Geographies of alcohol and generation: Examining the decline in youth drinking in England through a spatial lens.

INTRODUCTION: While international literature addresses the links between youth culture and the decline in youth drinking, little research has engaged with scholarship on youth geographies to more fully disentangle these links. This article explores how the decline is connected to shifts in where young people access and drink alcohol. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with young people aged 12-19 (N = 96) and 29-35 (N = 17) years in England. The interviews explored the place of alcohol in everyday life, with younger participants discussing the present and older participants discussing their youth in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Data were analysed thematically. FINDINGS: Buying alcohol in shops and licensed premises was a common experience for older participants when they were teenagers but few younger participants discussed buying alcohol from commercial settings. Older participants also reflected positively on drinking in outdoor public spaces whereas younger participants, particularly those from working-class backgrounds, regarded this as morally suspect. Young participants instead accessed alcohol from parents and siblings, and often consumed it in their or others' homes in supervised or moderated ways, seeing this as positive and normative. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Spatial shifts in young people's drinking away from public spaces and toward the home appear an important part of a wider trend that renders youth drinking as increasingly moderate, risk-averse, incidental and mediated by parents, rather than excessive, transgressive and integral to youth culture.

Subjective Age Moderates the Relationship Between Global Cognition and Susceptibility to Scams.

This study examined the interactive effect of subjective age on the relationship between global cognition and susceptibility to scams. Sixty-five participants underwent an assessment of global cognition (Mini Mental State Examination; MMSE), reported their perceived age (i.e., subjective age), and responded to a self-report questionnaire assessing scam susceptibility. A main effect of global cognition on scam susceptibility was found (p = .028); there was no main effect of subjective age (p = .819). An interaction between global cognition and subjective age was found (p = .016). Examination of conditional effects demonstrated that the relationship between cognition and scam susceptibility was not significant amongst those with subjective ages below one standard deviation of the mean, but was significant for those whose subjective ages fell around or above the mean. Findings suggest that individuals with older subjective ages may be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of lower cognition on scam susceptibility.

What Do We C in Children With Scurvy? A Case Series Focused on Musculoskeletal Symptoms.

OBJECTIVES: Vitamin C deficiency in children commonly presents with musculoskeletal symptoms such as gait disturbance, refusal to bear weight, and bone or joint pain. We aimed to identify features that could facilitate early diagnosis of scurvy and estimate the cost of care for patients with musculoskeletal symptoms related to scurvy. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients at a single site with diagnostic codes for vitamin C deficiency, ascorbic acid deficiency, or scurvy. Medical records were reviewed to identify characteristics including presenting symptoms, medical history, and diagnostic workup. The Pediatric Health Information System was used to estimate diagnostic and hospitalization costs for each patient. RESULTS: We identified 47 patients with a diagnosis of scurvy, 49% of whom had a neurodevelopmental disorder. Sixteen of the 47 had musculoskeletal symptoms and were the focus of the cost analysis. Three of the 16 had moderate or severe malnutrition, and 3 had overweight or obesity. Six patients presented to an emergency department for care, 11 were managed inpatient, and 3 required critical care. Diagnostic workups included MRI, computed tomography, echocardiogram, endoscopy, lumbar puncture, and/or EEG. Across all patients evaluated, the cost of emergency department utilization, imaging studies, diagnostic procedures, and hospitalization totaled $470 144 (median $14 137 per patient). CONCLUSIONS: Children across the BMI spectrum, particularly those with neurodevelopmental disorders, can develop vitamin C deficiency. Increased awareness of scurvy and its signs and symptoms, particularly musculoskeletal manifestations, may reduce severe disease, limit adverse effects related to unnecessary tests/treatments, and facilitate high-value care.

Evaluation of Six Aromatic Amines in the Mainstream Smoke of Commercial Cigars.

