Cognitive Reserve and Frontotemporal Disorders: Exploring the Relationship Between Education, Physical Activity, and Cognitive Dysfunction in Older Adults.

In this study we investigated the relationship between cognitive reserve (CR) proxies, such as education, physical activity (PA), and cognitive dysfunction (CD) in the presence or absence of frontotemporal disorders (FTD). Previous research has suggested that education and PA may delay the onset of CD and reduce the risk of developing dementia. However, it remains unclear whether these CR proxies can protect against CD when FTD is present. We aimed to explore this relationship and determine whether sustained CR may be evident regardless of FTD. We recruited 149 older adults (aged 65-99 years) from community centers where they were voluntarily participating in leisure activities. We used bioelectrical impedance to measure their body composition, and we administered the International PA Questionnaire and the Mini-Mental State Examination to measure their PA and cognitive function, respectively. We used the Frontal Assessment Battery to screen for frontotemporal dementia. Our results showed that people with FTD were older, had lower education, and engaged in less PA, relative to other participants. Regression models revealed that age, education, and PA were significant predictors of FTD. More specifically, FTD was negatively associated with cognitive functioning, and there were significant interaction effects between FTD and education and PA. PA and education were significant predictors of cognitive functioning, and, when values for PA and education were high, they offset the effects of FTD on cognitive function. These findings support impressions that PA and years of education provide an insulating or compensatory effect on cognitive functioning in older adults with executive dysfunction or frontotemporal dementia, highlighting the importance of encouraging both pursuits.

Risk Decision Making and Executive Function among Adolescents and Young Adults.

The dual theory establishes that the decision-making process relies on two different systems, the affective system and the executive function (EF), developed during adolescence. This study analyzes the relationship between the decision-making and EF processes in a group of early adolescents (mean age = 12.51 years, SD = 0.61), where more affective impulse processes are developed, and in young adults (mean age = 19.38 years, SD = 1.97), where cognitive control processes have already matured. For this purpose, 140 participants in Spain completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to measure their risky decisions and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) to measure their EF. Performance on the IGT improves over blocks; however, adolescents received lower mean scores than young adults. However, controlling for age, perseverative errors were negatively associated with the mean net score on the risky blocks of IGT; thus, those who committed more perseverative errors in the WCST were more likely to take cards from the disadvantageous decks on the last blocks of the IGT. The current study shows that adolescents and adults solve ambiguous decisions by trial and error; however, adolescents are more likely to make risky decisions without attending to the long-term consequences. Following the dual theory hypothesis, the maturation of EF with age partly accounts for this difference in risky decision-making between adolescents and adults.

The Effect of Social Relationships on the Well-Being and Happiness of Older Adults Living Alone or with Relatives.

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of the type of habitation of older adults-with relatives or alone-on their health and well-being. The participants were 352 people over 65 years of age who collaborated with the research on a voluntary basis. The data indicated that those who live with family members have better social integration, well-being and happiness than those who live alone. A multiple regression analysis showed the positive effect of living with relatives on well-being and happiness. However, participation in social activities mitigates the effect of the type of cohabitation explaining better well-being and happiness in the older population. These findings support the idea of designing and implementing intervention policies focused on activities that promote social participation and social interactions to improve well-being and happiness in the older adults.

Coenzyme Q10 Levels Associated With Cognitive Functioning and Executive Function in Older Adults.

Brain deterioration with age is associated with inflammation and oxidative stress that result in structural and functional changes. Recent studies have indicated that coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is associated with neurological oxidative stress and cognitive impairment. Studies with older people have shown a relationship between neurodegenerative diseases and CoQ10 levels. However, no studies have analyzed the relationship between CoQ10 and cognitive functioning in older adults. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between CoQ10 and cognitive functioning in an older adult sample, controlling for other factors that may influence aging, such as the level of physical activity and nutritional status. The sample consisted of 64 older adults aged 65-99 years (76.67 ± 8.16 years), among whom 48 were women (75%). The participants were recruited among those who attended community centers to voluntarily participate in leisure activities. According to previous studies, physical activity and nutritional status are positively associated with cognitive functioning. However, the main finding of this study was that plasma CoQ10, controlling for other measures, was significantly associated with cognitive functioning and executive function. The current findings suggest that a decline in cognitive capacities may be related to reduced antioxidant defenses, as reflected by low CoQ10 levels in older adults.

