Leisure Activities and Change in Cognitive Stability: A Multivariate Approach.

Aging is traditionally associated with cognitive decline, attested by slower reaction times and poorer performance in various cognitive tasks, but also by an increase in intraindividual variability (IIV) in cognitive performance. Results concerning how lifestyle activities protect from cognitive decline are mixed in the literature and all focused on how it affects mean performance. However, IIV has been proven to be an index more sensitive to age differences, and very little is known about the relationships between lifestyle activities and change in IIV in aging. This longitudinal study explores the association between frequency of physical, social, intellectual, artistic, or cultural activities and age-related change in various cognitive abilities, considering both mean performance and IIV. Ninety-six participants, aged 64-93 years, underwent a battery of cognitive tasks at four measurements over a seven-year period, and filled out a lifestyle activity questionnaire. Linear multilevel models were used to analyze the associations between change in cognitive performance and five types of activities. Results showed that the practice of leisure activities was more strongly associated with IIV than with mean performance, both when considering overall level and change in performance. Relationships with IIV were dependent of the cognitive tasks considered and overall results showed protective effects of cultural, physical and intellectual activities on IIV. These results underline the need for considering IIV in the study of age-related cognitive change.

Homophobia Is Related to a Low Interest in Sexuality in General: An Analysis of Pupillometric Evoked Responses.

INTRODUCTION: A recent study by Cheval et al (J Sex Med 2016;13:825-834) found that individuals high in homophobia look significantly less long at sex-related photographs, regardless of their nature (ie, homosexual or heterosexual). Because viewing time is under some conscious control, this result could indicate that individuals high in homophobia have a low sexual interest in any sexual stimuli or are consciously motivated to avoid sexual material in line with their conscious values. AIM: To determine the mechanism underlying shorter viewing time of sex-related photographs in individuals high in homophobia using pupil dilatation, which is considered a spontaneous, unconscious, and uncontrollable index of sexual interest. METHODS: Heterosexual men (N = 36) completed a questionnaire assessing their level of homo-negativity and then performed a picture-viewing task with simultaneous eye-tracking recording to assess their pupillary responses to the presentation of sexually related or neutral photographs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Non-linear mixed models were carried out to fit the individual non-linear trajectories of pupillary reaction. Different parameters were obtained including the final asymptote of the pupillary response. RESULTS: Results showed that the final pupil size of men high in homophobia increased significantly less to the presentation of sex-related images (ie, heterosexual and homosexual) than the pupil size of men low in homophobia. In contrast, no significant difference in the final pupil size reaction toward homosexual images (vs heterosexual images) emerged between men high and men low in homophobia. CONCLUSION: Theoretically, these findings reinforce the necessity to consider that homophobia might reflect concerns about sexuality in general and not homosexuality in particular.

Homophobia: An Impulsive Attraction to the Same Sex? Evidence From Eye-Tracking Data in a Picture-Viewing Task.

INTRODUCTION: Some models suggest that homophobia can be explained as a denied attraction toward same-sex individuals. While it has been found that homophobic men have same-sex attraction, these results are not consistent. AIM: This study drew on the dual-process models to test the assumption that sexual interest in homosexual cues among men high in homophobia will depend on their specific impulses toward homosexual-related stimuli. METHODS: Heterosexual men (N = 38) first completed a scale measuring their level of homonegativity. Then, they performed a manikin task to evaluate their impulsive approach tendencies toward homosexual stimuli (IAHS). MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: A picture-viewing task was performed with simultaneous eye-tracking recording to assess participants' viewing time of the visual area of interest (i.e., face and body). RESULTS: IAHS positively predicted the viewing time of homosexual photographs among men with a high score of homonegativity. Men with a high homonegativity score looked significantly longer at homosexual than at heterosexual photographs but only when they had a high IAHS. CONCLUSION: These findings confirm the importance of considering the variability in impulsive processes to understand why some (but not all) men high in homophobia have homosexual interest. These findings reinforce the theoretical basis for elaborating a dual-process model for behaviors in the sexual context.