Aromatic amines are a class of carcinogenic compounds present in tobacco smoke that are listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) list of harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) in tobacco products and tobacco smoke. The yields of six aromatic amines (1-aminonaphthalene [1-AN], 2-aminonaphthalene [2-AN], 3-aminobiphenyl [3-ABP], 4-aminobiphenyl [4-ABP], ortho-toluidine [o-TOL], and o-anisidine [o-ANI]) in the mainstream smoke from 23 commercial filtered cigars, 16 cigarillos, and 11 large cigars were determined using solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (SPME headspace GC-MS/MS). The commercial cigars were smoked under the Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco (CORESTA) Recommended Method 64 using a linear cigar smoking machine. The aromatic amine yields in the mainstream smoke from 50 commercial cigars show high levels of variation within and between the products. The average yields of the aromatic amines in the filtered cigars, cigarillos, and large cigars were 108, 371, and 623 ng/cigar for o-TOL; 6, 14, and 22 ng/cigar for o-ANI; 65, 114, and 174 ng/cigar for 1-AN; 25, 59, and 87 ng/cigar for 2-AN; 6, 17, and 27 ng/cigar for 3- ABP; and 8, 11, and 17 ng/cigar for 4-ABP, respectively. The relationships between aromatic amines and (1) total particulate matter (TPM), (2) water-soluble proteins, and (3) water-insoluble proteins were evaluated. We found that the aromatic amines showed a good linear response with TPM on a per cigar basis and showed significant positive correlations with proteins. In addition, the water-insoluble proteins make a greater contribution to the formation of aromatic amines compared to the water-soluble proteins.

A latent class analysis of change and continuity in adolescent health and wellbeing in England during the decline in youth alcohol consumption: A repeat cross-sectional study.

In England, the proportion of 13-15 year-olds who have ever drunk alcohol fell from 71% in 1999 to 35% in 2019. Despite substantial research literature studying this decline, we know little about connections with concurrent shifts in wider aspects of health and wellbeing. This paper aims to identify how indicators of health and wellbeing cluster within 15-year-olds in England, identify changes in clustering over time, and explore associations with sex and family affluence. We used latent class analysis of cross-sectional data from the Health Behaviours in School-aged Children study (n = 5,942; four waves 2001/02-2013/14). Classes were defined by indicators of substance use, sexual activity, diet, exercise, school-related measures, e-media use, parental relationships, and wellbeing. We identified three classes, which we labelled Overall unhealthy, Substance abstainers with behavioural risk indicators, and Overall healthy. The probability of being in the Overall unhealthy class fell (2001/02: 0.39; 2013/14: 0.18) while the probability of being in the Overall healthy class increased (0.21 to 0.41). The probability of weekly alcohol use fell in all classes (e.g. Overall unhealthy: 0.71 to 0.28). Females (female vs male OR: 1.74 95%CI: 1.30 - 2.34) and those with low family affluence (high vs low family affluence OR: 0.18 95%CI: 0.08 - 0.44) had significantly higher odds of being in the Overall unhealthy class. Overall, adolescents became more likely to have co-occurring indicators of good health and wellbeing, including reduced alcohol consumption, sexual activity and cigarette smoking. However, girls and those from poorer families remained more likely to have poor health and wellbeing.

Mild Cognitive Impairment is Associated with Poorer Everyday Decision Making.

BACKGROUND: Older adults are faced with many unique and highly consequential decisions such as those related to finances, healthcare, and everyday functioning (e.g., driving cessation). Given the significant impact of these decisions on independence, wellbeing, and safety, an understanding of how cognitive impairment may impact decision making in older age is important. OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) on responses to a modified version of the Short Portable Assessment of Capacity for Everyday Decision making (SPACED). METHODS: Participants were community-dwelling, actively driving older adults (N = 301; M age = 77.1 years, SD = 5.1; 69.4% with a college degree or higher; 51.2% female; 95.3% White) enrolled in the Advancing Understanding of Transportation Options (AUTO) study. A generalized linear model adjusted for age, education, sex, randomization group, cognitive assessment method, and study site was used to examine the relationship between MCI status and decision making. RESULTS: MCI status was associated with poorer decision making; participants with MCI missed an average of 2.17 times more points on the SPACED than those without MCI (adjusted mean ratio: 2.17, 95% CI: 1.02, 4.61, p = 0.044). CONCLUSION: This finding supports the idea that older adults with MCI exhibit poorer decision-making abilities than cognitively normal older adults. It also suggests that older adults with MCI may exhibit poorer decision making across a wide range of decision contexts.

