Improving Everyday Functioning in Adults Aged 70 and Over Using a Multivitamin Supplement

Abstract. Prospective Memory (PM; i.e., the ability to remember to perform planned tasks) represents a key proxy of healthy aging, as it relates to older adults’ everyday functioning, autonomy, and personal well-being. The current review illustrates how PM performance develops across the lifespan and how multiple cognitive and non-cognitive factors influence this trajectory. Further, a new, integrative framework is presented, detailing how those processes interplay in retrieving and executing delayed intentions. Specifically, while most previous models have focused on memory processes, the present model focuses on the role of executive functioning in PM and its development across the lifespan. Finally, a practical outlook is presented, suggesting how the current knowledge can be applied in geriatrics and geropsychology to promote healthy aging by maintaining prospective abilities in the elderly.

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Supplemental Material for Naturalistic Assessment of Everyday Functioning in Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Day-Out Task

Neuropsychology ◽

10.1037/a0029352.supp ◽

2012 ◽

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Everyday Functioning

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HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

The Oxford Handbook of Adult Cognitive Disorders ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190664121.013.3 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 27-60

Author(s):

Jennifer E. Iudicello ◽

Erin E. Morgan ◽

Mariam A. Hussain ◽

Caitlin Wei-Ming Watson ◽

Robert K. Heaton

Keyword(s):

Differential Diagnosis ◽

Neurocognitive Impairment ◽

Hiv Treatment ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Neurocognitive Disorder ◽

Diagnostic Systems ◽

Neurocognitive Performance ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Asymptomatic Neurocognitive Impairment ◽

Age Related

Human immunodeficiency virus enters the central nervous system (CNS) early after systemic infection, and may cause neural injury and associated neurocognitive impairment through multiple direct and indirect mechanisms. An international conference of multidisciplinary neuroAIDS experts convened in 2005 to propose operationalized research criteria for HIV-related cognitive and everyday functioning impairments. The resulting classification system, known as the Frascati criteria, defined three types of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND): asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment, mild neurocognitive disorder, and HIV-associated dementia (HAD). Consideration of comorbid conditions that can influence neurocognitive performance, such as developmental disabilities, non-HIV forms of CNS compromise (neurological and systemic), severe psychiatric conditions, and substance use disorders, is essential to differential diagnosis. Since the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), rates of severe HAND (i.e., HAD) have greatly declined, although the milder forms of HAND remain quite prevalent, even in virally suppressed people living with HIV (PLWH). Beyond ART, clinical management of HAND includes behavioral interventions focused on neurocognitive and functional improvements. This chapter covers a range of HAND-related topics, such as the neuropathological mechanisms of HIV-related CNS injury, assessment and diagnostic systems for neurocognitive and everyday functioning impairment in HIV, treatment and protective factors, aging with HIV, HAND in international settings, and ongoing challenges and controversies in the field. Future needs for progress with HAND include advances in early detection of mild cognitive deficits and associated functional impairment in PLWH; biomarkers that may be sensitive to its underlying pathogenesis; and differential diagnosis of HAND versus age-related, non-HIV-associated disorders.

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The Impact of Memory Change on Everyday Life Among Older Adults: Association with Cognition and Self-Reported Memory

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617720001344 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Komal T. Shaikh ◽

Erica L. Tatham ◽

Susan Vandermorris ◽

Theone Paterson ◽

Kathryn Stokes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Negative Emotion ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Strategy Use ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Positive Coping ◽

Memory Change ◽

Lifestyle Activities ◽

The Impact ◽

With Memory

Abstract Objectives: Many older adults experience memory changes that can have a meaningful impact on their everyday lives, such as restrictions to lifestyle activities and negative emotions. Older adults also report a variety of positive coping responses that help them manage these changes. The purpose of this study was to determine how objective cognitive performance and self-reported memory are related to the everyday impact of memory change. Methods: We examined these associations in a sample of 94 older adults (age 60–89, 52% female) along a cognitive ability continuum from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment. Results: Correlational analyses revealed that greater restrictions to lifestyle activities (|rs| = .36–.66), more negative emotion associated with memory change (|rs| = .27–.76), and an overall greater burden of memory change on everyday living (|rs| = .28–.61) were associated with poorer objective memory performance and lower self-reported memory ability and satisfaction. Performance on objective measures of executive attention was unrelated to the impact of memory change. Self-reported strategy use was positively related to positive coping with memory change (|r| = .26), but self-reported strategy use was associated with more negative emotions regarding memory change (|r| = .23). Conclusions: Given the prevalence of memory complaints among older adults, it is important to understand the experience of memory change and its impact on everyday functioning in order to develop services that target the specific needs of this population.

