scholarly journals The QuadMax Task: A Novel Parametric Manipulation of Associative Memory Load in Adults Across the Lifespan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana J. Bennett ◽  
Corinna Franco

Whereas adults across the lifespan can accurately recognize previously encountered items, they are worse at remembering precisely which items were previously seen together, and this associative memory deficit is exacerbated in older adults. However, the literature is dominated by studies of pair-wise associations, with very few examinations of higher associative loads and none in older adults. In the present study, 190 adults (18-83 years) completed a novel recognition task in which they studied word pairs, triplets, and quadruplets and were later tested on their memory for repeated, recombined, and novel word sets. Results revealed significantly more incorrect responses to recombined sets that increased from pairs to triplets to quadruplets, with older age groups making significantly more of these associative memory errors than younger age groups. Participants also made significantly more correct responses to repeated pairs compared to triplets and quadruplets, but these recognition memory effects did not vary by age group. These findings replicate and extend the paired-associative memory literature by demonstrating that associative memory deficits increase both with demands on binding processes at higher associative loads and with aging. They further demonstrate the feasibility of manipulating and assessing associative memory load using our novel QuadMax task.

2016 ◽  
Vol 04 (01) ◽  
pp. 023-030
Author(s):  
Vimal Kumar ◽  
Pallak Arora ◽  
Manish Khatri ◽  
Shivani Sharma ◽  
Sumit Malhotra ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To estimate the prevalence of periodontal disease with different indices. Methods & materials: The study population consisted of multistage stratified random sample of 1300 subjects from total population of district Ghaziabad. A cross-sectional study was conducted with multi stage stratified random sampling techniques to select the sample population. The subjects were divided into different age groups and the periodontal assessment was made on the basis of CPITN index and ESI Index. Results: The CPITN has shown to estimate incorrect periodontal disease prevalence because of its underestimation of the disease severity. A huge difference was noticed in the prevalence rate of periodontitis when subjects were examined with ESI index. Conclusion Periodontal disease was found to be highly prevalent in the study population and severity of disease increased with age. More number of subjects in younger age group were found to be healthy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 410-410
Author(s):  
Vineet Raichur ◽  
Lindsay Ryan ◽  
Richard Gonzalez ◽  
Jacqui Smith

Abstract Cross-sectional analyses of internet use patterns among older adults find that the rate of internet use is less with greater physical and memory difficulties. It is not clear, however, how age-cohorts differ in their internet use as physical and memory difficulties increase over time. In addition to factors such as increasing accessibility (cost) and social influences, the expansion and cognitive complexity of functions performed by the internet-enabled devices over time could influence internet use patterns. In this study, we investigate how the association between internet use and episodic memory difficulties over time varies between cohorts. We analyzed longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 15,703 in 2002; Aged 51 and older) between years 2002-2016 using mixed effects logistic regression models. Immediate and delayed word recall measures were used to assess episodic memory. Rate of internet use in the sample increased from 30% in 2002 to 53% in 2016. Rate of internet use among younger age groups was significantly higher in the baseline year. Younger age groups also showed a significantly higher rate of increase in internet use over time. In general, internet use decreased with episodic memory impairment. In addition to these effects, the effect of episodic memory on the rate of increase in internet use over time is lower in younger cohorts. These results indicate that younger cohorts of older adults are more likely to maintain internet use as they continue to age and therefore could better utilize technology for communication, social interactions and health interventions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 1041-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis A Merdjanoff ◽  
Rachael Piltch-Loeb ◽  
Sarah Friedman ◽  
David M Abramson

