I remember it like it was yesterday: Age-related differences in the subjective experience of remembering

Some degree of ischemic injury to white matter tracts occurs naturally with age and is visible on magnetic resonance imaging as focal or confluent white matter hyperintensities (WMHs). Its relationship to cognition, however, remains unclear. To explore this, community-dwelling adults between the ages 55-80 years old completed structural imaging, neuropsychological testing, and questionnaires to provide objective measures and subjective experience of executive functioning. Volumetric lesion burden derived from structural MRI identified those with significant WMH burden (~10 cubic cm). Half of those recruited met this criterion and were designated as the cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) group. Subjective complaints but not objective test scores differentiated adults with and without CSVD. Hierarchical clustering revealed two CSVD subgroups that differentiated those with impaired versus preserved executive function relative to controls. Overall these results provide some explanation for behavioural heterogeneity often observed in studies of age-related white matter changes. They also support the use of questionnaires to assess subjective complaints that may be able to detect subtle effects of pathology not evident on standardized cognitive scores.

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The Rubber Hand Illusion in Healthy Younger and Older Adults

Multisensory Research ◽

10.1163/22134808-00002614 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 537-555 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jennifer L. Campos ◽

Graziella El-Khechen Richandi ◽

Babak Taati ◽

Behrang Keshavarz

Keyword(s):

Skin Temperature ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Age Groups ◽

Objective Measure ◽

The Body ◽

Rubber Hand Illusion ◽

Body Ownership ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Age Related ◽

Body Change

Percepts about our body’s position in space and about body ownership are informed by multisensory feedback from visual, proprioceptive, and tactile inputs. The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) is a multisensory illusion that is induced when an observer sees a rubber hand being stroked while they feel their own, spatially displaced, and obstructed hand being stroked. When temporally synchronous, the visual–tactile interactions can create the illusion that the rubber hand belongs to the observer and that the observer’s real hand is shifted in position towards the rubber hand. Importantly, little is understood about whether these multisensory perceptions of the body change with older age. Thus, in this study we implemented a classic RHI protocol (synchronous versus asynchronous stroking) with healthy younger (18–35) and older (65+) adults and measured the magnitude of proprioceptive drift and the subjective experience of body ownership. As an adjunctive objective measure, skin temperature was recorded to evaluate whether decreases in skin temperature were associated with illusory percepts, as has been shown previously. The RHI was observed for both age groups with respect to increased drift and higher ratings of ownership following synchronous compared to asynchronous stroking. Importantly, no effects of age and no interactions between age and condition were observed for either of these outcome measures. No effects were observed for skin temperature. Overall, these results contribute to an emerging field of research investigating the conditions under which age-related differences in multisensory integration are observed by providing insights into the role of visual, proprioceptive, and tactile inputs on bodily percepts.

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The Subjective Experience of Aging: Correlates of Divergent Views

Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement ◽

10.1017/s0714980800011168 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 7-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Ingrid Connidis

Keyword(s):

Older Persons ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Subjective Health ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Age And Gender ◽

Positive View ◽

Significant Relationships ◽

Age Related ◽

Dependent Variables ◽

And Gender

ABSTRACTA stratified random sample of 400 community-dwelling older persons were asked whether they like or dislike anything about being their age and if they have any worries about growing older. The results of multivariate analysis show significant relationships between the dependent variables and several respondent charaderistics including age, subjective health, expectations of older age, and gender. A negative view of aging appears to be associated with experiencing age-related declines. Overall, despite some diversity, the respondents tend to hold a positive view of old age that is coupled with a realistic appreciation of the shortcomings this stage of life may bring.

