Adult Age Differences in Self-Reported Pain and Anterior CSF Space in Chiari Malformation.

Chiari malformation type I (CMI) is a neural disorder with sensory, cognitive, and motor defects, as well as headaches. Radiologically, the cerebellar tonsils extend below the foramen magnum. To date, the relationships among adult age, brain morphometry, surgical status, and symptom severity in CMI are unknown. The objective of this study was to better understand the relationships among these variables using causal modeling techniques. Adult CMI patients (80% female) who either had (n = 150) or had not (n = 151) undergone posterior fossa decompression surgery were assessed using morphometric measures derived from magnetic resonance images (MRI). MRI-based morphometry showed that the area of the CSF pocket anterior to the cervico-medullary junction (anterior CSF space) correlated with age at the time of MRI (r = - .21). Also, self-reported pain increased with age (r = .11) and decreased with anterior CSF space (r = - .18). Age differences in self-reported pain were mediated by anterior CSF space in the cervical spine area-and this effect was particularly salient for non-decompressed CMI patients. As CMI patients age, the anterior CSF space decreases, and this is associated with increased pain-especially for non-decompressed CMI patients. It is recommended that further consideration of age-related decreases in anterior CSF space in CMI patients be given in future research.

An Electrophysiological Study of Aging and Perceptual Letter-Matching.

Background: Previous studies on perceptual letter-matching have found that younger and older adults showed "fast-same" effects for response time and "false-different" effects for errors but the effects were more pronounced for older adults. According to the Noisy Operator Theory, internal noise in visual processing distorts "same" trials into appearing different whereas distortion for "different" trials does not affect performance. Older adults have a "noisier" representation of items within perceptual processing which can impact perceptual matching. However, EEG measures may provide a more direct measure of letter-matching decisions. Methods: We measured the P300 event-related potential (ERP) amplitude, an index of familiarity in stimulus categorization, and behavioral measures (response time and accuracy) to assess letter-matching performance. Results: Individuals responded faster to "same" trials than to "different" trials but were less accurate. Older adults showed similar P300 amplitudes across trial type whereas younger adults produced a larger amplitude for "same" than "different" trials, suggesting that older adults showed less familiarity for "same" trials than did younger adults - a prediction of the Noisy Operator Theory. Conclusions: These ERP results are consistent with the Noisy Operator Theory - suggesting that an age-related increase in internal noise affected letter-matching performance.

Functional connectivity abnormalities in Type I Chiari: associations with cognition and pain.

There is initial evidence of microstructural abnormalities in the fibre-tract pathways of the cerebellum and cerebrum of individuals diagnosed with Type I Chiari malformation. However, it is unclear whether abnormal white matter architecture and macro-level morphological deviations that have been observed in Chiari translate to differences in functional connectivity. Furthermore, common symptoms of Chiari include pain and cognitive deficits, but the relationship between these symptoms and functional connectivity has not been explored in this population. Eighteen Type I Chiari patients and 18 age-, sex- and education-matched controls underwent resting-state functional MRI to measure functional connectivity. Participants also completed a neuropsychological battery and completed self-report measures of chronic pain. Group differences in functional connectivity were identified. Subsequently, pathways of significant difference were re-analyzed after controlling for the effects of attention performance and self-reported chronic pain. Chiari patients exhibited functional hypoconnectivity between areas of the cerebellum and cerebrum. Controlling for attention eliminated all deficits with the exception of that from the posterior cerebellar pathway. Similarly, controlling for pain also eliminated deficits except for those from the posterior cerebellar pathway and vermis VII. Patterns of Chiari hyperconnectivity were also found between regions of the cerebellum and cerebrum in Chiari patients. Hyperconnectivity in all regions was eliminated after controlling for attention except between left lobule VIII and the left postcentral gyrus and between vermis IX and the precuneus. Similarly, hyperconnectivity was eliminated after controlling for pain except between the default mode network and globus pallidus, left lobule VIII and the left postcentral gyrus, and Vermis IX and the precuneus. Evidence of both hyper- and hypoconnectivity were identified in Chiari, which is posited to support the hypothesis that the effect of increased pain in Chiari draws on neural resources, requiring an upregulation in inhibitory control mechanisms and resulting in cognitive dysfunction. Areas of hypoconnectivity in Chiari patients also suggest disruption in functional pathways, and potential mechanisms are discussed.

Ageism and Behavior Change During a Health Pandemic: A Preregistered Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a suspected surge of ageism in America and has imposed critical health and safety behavior modifications for people of all ages (Ayalon et al., 2020; Lichtenstein, 2020). Given that older adults are a high-risk group, maintaining their safety has been paramount in implementing preventive measures (i.e., more handwashing, social distancing); however, making such behavior modifications might be contingent on how one views older adults (i.e., ageist stereotypes). Therefore, the goal of the current pre-registered study was to explore if hostile and benevolent ageism relate to pandemic-related fear and behavior change. An online survey assessing responses to the pandemic was taken by 164 younger and 171 older adults. Higher hostile ageism predicted lower pandemic-related behavior modification. Those high in benevolent ageism reported lower behavior change, but also reported higher pandemic-related fear; however, when pandemic-related fear was considered a mediator between the two, the directionality between benevolent ageism and behavior change switched, indicating a suppression effect. These findings highlight that ageist attitudes do predict responses to the pandemic and that hostile and benevolent ageism are distinct facets that have unique implications during a health pandemic.

Age Differences in Preferences for Fear-Enhancing Vs. Fear-Reducing News in a Disease Outbreak.

Older adults (OA) prefer positive over negative information in a lab setting, compared to young adults (YA; i.e., positivity effects). The extent to which OA avoid negative events or information relevant for their health and safety is not clear. We first investigated age differences in preferences for fear-enhancing vs. fear-reducing news articles during the Ebola Outbreak of 2014. We were able to collect data from 15 YA and 13 OA during this acute health event. Compared to YA, OA were more likely to read the fear-enhancing article, select hand-sanitizer over lip balm, and reported greater fear of Ebola. We further investigated our research question during the COVID-19 pandemic with 164 YA (18-30 years) and 171 OA (60-80 years). Participants responded to an online survey about the COVID-19 pandemic across 13 days during the initial peak of the pandemic in the United States (U.S.). Both YA and OA preferred to read positive over negative news about the coronavirus, but OA were even more likely than YA to prefer the positive news article. No age differences in the fear of contraction were found, but OA engaged in more health-protective behaviors compared to YA. Although OA may not always report greater fear than YA or seek out negative information related to a health concern, they still engage in protective health behaviors. Thus, although positivity effects were observed in attention and emotional reports (in the COVID-19 study), OA still modified their behaviors more than YA (giveaway in both studies, and health-protective behavior change in the COVID-19 study), suggesting that positivity effects did not hamper OA ability to respond to a health crisis.