Abstract Objectives This study explores the effects of social and environmental disruption on emergency housing transitions among older adults following Hurricane Sandy. It is based upon the Sandy Child and Family Health (S-CAFH) Study, an observational cohort of 1,000 randomly sampled New Jersey residents living in the nine counties most affected by Sandy. Methods This analysis examines the post-Sandy housing transitions and recovery of the young-old (55–64), mid-old (65–74), and old-old (75+) compared with younger adults (19–54). We consider length of displacement, number of places stayed after Sandy, the housing host (i.e., family only, friends only, or multi-host), and self-reported recovery. Results Among all age groups, the old-old (75+) reported the highest rates of housing damage and were more likely to stay in one place besides their home, as well as stay with family rather than by themselves after the storm. Despite this disruption, the old-old were most likely to have recovered from Hurricane Sandy. Discussion Findings suggest that the old-old were more resilient to Hurricane Sandy than younger age groups. Understanding the unique post-disaster housing needs of older adults can help identify critical points of intervention for their post-disaster recovery.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S498-S498
Author(s):  
Ceara Somerville ◽  
Nidya Velasco Roldan ◽  
Cindy N Bui ◽  
Caitlin E Coyle

Abstract Senior centers are an integral community resource, providing programs and services intended to meet the vast range of needs and interests of older adults. There is a growing literature describing senior center participants and benefits to participation, but little is known about those who choose not to participate at a local senior center. This presentation uniquely characterizes non-users of senior centers, based on a sample of community-dwelling adults aged 50+ from seven communities in Massachusetts (N = 9,462). To date, this is the largest data set that describes senior center usage. Most of the sample were women (60%) and in the 60-69 age group (36%). More than three quarters of the sample do not use the local senior center (77%). The most common reasons for non-usage were lack of interest (27%) and not feeling old enough (26%). There are significant differences in reasons of non-usage among age groups and gender (p < .001). Younger age groups’ (50-69) most popular reasons for non-usage were not feeling old enough, not having time, inconvenient senior center hours, and not knowing what is offered. In contrast, older age groups (80+) more frequently reported having no interest or using programs elsewhere. Men were more likely to report not being interested and not being familiar with what is offered. Women were more likely to report not having time, inconvenient hours of programming, and using programs elsewhere. Based on results from this study, this presentation will outline implications for the future of senior centers and their programming.


Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Viana Campos ◽  
Efigênia Ferreira e Ferreira ◽  
Andréa Maria Duarte Vargas ◽  
Lúcia Hisako Takase Gonçalves

ABSTRACT Objective: to identify the healthy aging profile in octogenarians in Brazil. Method: this population-based epidemiological study was conducted using household interviews of 335 octogenarians in a Brazilian municipality. The decision-tree model was used to assess the healthy aging profile in relation to the socioeconomic characteristics evaluated at baseline. All of the tests used a p-value < 0.05. Results: the majority of the 335 participating older adults were women (62.1%), were aged between 80 and 84 years (50.4%), were widowed (53.4%), were illiterate (59.1%), had a monthly income of less than one minimum wage (59.1%), were retired (85.7%), lived with their spouse (63.8%), did not have a caregiver (60.3%), had two or more children (82.7%), and had two or more grandchildren (78.8%). The results indicate three age groups with a healthier aging profile: older adults aged 80 to 84 years (55.6%), older adults aged 85 years and older who are married (64.9%), and older adults aged 85 and older who do not have a partner or a caregiver (54.2%). Conclusion: the healthy aging profile of octogenarians can be explained by age group, marital status, and the presence of a caregiver.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 690-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chesney E. Craig ◽  
Michail Doumas