Quantification of race/ethnicity representation in Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging research in the USA: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic minoritized groups are disproportionately at risk for Alzheimer's Disease (AD), but are not sufficiently recruited in AD neuroimaging research in the United States. This is important as sample composition impacts generalizability of findings, biomarker cutoffs, and treatment effects. No studies have quantified the breadth of race/ethnicity representation in the AD literature. METHODS: This review identified median race/ethnicity composition of AD neuroimaging US-based research samples available as free full-text articles on PubMed. Two types of published studies were analyzed: studies that directly report race/ethnicity data (i.e., direct studies), and studies that do not report race/ethnicity but used data from a cohort study/database that does report this information (i.e., indirect studies). RESULTS: Direct studies (n = 719) have median representation of 88.9% white or 87.4% Non-Hispanic white, 7.3% Black/African American, and 3.4% Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, with 0% Asian American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native, Multiracial, and Other Race participants. Cohort studies/databases (n = 44) from which indirect studies (n = 1745) derived are more diverse, with median representation of 84.2% white, 83.7% Non-Hispanic white, 11.6% Black/African American, 4.7% Hispanic/Latino, and 1.75% Asian American participants. Notably, 94% of indirect studies derive from just 10 cohort studies/databases. Comparisons of two time periods using a median split for publication year, 1994-2017 and 2018-2022, indicate that sample diversity has improved recently, particularly for Black/African American participants (3.39% from 1994-2017 and 8.29% from 2018-2022). CONCLUSIONS: There is still underrepresentation of all minoritized groups relative to Census data, especially for Hispanic/Latino and Asian American individuals. The AD neuroimaging literature will benefit from increased representative recruitment of ethnic/racial minorities. More transparent reporting of race/ethnicity data is needed.

Members of some racial and ethnic minority groups in the USA are more likely to develop Alzheimer's Disease than white people. However, they are often not included in research studies of Alzheimer's Disease. We looked at the race/ethnicity composition of people evaluated in papers published describing Alzheimer's Disease research studies based in the USA that used images of the brain. We found that all racial/ethnic minority groups were underrepresented in Alzheimer's Disease research studies, especially Hispanic/Latino and Asian American individuals. It is important that studies include representatives of all populations both for the health of those populations and improved understanding of Alzheimer's Disease in all people. Such studies should also improve efforts to understand and address racial/ethnic disparities in Alzheimer's Disease diagnosis and treatment.

Protective effects of sleep duration and physical activity on cognitive performance are influenced by ß-amyloid and brain volume but not tau burden among cognitively unimpaired older adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sleep and physical activity have gained traction as modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. Sleep duration is linked to amyloid-ß clearance while physical activity is associated with brain volume maintenance. We investigate how sleep duration and physical activity are associated with cognition by testing if the associations between sleep duration or physical activity to cognition are explained by amyloid-ß burden and brain volume, respectively. Additionally, we explore the mediating role of tau deposition in sleep duration-cognition and physical activity-cognition relationships. METHODS: This cross-sectional study obtained data from participants in the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease (A4) study, a randomized clinical trial. In trial screening, cognitively unimpaired participants (age 65-85 years) underwent amyloid PET and brain MRI; APOE genotype and lifestyle questionnaire data were obtained. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC). Self-reported nightly sleep duration and weekly physical activity were the primary predictors. Regional Aß and tau pathologies and volumes were the proposed variables influencing relationships between sleep duration or physical activity and cognition. RESULTS: Aß data were obtained from 4322 participants (1208 with MRI, 59% female, 29% amyloid positive). Sleep duration was associated with a Aß composite score (ß = -0.005, CI: (-0.01, -0.001)) and Aß burden in the anterior cingulate (ACC) (ß = -0.012, CI: (-0.017, -0.006)) and medial orbitofrontal cortices (MOC) (ß = -0.009, CI: (-0.014, -0.005)). Composite (ß = -1.54, 95% CI:(-1.93, -1.15)), ACC (ß = -1.22, CI:(-1.54, -0.90)) and MOC (ß = -1.44, CI:(-1.86, -1.02)) Aß deposition was associated with PACC. Sleep duration-PACC association was explained by Aß burden in path analyses. Physical activity was associated with hippocampal (ß = 10.57, CI: (1.06, 20.08)), parahippocampal (ß = 9.3, CI: (1.69, 16.91)), entorhinal (ß = 14.68, CI: (1.75, 27.61), and fusiform gyral (ß = 38.38, CI: (5.57, 71.18)) volumes, which were positively associated with PACC (p < 0.02 for hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and fusiform gyrus). Physical activity-cognition relationship was explained by regional volumes. PET tau imaging was available for 443 participants. No direct sleep duration-tau burden, physical activity by tau burden, or mediation by regional tau was observed in sleep duration-cognition or physical activity-cognition relationships. DISCUSSION: Sleep duration and physical activity are associated with cognition through independent paths of brain Aß and brain volume, respectively. These findings implicate neural and pathological mechanisms for the relationships between sleep duration and physical activity on cognition. Dementia risk reduction approaches that emphasize the adequate sleep duration and a physically active lifestyle may benefit those with risk for Alzheimer's disease.