Levels of Plasma Coenzyme Q10 Are Associated with Physical Capacity and Cardiovascular Risk in the Elderly.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an essential factor for mitochondrial activity and antioxidant protection of cells, tissues and plasma lipoproteins. Its deficiency has been associated with aging progression in animals and humans. To determine if CoQ10 levels in plasma can be associated with frailty in elderly people (aged > 65), we studied the relationship of CoQ10 levels in blood with other parameters in plasma and with the physical activity and capacity in aged people. Our results indicate that high CoQ10 levels are directly associated with lower cardiovascular risk measured by the quotient total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol. Furthermore, high CoQ10 levels were found in people showing higher physical activity, stronger muscle capacity. CoQ10 also showed a strong inverse relationship with sedentarism and the up and go test, which is considered to be a frailty index. Interestingly, we found gender differences, indicating stronger correlations in women than in men. The importance of the maintenance of CoQ10 levels in elderly people to avoid sarcopenia and frailty in elderly people is discussed.

Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Program for Women Family Caregivers of Older Adults.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention program for the promotion of well-being and health in family caregivers. METHODS: The participants were 111 family women caregivers aged between 33 and 75 years old. This was a double-blinded randomized controlled trial. The mindfulness intervention program lasted 12 weeks. The experimental group underwent mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions (MABIs). The control group performed physical activity training. RESULTS: A cross-lagged panel analysis was computed with the two waves of health, well-being, burden and resilience and age in years and intervention as predictors. The cross-lagged path model fit well χ2 (8) = 7.179, p = 0.51, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.00, comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.00, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.05. The mindfulness intervention program was a significant predictor accounting for decreasing health problems (ß = -0.292, p < 0.01) and burden (ß = -0.190, p < 0.01) and increasing well-being (ß = 0.107, p < 0.05) at post-test. CONCLUSIONS: Mindfulness-based intervention programs are effective in coping with the burden of family caregivers and, in turn, in promoting resilience, well-being and health among caregivers. Our findings encourage clinical uses of mindfulness interventions to promote health.

Aging Living at Home: Residential Satisfaction among Active Older Adults Based on the Perceived Home Model.

BACKGROUND: Housing plays an important role in the aging process and health. The house and its nearby environment host most of the daily activities of older adults. Residential satisfaction (RS) has been relegated to physical issues such as accessibility. However, RS is also constituted by older adults' perceptions about housing. This study analyzes the perceived home that develops RS in older adults. METHODS: A random sample of 714 participants aged 50 to 84 (mean = 65; SD = 0.98) were used. Participants lived in ordinary housing in southern Spain. Scales measure perceptions of RS, meaning, functionality and belief of control over the home. RESULTS: Analyses were performed using structural equation models to evaluate the dependence relationships between the different perceptions evaluated. We observe a direct influence of internal control on usability (ß = 0.84) and perceived meanings (ß = 0.49). However, external control shows a negative influence on the meaning of home (ß = -0.14). Perceived usability (ß = 0.68) and meaning (ß = 0.32) positively influence RS. CONCLUSION: Perceptions of meaning, functionality and RS itself depend on internal housing-related control beliefs. Active older adults with higher internal control perceived their home fit better to the need of everyday life and improve RS.

Enhancing emotion-based learning in decision-making under uncertainty.

BACKGROUND: The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is widely used to study decision-making differences between several clinical and healthy populations. Unlike the healthy participants, clinical participants have difficulty choosing between advantageous options, which yield long-term benefits, and disadvantageous options, which give high immediate rewards but lead to negative profits. However, recent studies have found that healthy participants avoid the options with a higher frequency of losses regardless of whether or not they are profitable in the long run. The aim of this study was to control for the confounding effect of the frequency of losses between options to improve the performance of healthy participants on the IGT. METHOD: Eighty healthy participants were randomly assigned to the original IGT or a modified version of the IGT that diminished the gap in the frequency of losses between options. RESULTS: The participants who used the modified IGT version learned to make better decisions based on long-term profit, as indicated by an earlier ability to discriminate good from bad options, and took less time to make their choices. CONCLUSIONS: This research represents an advance in the study of decision making under uncertainty by showing that emotion-based learning is improved by controlling for the loss-frequency bias effect.