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I remember it like it was yesterday: Age-related changes in the subjective experience of remembering the past

10.31234/osf.io/5kgha ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Adrien Folville ◽

Jon Simons ◽

Arnaud D'Argembeau ◽

Christine Bastin

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Young Adults ◽

Conceptual Knowledge ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Future Research ◽

Subjective Ratings ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Related Changes

It has been frequently described that older adults subjectively report the vividness of their memories as being as high, or even higher, than young adults, despite poorer objective memory performance and/or lower activity in the associated brain regions. Here, we review studies that examined age-related changes in the cognitive and neural basis of the subjective experience of remembering. Together, these studies reveal that older adults assign subjective memory ratings that are as high or higher than young adults but rely on retrieved memory details to a lesser extent. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying this observation. Overestimation of subjective ratings may stem from metamemory changes, psycho-social factors or methodological issues. As for poorer calibration of the ratings, this may be explained by the fact that older adults rely on/weight other types of information (conceptual knowledge, personal memories, and socioemotional or gist aspects of the memory trace) to a greater extent than young adults when judging the subjective vividness of their memories. We further highlight that a desirable avenue for future research would be to investigate how subjective ratings follow the richness of the corresponding mental representations in other cognitive operations than episodic memory and in other populations than healthy older adults. Finally, we recommend that future studies explore the bases of the subjective sense of remembering across the lifespan while considering recent accounts focusing both on individual and collective/shared aspects of recollection.

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Higher Awareness of Positive and Negative Age-Related Changes Relate to Lower Objective Cognitive Scores

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2010 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 597-598

Author(s):

Serena Sabatini ◽

Obioha Ukoumunne ◽

Clive Ballard ◽

Kaarin Anstey ◽

Manfred Diehl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Performance ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Equation Model ◽

Model Fit ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Age Related ◽

Objective Outcomes ◽

Gains And Losses ◽

Age Related Changes

Abstract Existing evidence suggests that individuals’ subjective experience of cognitive decline may be a risk state for dementia. However, whether self-awareness of positive changes confer cognitive protection is unknown. We examined the extent to which awareness of positive (AARC gains) and negative (AARC losses) age-related changes explains variability in objective cognitive performance in a sample of 6,231 UK residents (Mean age= 66.1 years, 75.9% women) without cognitive impairment. We tested a structural equation model with AARC gains and losses as predictors of cognitive performance and depressive symptoms as a mediator of the association of AARC losses with cognitive performance. The model fit the data well. The correlation between AARC gains and losses was negligible, yet higher levels of both AARC gains and losses predicted poorer cognitive scores. Hence, higher AARC gains did not confer cognitive protection. This unexpected pattern of results underscores the complexity of mapping individuals’ awareness onto objective outcomes.

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AGE-RELATED ATTRIBUTIONS OF CHANGE: DETERMINANTS AND CONSEQUENCES

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1415 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S385-S385

Author(s):

Klaus Rothermund ◽

Clara de Paula Couto

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Well Being ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Age Stereotypes ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Range ◽

Future Project

Abstract Diehl and colleagues recently introduced the concept of “Awareness of Age-related Change” (AARC; Diehl & Wahl, 2010), emphasizing the need to investigate the subjective experience of one’s own aging. In the Aging-as-Future project (n=1,300 participants, age range 35-85), we separately assessed the experience of changes and attributions of these changes to age. Attributions of changes were driven by a correspondence between the direction of change (gain vs. loss) and negative vs. positive age stereotypes. Importantly, our data also support the assumption that changes interact with age-related attributions in predicting life satisfaction. Specifically, age-related attributions were shown to exacerbate negative effects of losses on well-being.

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Stereotype Threat Alters the Subjective Experience of Memory

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000303 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 62 (6) ◽

pp. 395-402 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Marie Mazerolle ◽

Isabelle Régner ◽

François Rigalleau ◽

Pascal Huguet

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Stereotype Threat ◽

Age Differences ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Age Related ◽

Contextual Detail

Abstract. There is now evidence that negative age-related stereotypes about memory reduce older adults’ memory performance, and inflate age differences in this domain. Here, we examine whether stereotype threat may also influence the basic feeling that one is more or less able to remember. Using the Remember/Know paradigm, we demonstrated that stereotype threat conducted older adults to a greater feeling of familiarity with events, while failing to retrieve any contextual detail. This finding indicates that stereotype threat alters older adults’ subjective experience of memory, and strengthens our understanding of the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat effects.