The Cognitive Correlates of Financial Literacy in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the cognitive correlates of financial literacy using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, and whether education modifies the relationship between cognition and financial literacy. METHODS: Sixty-six participants completed sociodemographic questionnaires, an assessment of financial literacy, and a neuropsychological assessment. Multiple linear regression models that controlled for age, sex, and education examined the main effects of cognitive measures that showed a significant bivariate association with financial literacy. RESULTS: After correcting for multiple comparisons, the Crystallized Composite score (p = .002) and the Picture Vocabulary test (p = .002) from the NIH Toolbox, and the Multilingual Naming Test (p > .001) from the Uniform Data Set 3 were associated with financial literacy. Contrary to our hypothesis, education did not interact with cognitive measures when considering financial literacy scores. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that vocabulary knowledge and semantic memory may play an important role in financial literacy in older age. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Assessing vocabulary knowledge and semantic processes may help to identify older adults with lower financial literacy skills. Additionally, financial literacy interventions may consider targeting individuals with lower vocabulary knowledge and semantic processing skills.

Long-Term Storage Study of the Certified 1R6F Reference Cigarette.

The first certified reference cigarette, 1R6F, was produced by the Center for Tobacco Reference Products at the University of Kentucky in 2015 and certified in 2016. 1R6F reference cigarettes have been stored at -20 °C since they were manufactured. 1R6F has been widely used as a control cigarette or a monitor for nonclinical investigational purposes in tobacco product analysis and scientific research. However, there is little published data to demonstrate the stability of the 1R6F cigarette. In this paper, we report the results of a long-term storage study of the 1R6F cigarette tobacco filler and the resulting mainstream smoke. 1R6F cigarettes were stored under different conditions (room temperature, refrigerator (4 °C), and freezer (-20 °C)) for 3 years since April 2017. The constituents in the cigarette tobacco filler (oven volatiles, nicotine, N'-nitrosornicotine (NNN), and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)) and the mainstream smoke (nicotine, NNN, NNK, benzo[α]pyrene, carbon monoxide, total particulate matter) were analyzed. Some physical parameters (resistance to draw and ventilation) were also measured. Analysis of our data showed that no significant differences in these major constituents were detected after storage of the 1R6F cigarette at -20 °C for 3 years.

Variability in objective sleep is associated with Alzheimer's pathology and cognition.

