by the earliest stages of AD pathology and may improve identification of at-risk nondemented elderly, especially among diversely educated individuals.

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Haplogroups of Mitochondrial DNA Differentiate Patterns of Cognitive Change Over 7 Years

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1198 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 309-309

Author(s):

Amber Watts ◽

Elias Michaelis ◽

Russell Swerdlow

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

Executive Function ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Cognitively Normal ◽

Cognitive Domains

Abstract Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) may play an important role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cognitive decline. A particular haplogroup of mtDNA (haplogroup J), has been observed more commonly in patients with AD than in cognitively normal controls. We used mtDNA haplogroups to predict change in cognitive performance over seven years. We hypothesized that haplogroup J would predict poorer cognitive function and steeper cognitive decline. We analyzed data from 140 cognitively normal older adults (age 65+) who participated in the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Center annual registry. We used factor analysis to create three composite scores (verbal memory, attention, executive function) from 11 individual cognitive tests. We performed latent growth curve modeling to describe trajectories of cognitive performance and change. We compared haplogroup H, the most common, to haplogroup J, the potential risk group. Results indicated haplogroup J carriers had significantly lower baseline performance (B=-.049, p< .01) and slower rates of improvement (B=-.046, p < .05) on tests of verbal memory compared to haplogroup H. For executive function, groups did not differ at baseline (B=.065, p>.10), but haplogroup J had slower rates of improvement (B=-.097, p < .01). There were no differences in attention across groups in performance (B=.135, p>.10) or change (B=-.01, p>.10). Our results reinforce the important role of mtDNA in changes to cognitive function with aging and imply that the effects of haplogroup J may vary across cognitive domains. Future research should investigate the mechanisms by which mtDNA might affect performance on specific cognitive domains across haplogroups.

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SUBJECTIVE COGNITIVE DECLINE, LONGITUDINAL COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE, AND IMAGING BIOMARKERS IN PRECLINICAL ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Alzheimer s & Dementia ◽

10.1016/j.jalz.2017.07.020 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. P176

Author(s):

Rebecca Amariglio ◽

Rachel F. Buckley ◽

Beth C. Mormino ◽

Cathy Wang ◽

Sarah L. Aghjayan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Imaging Biomarkers ◽

Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽

Preclinical Alzheimer’S Disease

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Metabolic Syndrome and Cognitive Decline in Early Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Older Adults

Journal of Alzheimer s Disease ◽

10.3233/jad-121168 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 253-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Amber S. Watts ◽

Natalia Loskutova ◽

Jeffrey M. Burns ◽

David K. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Early Alzheimer’S Disease

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Moderating Effect of Insulin Resistance on the Relationship between Gray Matter Volumes and Cognitive Function

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm7110413 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (11) ◽

pp. 413 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jiyeon Lee ◽

Jihyeon Kim ◽

Seong Shin ◽

Soowon Park ◽

Dong Yoon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Insulin Resistance ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Structural Changes ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Volume Loss ◽

Matter Volume

Background: It is controversial whether exposure to insulin resistance accelerates cognitive deterioration. The present study aimed to investigate the association between insulin resistance and gray matter volume loss to predict the cognitive decline. Methods: We recruited 160 participants (78 with Alzheimer’s disease and 82 without Alzheimer’s disease). Insulin resistance, regional gray matter volume, and cognitive function were assessed. A hierarchical moderated multiple regression (MMR) model was used to determine any associations among insulin resistance, structural changes in the brain, and cognitive decline. Results: The volumes of 7 regions in the gray matter were negatively related to insulin resistance in Alzheimer’s disease (p =0.032). Hierarchical MMR analysis indicated that insulin resistance did not directly affect the cognitive decline but moderated the cognitive decline through the decrease in gray matter volume in the key brain regions, i.e., inferior orbitofrontal gyrus (left), middle cingulate gyrus (right), hippocampus (right), and precuneus (right) (p < 0.05 in each case). Conclusion: Insulin resistance appears to exacerbate the cognitive decline associated with several gray matter volume loss.

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Trait mindfulness is associated with less amyloid, tau, and cognitive decline in individuals at risk for Alzheimer's disease

10.1101/2021.05.17.21257320 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cherie Strikwerda-Brown ◽

Hazal Ozlen ◽

Alexa Pichet Binette ◽

Marianne Chapleau ◽

Natalie Marchant ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

At Risk ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Present Moment ◽

Trait Mindfulness ◽

Cognitive Assessments ◽

Positron Emission

Mindfulness, defined as the ability to engage in non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, has been associated with an array of health benefits. Mindfulness may also represent a protective factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we tested the potential protective effect of trait mindfulness on cognitive decline and AD pathology in older adults at risk of AD dementia. Measures of trait mindfulness, longitudinal cognitive assessments, and AB- and tau- positron emission tomography (PET) scans were collected in 261 nondemented older adults with a family history of AD dementia from the PREVENT-AD observational cohort study. Multivariate partial least squares analyses were used to examine relationships between combinations of different facets of trait mindfulness and (1) cognitive decline, (2) AB, and (3) tau. Higher levels of trait mindfulness, particularly mindful nonjudgment, were associated with less cognitive decline, AB, and tau. Trait mindfulness may represent a psychological protective factor for AD dementia.

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Amyloid and tau imaging biomarkers explain cognitive decline from late middle-age

Brain ◽

10.1093/brain/awz378 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 143 (1) ◽

pp. 320-335 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Tobey J Betthauser ◽

Rebecca L Koscik ◽

Erin M Jonaitis ◽

Samantha L Allison ◽

Karly A Cody ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Middle Age ◽

Neurofibrillary Tangle ◽

Imaging Biomarkers ◽

Cognitive Tests ◽

Preclinical Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Significant Group ◽

Health Factors

Abstract This study investigated differences in retrospective cognitive trajectories between amyloid and tau PET biomarker stratified groups in initially cognitively unimpaired participants sampled from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention. One hundred and sixty-seven initially unimpaired individuals (baseline age 59 ± 6 years; 115 females) were stratified by elevated amyloid-β and tau status based on 11C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) and 18F-MK-6240 PET imaging. Mixed effects models were used to determine if longitudinal cognitive trajectories based on a composite of cognitive tests including memory and executive function differed between biomarker groups. Secondary analyses investigated group differences for a variety of cross-sectional health and cognitive tests, and associations between 18F-MK-6240, 11C-PiB, and age. A significant group × age interaction was observed with post hoc comparisons indicating that the group with both elevated amyloid and tau pathophysiology were declining approximately three times faster in retrospective cognition compared to those with just one or no elevated biomarkers. This result was robust against various thresholds and medial temporal lobe regions defining elevated tau. Participants were relatively healthy and mostly did not differ between biomarker groups in health factors at the beginning or end of study, or most cognitive measures at study entry. Analyses investigating association between age, MK-6240 and PiB indicated weak associations between age and 18F-MK-6240 in tangle-associated regions, which were negligible after adjusting for 11C-PiB. Strong associations, particularly in entorhinal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala, were observed between 18F-MK-6240 and global 11C-PiB in regions associated with Braak neurofibrillary tangle stages I–VI. These results suggest that the combination of pathological amyloid and tau is detrimental to cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease during late middle-age. Within the Alzheimer’s disease continuum, middle-age health factors likely do not greatly influence preclinical cognitive decline. Future studies in a larger preclinical sample are needed to determine if and to what extent individual contributions of amyloid and tau affect cognitive decline. 18F-MK-6240 shows promise as a sensitive biomarker for detecting neurofibrillary tangles in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.

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