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Age-Related Attributions of Experienced Changes in Life: Origins and Implications

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gbaa160 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Klaus Rothermund ◽

Maria Clara Pinheiro de Paula Couto ◽

Helene H Fung ◽

Sylvie Graf ◽

Thomas M Hess ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Personal Control ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Life Changes ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Range ◽

Future Project ◽

Subjective Aging

Abstract Objectives Attributing life changes to age represents a core marker of the subjective experience of aging. The aims of our study were to investigate views on aging (VA) as origins of age-related attributions of life changes and to investigate the implications of these age-related attributions for personal control (PC) and life satisfaction (LS). Methods Life changes and the attribution of life changes to age were independently assessed on a large international sample of older adults (N = 2,900; age range 40–90 years) from the Ageing as Future project. The valence of VA, PC, and LS were also assessed to investigate possible determinants (VA) and consequences (PC and LS) of age-related attributions of life changes. Results Attributions to age were shown to depend on the valence of experienced life changes, with more negative changes being linked to more age-related attributions. This relation was moderated by the valence of personally held VA, with more negative VA amplifying the relation between negative life changes and age-related attributions. Age-related attributions predicted reduced PC and lower LS and were found to exacerbate the effects of negative life changes on LS, especially for the older cohorts of our sample. Discussion Our findings help to better understand what determines age-related attributions of life changes and highlight the negative consequences of attributing them to aging. Age-related attributions of change are a major factor that worsens the subjective aging experience. Methodologically, our study emphasizes the necessity to separately assess changes and their attributions to age.

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Deciphering the Relationship between Objective and Subjective Aspects of Recollection in Healthy Aging

10.31234/osf.io/hjfe4 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Adrien Folville ◽

Arnaud D'Argembeau ◽

Christine Bastin

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Young Adults ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Lower Amount ◽

Objective Measures ◽

Aggregated Data ◽

Mixed Effects Modeling ◽

Age Related ◽

The Relationship

Although healthy aging has been related to a decline in recollection as indexed by objective measures, the subjective experience of recollection seems to remain stable. To date, however, these age-related differences have only been examined using aggregated data across trials. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between subjective and objective measures of recollection on a trial-by-trial basis to determine whether the magnitude of this relationship was similar in young and older adults. Young and older participants were presented with a series of pictures that were associated with descriptive labels at encoding. At retrieval, they were cued with the labels and were asked to rate the vividness of their memory for the associated picture and to recall as many details of the picture as they could. On average, older adults assigned higher vividness ratings but recalled lower amount of specific episodic details than young adults. Mixed-effects modeling revealed that, across trials, the relationship between subjective (vividness) and objective (number of recalled details) recollection was stronger in young than in older participants. These findings provide evidence that older adults not only retrieve fewer episodic details but also spontaneously rely on these details to a lesser extent than young adults for judging the subjective quality of their memories.

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Determinants and Implications of Subjective Age Across Adulthood and Old Age

The Oxford Handbook of Integrative Health Science ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190676384.013.7 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 86-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yannick Stephan ◽

Angelina R. Sutin ◽

Antonio Terracciano

Keyword(s):

Perceived Control ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Chronological Age ◽

Subjective Age ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Family Networks ◽

Age Related ◽

Personality Changes

Subjective age (how old or young individuals feel relative to their chronological age) is gaining popularity in gerontology and related disciplines because of its relation with biopsychosocial processes of aging. Evidence from Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) and other cohorts is reviewed on the predictors and outcomes of subjective age. An older subjective age is predicted by age discrimination, negative changes in one’s social and family networks, lower well-being and perceived control, poor physical conditions and more chronic health problems. Subjective age is also predictive of a range of crucial outcomes. Indeed, feeling younger is related to better physical and mental health, cognition, more favorable personality changes, lower risk of incident hospitalization, and longevity. These findings suggest that the subjective experience of age is a biopsychosocial marker of aging with promise as a predictor of crucial age-related outcomes, beyond chronological age.

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