Both sleep duration and sleep efficiency have been associated with risk of Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that interventions to promote optimal sleep may be a way to reduce Alzheimer's disease risk. However, studies often focus on average sleep measures, usually from self-report questionnaires, ignoring the role of intra-individual variability in sleep across nights quantified from objective sleep measures. The current cross-sectional study sought to investigate the role of intra-individual variability in accelerometer-based objective sleep duration and sleep efficiency in relation to in vivo Alzheimer's disease pathology (ß-amyloid and tau) using positron emission tomography imaging and cognition (working memory, inhibitory control, verbal memory, visual memory and global cognition). To examine these relationships, we evaluated 52 older adults (age = 66.4 ± 6.89, 67% female, 27% apolipoprotein E4 carriers) with objective early mild cognitive impairment. Modifying effects of apolipoprotein E4 status were also explored. Less intra-individual variability in sleep duration was associated with lower ß-amyloid burden, higher global cognition and better inhibitory control, with a trend for lower tau burden. Less intra-individual variability in sleep efficiency was associated with lower ß-amyloid burden, higher global cognition and better inhibitory control, but not with tau burden. Longer sleep duration was associated with better visual memory and inhibitory control. Apolipoprotein E4 status significantly modified the association between intra-individual variability in sleep efficiency and ß-amyloid burden, such that less sleep efficiency variability was associated with lower ß-amyloid burden in apolipoprotein E4 carriers only. There was a significant interaction between sleep duration and apolipoprotein E4 status, suggesting that longer sleep duration is more strongly associated with lower ß-amyloid burden in apolipoprotein E4 carriers relative to non-carriers. These results provide evidence that lower intra-individual variability in both sleep duration and sleep efficiency and longer mean sleep duration are associated with lower levels of ß-amyloid pathology and better cognition. The relationships between sleep duration and intra-individual variability in sleep efficiency with ß-amyloid burden differ by apolipoprotein E4 status, indicating that longer sleep duration and more consistent sleep efficiency may be protective against ß-amyloid burden in apolipoprotein E4 carriers. Longitudinal and causal studies are needed to better understand these relationships. Future work should investigate factors contributing to intra-individual variability in sleep duration and sleep efficiency in order to inform intervention studies.

Interpersonal dysfunction predicts subsequent financial exploitation vulnerability in a sample of adults over 50: a prospective observational study.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to test whether interpersonal dysfunction, characterized by loneliness and/or dissatisfaction with relationships, is an imminent predictor of financial exploitation vulnerability (FEV) among adults age 50+ within a 6-month observation period. This study also tests whether FEV prospectively predicts interpersonal dysfunction. METHODS: Twenty-six adults aged 50 or older completed a study involving baseline data collection and 13 follow-ups over 6 months. Linear mixed models were used for primary analyses. RESULTS: After adjustment for demographic, psychological and cognitive covariates, there were between-person effects of FEV and interpersonal dysfunction across follow-ups, suggesting that those with generally higher interpersonal dysfunction compared to other participants also reported greater FEV (B(SE) = 1.09(.33), p = .003). There was a within-person effect (B(SE) = .08(.03), p = .007) of elevated interpersonal dysfunction predicting greater FEV two weeks later across all follow-ups. Within-person effect of FEV was not predictive of interpersonal dysfunction (B(SE) = .25(.15), p = .10). There was also a significant effect of age (B(SE) = -.06(.02), p = .007), such that older individuals had lower FEV throughout follow-ups. CONCLUSION: Among adults age 50+, individuals with higher interpersonal dysfunction relative to others in the study reported greater FEV throughout the 6-month observation period. Increased loneliness and social dissatisfaction, relative to one's average level, predicts subsequent increases in FEV, and may be an imminent risk factor for exploitation.

Imaging of Congenital Malformations of the Brain.

Brain formation is a continuous and complicated process that is historically categorized by the timing of development. The earliest disorders of dorsal induction occur in the first month of gestation and include anencephaly and cephalocele. Disorders of ventral induction occur during the second month of gestation and include the holoprosencephaly and septo-optic dysplasia spectrums. The third and longest timeframe include the disorders of neuronal migration and proliferation (gestational weeks eight-25) and include malformations of cortical development: lissencephaly, polymicrogyria, schizencephaly, gray matter heterotopia, and corpus callosal dysgenesis. This review will highlight the neuroimaging of these malformations.

"There's a lot of stereotypes going on": A cross-national qualitative analysis of the place of gender in declining youth drinking.

INTRODUCTION: Significant declines in drinking among young people have been recorded in many high-income countries over the past 20 years. This analysis explored the role of gender - which we interpret as socially constructed and relational - to provide insight into whether and how gender might be implicated in declining youth drinking. METHODS: Interview data from four independent qualitative studies from Australia, Denmark, Sweden and the UK (n=194; participants aged 15-19 years) were analysed by researchers in each country following agreement about analytical focus. Findings were collated by the lead author in a process of 'qualitative synthesis' which involved successive rounds of data synthesis and feedback from the broader research team. FINDINGS: Our analysis raised two notable points in relation to the role of gender in declining youth drinking. The first concerned the consistency and vehemence across three of the countries at which drinkers and states of intoxication were pejoratively described in gendered terms (e.g., bitchy, sleazy). The second related to the opportunities non- and light-drinking offered for expressing alternate and desirable configurations of femininities and masculinities. CONCLUSIONS: We identified an intolerance towards regressive constructions of gender that emphasise weakness for women and strength for men and a valorisation of gendered expressions of maturity through controlled drinking. Though subtle differences in gendered drinking practices between and within countries were observed, our findings offer insight into how young people's enactions of gender are embedded in, and evolve alongside, these large declines in youth drinking.