We investigated whether postural aftereffects witnessed during transitions from a moving to a stable support are accompanied by a delayed perception of platform stabilization in older adults, in two experiments. In experiment 1, postural sway and muscle cocontraction were assessed in 11 healthy young, 11 healthy older, and 11 fall-prone older adults during blindfolded stance on a fixed platform, followed by a sway-referenced platform and then by a fixed platform again. The sway-referenced platform was more compliant for young adults, to induce similar levels of postural sway in both age groups. Participants were asked to press a button whenever they perceived that the platform had stopped moving. Both older groups showed significantly larger and longer postural sway aftereffects during platform stabilization compared with young adults, which were pronounced in fall-prone older adults. In both older groups elevated muscle cocontraction aftereffect was also witnessed. Importantly, these aftereffects were accompanied by an illusory perception of prolonged platform movement. After this, experiment 2 examined whether this illusory perception was a robust age effect or an experimental confound due to greater surface compliance in young adults, which could create a larger perceptual discrepancy between moving and stable conditions. Despite exposure to the same surface compliance levels during sway-reference, the perceptual illusion was maintained in experiment 2 in a new group of 14 healthy older adults compared with 11 young adults. In both studies, older adults took five times longer than young adults to perceive platform stabilization. This supports that sensory reweighting is inefficient in older adults. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first paper to show that postural sway aftereffects witnessed in older adults after platform stabilization may be due to a perceptual illusion of platform movement. Surprisingly, in both experiments presented it took older adults five times longer than young adults to perceive platform stabilization. This supports a hypothesis of less efficient sensory reintegration in this age group, which may delay the formation of an accurate postural percept.


2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Diehl ◽  
Stephanie K. Owen ◽  
Lise M. Youngblade

This study investigated agency and communion attributes in adults’ spontaneous self-representations. The study sample consisted of 158 adults (80 men, 78 women) ranging in age from 20 to 88 years. Consistent with theorising, significant age and sex differences were found in terms of the number of agency and communion attributes. Young and middle-aged adults included significantly more agency attributes in their self-representations than older adults; men listed significantly more agency attributes than women. In contrast, older adults included significantly more communion attributes in their self-representations than young adults, and women listed significantly more communion attributes than men. Significant Age Group × Self-Portrait Display and Sex × Self-Portrait Display interactions were found for communion attributes, indicating that the importance of communion attributes differed across age groups and by sex. Correlational analyses showed significant associations of agency and communion attributes with personality traits and defence mechanisms. Communion attributes also showed significant correlations with four dimensions of psychological well-being.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwabusayo Folarin ◽  
Funmilayo Olopade ◽  
Silas Onwuka ◽  
James Olopade

Vanadium is a transitional metal with an ability to generate reactive oxygen species in the biological system. This work was designed to assess memory deficits in mice chronically exposed to vanadium. A total of 132 male BALB/c mice (4 weeks old) were used for the experiment and were divided into three major groups of vanadium treated, matched controls, and animals exposed to vanadium for three months and thereafter vanadium was withdrawn. Animals were tested using Morris water maze and forelimb grip test at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age. The results showed that animals across the groups showed no difference in learning but had significant loss in memory abilities after 3 months of vanadium exposure and this trend continued in all vanadium-exposed groups relative to the controls. Animals exposed to vanadium for three months recovered significantly only 9 months after vanadium withdrawal. There was no significant difference in latency to fall in the forelimb grip test between vanadium-exposed groups and the controls in all age groups. In conclusion, we have shown that chronic administration of vanadium in mice leads to memory deficit which is reversible but only after a long period of vanadium withdrawal.


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Till Koopmann ◽  
Franziska Lath ◽  
Dirk Büsch ◽  
Jörg Schorer

Abstract Background Research on talent in sports aims to identify predictors of future performance. This study retrospectively investigated 1) relationships between young handball field players’ technical throwing skills and (a) their potential nomination to youth national teams and (b) their long-term career attainment 10 years later, and 2) associations between nomination status and career attainment. Results Results from retrospectively predicting nomination status and career attainment using logistic regression analyses show that technical throwing skills were partly able to explain players’ nomination status (Nagelkerke R2: females 9.2%, males 13.1%) and career attainment (Nagelkerke R2: 9.8% for female players). Here, variables throwing velocity and time on exercise showed statistically significant effects. In addition, nomination status and career attainment were shown to be associated using chi-square tests (w of .37 and .23 for female and male players, respectively) and nomination status as a predictor increased the prediction of career attainment remarkably (Nagelkerke R2: females 20.3%, males 12.7%). Conclusions Given these results, basic technical throwing skills may serve rather as a prerequisite in this age group on national level, emphasizing its importance already on lower levels and in younger age groups. Furthermore, advantages from entering the national TID system early especially for females are discussed.


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