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Biological and clinical effects of a resveratrol-based multivitamin supplement on intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles: a single-center, randomized controlled trial

The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine ◽

10.1080/14767058.2021.1958313 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Sandro Gerli ◽

Chiara Della Morte ◽

Margherita Ceccobelli ◽

Monica Mariani ◽

Alessandro Favilli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Clinical Effects ◽

Single Center ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Multivitamin Supplement

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Development and Validation of a Cognitive Reserve Index in HIV

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617721000461 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Navaldeep Kaur ◽

Lesley K. Fellows ◽

Marie-Josée Brouillette ◽

Nancy Mayo

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Study Entry ◽

Video Gaming ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Data Set ◽

Multiple Indicators ◽

And Performance ◽

Competitive Games ◽

Development And Validation

Abstract Objectives: In the neuroHIV literature, cognitive reserve has most often been operationalized using education, occupation, and IQ. The effects of other cognitively stimulating activities that might be more amenable to interventions have been little studied. The purpose of this study was to develop an index of cognitive reserve in people with HIV, combining multiple indicators of cognitively stimulating lifetime experiences into a single value. Methods: The data set was obtained from a Canadian longitudinal study (N = 856). Potential indicators of cognitive reserve captured at the study entry included education, occupation, engagement in six cognitively stimulating activities, number of languages spoken, and social resources. Cognitive performance was measured using a computerized test battery. A cognitive reserve index was formulated using logistic regression weights. For the evidence on concurrent and predictive validity of the index, the measures of cognition and self-reported everyday functioning were each regressed on the index scores at study entry and at the last follow-up [mean duration: 25.9 months (SD 7.2)], respectively. Corresponding regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed. Results: Professional sports [odds ratio (OR): 2.9; 95% CI 0.59–14.7], visual and performance arts (any level of engagement), professional/amateur music, complex video gaming and competitive games, and travel outside North America were associated with higher cognitive functioning. The effects of cognitive reserve on the outcomes at the last follow-up visit were closely similar to those at study entry. Conclusion: This work contributes evidence toward the relative benefit of engaging in specific cognitively stimulating life experiences in HIV.

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A multi-component, adaptive Working Memory Assessment Battery (WoMAB): validation and norms in an Italian population sample

Neurological Sciences ◽

10.1007/s10072-021-05416-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Fabrizio Pasotti ◽

Giulia De Luca ◽

Edoardo Nicolò Aiello ◽

Chiara Gramegna ◽

Marco Di Gangi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Neurological Disorders ◽

Digit Span ◽

Population Sample ◽

Italian Population ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Assessment Battery ◽

Memory Assessment ◽

Test Digit ◽

Healthy Participants

Abstract Background Working memory (WM) abilities are frequently impaired in neurological disorders affecting fronto-parietal cortical/sub-cortical structures. WM deficits negatively influence interventional outcomes and everyday functioning. This study thus aimed at the following: (a) developing and standardizing an ecologically valid task for WM assessment ( Ice Cream Test, ICT); (b) validating and norming a novel WM test (Digit Ordering Test, DOT), as well as providing updated norms for digit span (DS) tasks, in an Italian population sample; (c) introducing a novel scoring procedure for measuring WM. Methods One-hundred and sixty-eight Italian healthy participants—73 male, 95 females; age: 48.4 ± 19.1 (18–86); education: 12.1 ± 4.8 (4–21)—underwent a thorough WM assessment—DOT, ICT, and both forward and backward DS tasks (FDS, BDS). The ICT requires participants to act as waiters who have to keep track of customers’ orders. For each task, WM and total (T) outcomes were computed, i.e., the number of elements in the longest sequence and that of recalled sequences, respectively. Norms were derived via the equivalent score (ES) method. Results DS ratios (DSRs) were computed for both WM/S and T outcomes on raw DS measures (BDS divided by FDS). Age and education significantly predicted all WM tasks; sex affected FDS and DSR-T scores (males > females). WM measures were highly internally related. Discussion The present work provides Italian practitioners with a normatively updated, multi-component, adaptive battery for WM assessment (WoMAB) as well as with novel outcomes which capture different WM facets—WM capacity and attentive monitoring abilities.

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Clinical Profiles and Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Adults with Specific Learning Disorder in Northern Greece

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11050602 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 602

Author(s):

Eleni Bonti ◽

Sofia Giannoglou ◽

Marianthi Georgitsi ◽

Maria Sofologi ◽

Georgia-Nektaria Porfyri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Adult Population ◽

Relevant Literature ◽

Well Being ◽

Demographic Characteristics ◽

Self Report ◽

Learning Disorder ◽

Northern Greece ◽

Everyday Functioning ◽

Specific Learning Disorder ◽

Specific Learning

The manifestation of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) during adulthood is one of the least examined research areas among the relevant literature. Therefore, the adult population with SLD is considered a “rare” and “unique” population of major scientific interest. The aim of the current study was to investigate, describe, and analyze the clinical, academic, and socio-demographic characteristics, and other everyday functioning life-skills of adults with SLD, in an attempt to shed more light on this limited field of research. The overall sample consisted of 318 adults, who were assessed for possible SLD. The diagnostic procedure included self-report records (clinical interview), psychometric/cognitive, and learning assessments. The main finding of the study was that SLD, even during adulthood, continues to affect the individuals’ well-being and functionality in all of their life domains. There is an ongoing struggle of this population to obtain academic qualifications in order to gain vocational rehabilitation, as well as a difficulty to create a family, possibly resulting from their unstable occupational status, their financial insecurity, and the emotional/self-esteem issues they usually encounter, due to their ongoing learning problems. Moreover, the various interpersonal characteristics, the comorbidity issues, and the different developmental backgrounds observed in the clinical, academic, personal, social, and occupational profiles of the participants, highlight the enormous heterogeneity and the continuum that characterizes SLD during adulthood. We conclude that there is an imperative need for further research and the construction of more sufficient tools for the assessment and diagnosis of SLD during adulthood, which will take into account the developmental challenges and milestones in a series of domains, in order to assist this “vulnerable” population with their life struggles.

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