Cognitive and neuroimaging correlates of financial exploitation vulnerability in older adults without dementia: Implications for early detection of Alzheimer's disease.

Neuropathology characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD) begins to accumulate years to decades before cognitive changes are clinically detectable on standard neuropsychological tests. This presents a challenge for early intervention efforts and has spurred research on the identification of behavioral correlates of early neuropathological changes. Recent evidence suggests that financial exploitation vulnerability (FEV) due to impaired decision making may serve as an early behavioral manifestation of AD neuropathology, thereby indicating an increased likelihood for subsequent cognitive decline. An understanding of the underlying mechanisms of FEV is therefore warranted for the identification of individuals at risk for cognitive decline due to AD, and for empowering and protecting older adults vulnerable to financial exploitation. In the current review, we first highlight the devastating consequences of financial exploitation of older adults. We then summarize research on the cognitive, neuroimaging, and neuropathological correlates of FEV in older adults without dementia and propose a theoretical model in which early accumulation of AD pathology manifests as FEV. We conclude with clinical implications and directions for future research.

'More options less time' in the 'hustle culture' of 'generation sensible': Individualization and drinking decline among twenty-first century young adults.

There has been a dramatic decline in alcohol consumption among younger people, including an increase of conscious moderation and abstinence. Change has a generational character, with different cohorts' drinking changing over time from the heavy, embedded pattern among post-war 'boomers' to the more selective habits initiated by 'millennials'. This is a surprising development in historical terms and has been cast as indicating the emergence of a moderating 'generation sensible'. It is also coincident with more negative trends, such as young adults worsening mental health. Informed by the perspective of individualization, we consider the decline in youth drinking in the context of generational changes in the lifecourse. We focus upon how recent generations of young people experience greater choice, pressure and a prolonged adolescence, characterized by more limited autonomy. Explored with conscious young moderators through a survey (N = 517) and focus groups (N = 13), these themes resonated with our sample who appear a self-conscious generation with significant and open-ended focus upon maintaining their wellbeing and control. Further, they appear more disembedded from pressure to conform but under greater pressure to perform. The same forces of individualization encouraging moderate drinking may also weigh down upon young people who feel under pressure not only to transform their own lives but feel a burden of responsibility for a damaged, unjust world. The article's originality lies in applying individualization to both generational change and consumption, suggesting this can be usefully done through a focus upon freedom/choice and pressure/performance. It also considers what is regarded as the positive trend of drinking decline alongside, and as related to, negative trends such as greater loneliness and less autonomy among young adults.

Increased Financial Altruism is Associated with Alzheimer's Disease Neurocognitive Profile in Older Adults.

BACKGROUND: Older age is associated with an increase in altruistic behaviors such as charitable giving. However, few studies have investigated the cognitive correlates of financial altruism in older adults. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the cognitive correlates of financial altruism measured using an altruistic choice paradigm in a community-based sample of older adults. METHODS: In the present study, a sample of older adults (N = 67; M age = 69.21, SD = 11.23; M education years = 15.97, SD = 2.51; 58.2% female; 71.6% Non-Hispanic White) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment and an altruistic choice paradigm in which they made decisions about allocating money between themselves and an anonymous person. RESULTS: In multiple linear regression analyses that controlled for age, education, and sex, financial altruism was negatively associated with performance on cognitive measures typically sensitive to early Alzheimer's disease (including word list learning and recall, delayed story recall, and animal fluency). CONCLUSION: Findings of this study point to a negative relationship between financial altruism and cognitive functioning in older adults on measures known to be sensitive to Alzheimer's disease. Findings also point to a potential link between financial exploitation risk and Alzheimer's disease in older age.

Are changes in attitudes towards school associated with declining youth drinking? A multi-level analysis of 37 countries.

BACKGROUND: Changes in adolescents' attitudes towards school are a potential explanation for recent declines in young people's alcohol consumption. However, this has not been tested using multi-national survey data, which would permit stronger causal inferences by ruling out other country-specific explanations. This study, therefore, uses an international survey of schoolchildren to examine the associations between changing attitudes towards school and adolescent alcohol consumption. METHODS: We used data from 247 325 15-year-olds across 37 countries participating in four waves of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (2001/02-2013/14). Attitudes towards school were assessed using two measures-self-reported pressure from schoolwork and whether respondents like school. Outcome measures were weekly alcohol consumption and having been drunk twice in one's lifetime. We used whole population and gender-specific hierarchical linear probability models to assess the relationship between attitudes and alcohol outcomes within countries over time. RESULTS: Country-level changes over time in liking school were not associated with changes in alcohol consumption. However, a 10% increase in feeling pressured by schoolwork was associated with a 1.8% decline in drunkenness [95% confidence interval (CI): -3.2% to -0.3%] and weakly associated with a 1.7% decline in weekly drinking (95% CI: -3.6% to 0.2%). Among girls only, increases in feeling pressured by schoolwork were associated with a 2.1% decline in weekly drinking (95% CI: -3.7% to -0.6%) and a 2.4% decline in drunkenness (95% CI: -3.8% to -1.1%). CONCLUSION: Changes in attitudes towards school may have played a minor role in the decline in alcohol consumption among adolescent girls only.

A Genetically Informed Longitudinal Study of Loneliness and Dementia Risk in Older Adults.

Although several studies have shown small longitudinal associations between baseline loneliness and subsequent dementia risk, studies rarely test whether change in loneliness predicts dementia risk. Furthermore, as both increase with advancing age, genetic and environmental selection processes may confound the putative causal association between loneliness and dementia risk. We used a sample of 2,476 individual twins from three longitudinal twin studies of aging in the Swedish Twin Registry to test the hypothesis that greater positive change in loneliness predicts greater dementia risk. We then used a sample of 1,632 pairs of twins to evaluate the hypothesis that effects of change in loneliness on dementia risk would remain after adjusting for effects of genetic and environmental variance. Phenotypic model results suggest that mild levels of baseline loneliness predict greater dementia risk. Contrary to our hypothesis, change in loneliness did not correlate with dementia risk, regardless of whether genetic and environmental selection confounds were taken into account. Worsening loneliness with age may not confer greater dementia risk.

Tau and ß-Amyloid Burden Predict Actigraphy-Measured and Self-Reported Impairment and Misperception of Human Sleep.

Alzheimer's disease is associated with poor sleep, but the impact of tau and ß-amyloid (Aß) pathology on sleep remains largely unknown. Here, we test the hypothesis that tau and Aß predict unique impairments in objective and self-perceived human sleep under real-life, free-living conditions. Eighty-nine male and female cognitively healthy older adults received 18F-FTP-tau and 11C-PIB-Aß PET imaging, 7 nights of sleep actigraphy and questionnaire measures, and neurocognitive assessment. Tau burden, but not Aß, was associated with markedly worse objective sleep. In contrast, Aß and tau were associated with worse self-reported sleep quality. Of clinical relevance, Aß burden predicted a unique perceptual mismatch between objective and subject sleep evaluation, with individuals underestimating their sleep. The magnitude of this mismatch was further predicted by worse executive function. Thus, early-stage tau and Aß deposition are linked with distinct phenotypes of real-world sleep impairment, one that includes a cognitive misperception of their own sleep health.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Alzheimer's disease is associated with sleep disruption, often before significant memory decline. Thus, real-life patterns of sleep behavior have the potential to serve as a window into early disease progression. In 89 cognitive healthy older adults, we found that tau burden was associated with worse wristwatch actigraphy-measured sleep quality, and that both tau and ß-amyloid were independently predictive of self-reported sleep quality. Furthermore, individuals with greater ß-amyloid deposition were more likely to underestimate their sleep quality, and sleep quality underestimation was associated with worse executive function. These data support the role of sleep impairment as a key marker of early Alzheimer's disease, and offer the possibility that actigraphy may be an affordable and scalable tool in quantifying Alzheimer's disease-related behavioral changes.