Life-Space Mobility Is Related to Loneliness Among Living-Alone Older Adults: Longitudinal Analysis With Motion Sensor Data.

Background: Life-space mobility can be a behavioral indicator of loneliness. This study examined the association between life-space mobility measured with motion sensors and weekly vs. annually reported loneliness.

I-CONECT intervention effects on weekly time spent outside of home and social contacts among socially isolated older adults.

Background: Socially isolated individuals tend to have less access to cognitively stimulating activities, which could adversely impact their cognitive health. The Internet-Based Conversational Engagement Clinical Trial (I-CONECT) intervention was designed to deliver online conversation sessions to socially isolated older old adults to prevent cognitive decline. The current study examined the intervention efficacy on participants' weekly time spent out-of-home and their social interaction with family and friends.

ω-3 PUFA for Secondary Prevention of White Matter Lesions and Neuronal Integrity Breakdown in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Older adults with lower intake and tissue levels of long-chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6) have more brain white matter lesions (WMLs), an association suggesting that small-vessel ischemic disease, a major contributor to the development of dementia, including Alzheimer disease, may be preventable through ω-3 treatment.

Objective: To determine whether ω-3 treatment reduces WML accumulation in older adults without dementia harboring WMLs and with suboptimal ω-3 status.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This quadruple-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial with treatment stratification by apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE*E4) carrier status used linear mixed-effects models to estimate mean annual change between groups.

White matter hyperintensities and the surrounding normal appearing white matter are associated with water channel disruption in the oldest old.

Introduction: Age-related magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2 white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are common and associated with neurological decline. We investigated the histopathological underpinnings of MRI WMH and surrounding normal appearing white matter (NAWM), with a focus on astroglial phenotypes.

Methods: Brain samples from 51 oldest old Oregon Alzheimer's Disease Research Center participants who came to autopsy underwent post mortem (PM) 7 tesla MRI with targeted histopathological sampling of WMHs and NAWM.

Enlarged perivascular spaces are associated with white matter injury, cognition and inflammation in cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy.

Enlarged perivascular spaces have been previously reported in cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, but their significance and pathophysiology remains unclear. We investigated associations of white matter enlarged perivascular spaces with classical imaging measures, cognitive measures and plasma proteins to better understand what enlarged perivascular spaces represent in cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy and whether radiographic measures of enlarged perivascular spaces would be of value in future therapeutic discovery studies for cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy. Twenty-four individuals with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy and 24 age- and sex-matched controls were included.

Internet-Based Conversational Engagement Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial (I-CONECT) Among Socially Isolated Adults 75+ Years Old With Normal Cognition or Mild Cognitive Impairment: Topline Results.

Background And Objectives: Social isolation is a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia. We conducted a randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) of enhanced social interactions, hypothesizing that conversational interactions can stimulate brain functions among socially isolated older adults without dementia. We report topline results of this multisite RCT (Internet-based conversational engagement clinical trial [I-CONECT]; NCT02871921).

Differences in Life Space Activity Patterns Between Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment Living Alone or as a Couple: Cohort Study Using Passive Activity Sensing.

Background: Measuring function with passive in-home sensors has the advantages of real-world, objective, continuous, and unobtrusive measurement. However, previous studies have focused on 1-person homes only, which limits their generalizability.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the life space activity patterns of participants living alone with those of participants living as a couple and to compare people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with cognitively normal participants in both 1- and 2-person homes.

Instability in longitudinal sleep duration predicts cognitive impairment in aged participants of the Seattle Longitudinal Study.

Importance: Sleep disturbances and clinical sleep disorders are associated with all-cause dementia and neurodegenerative conditions. It remains unclear how longitudinal changes in sleep impact the incidence of cognitive impairment.

Objective: To evaluate how longitudinal sleep patterns contribute to age-related changes in cognitive function in healthy adults.

Associations of Enlarged Perivascular Spaces With Brain Lesions, Brain Age, and Clinical Outcomes in Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury.

Background And Objectives: Enlarged perivascular spaces (ePVS) have been identified as a key signature of glymphatic system dysfunction in neurologic conditions. The incidence and clinical implications of ePVS after traumatic brain injury (TBI) are not yet understood. We investigated whether individuals with chronic moderate-to-severe TBI had an increased burden of ePVS and whether ePVS burden is modulated by the presence of focal lesions, older brain age, and poorer sleep quality.

Remote Spectral Light Sensing in the Home Environment: Further Development of the TWLITE Study Concept.

Aging is a significant contributor to changes in sleep patterns, which has compounding consequences on cognitive health. A modifiable factor contributing to poor sleep is inadequate and/or mistimed light exposure. However, methods to reliably and continuously collect light levels long-term in the home, a necessity for informing clinical guidance, are not well established.

Aging Veterans and a Silver Lining of Service.

The objective of this study was to explore aging veteran's military experiences, including serving in conflicts or wars and their military-related health issues, with a focus on the impacts of their experiences on the aging process. A cohort of 48 Pacific Northwest, primarily rural, Vietnam-era veterans responded to a survey questionnaire emailed in 2021. The main survey question addressed in this article is, "Do you believe that your military experience has made aging more difficult?" Fifty percent of this cohort served in a conflict or war, mostly in Vietnam, and 68% reported having military-related health issues.

Emotional characteristics of socially isolated older adults with MCI using tablet administered NIH toolbox: I-CONECT study.

Introduction: Examining the emotional functioning of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) could help describe their cognitive status and inform the development of interventions. This study compared the emotional characteristics of socially isolated older adults with and without MCI.

Methods: We used baseline data from the Internet-based Conversational Engagement Clinical Trial.

Postmortem 7T MRI for guided histopathology and evaluation of cerebrovascular disease.

Postmortem (PM) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can serve as a bridge between in vivo imaging and histology by connecting MRI observed macrostructural findings to histological staining and microstructural changes. Data were acquired from 20 formalin-fixed brains including T2, T1, PD, and T2*-weighted images of left hemispheres and 6-mm-thick coronal slices. Tissue slices were bisected, aligned to MR images and used to guide histological sampling.

Perivascular spaces as a marker of disease severity and neurodegeneration in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Background: Behavioural Variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) is a rapidly progressing neurodegenerative proteinopathy. Perivascular spaces (PVS) form a part of the brain's glymphatic clearance system. When enlarged due to poor glymphatic clearance of toxic proteins, PVS become larger and more conspicuous on MRI.

Mood and activity changes during the COVID-19 pandemic in rural and urban Veterans and their cohabitants.

Objectives: We aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic-related stay-at-home orders on weekly reports of mood and activity before and during COVID-19 in a sample of older Veterans and their cohabitants.

Methods: Urban and rural Veterans and their cohabitants living in the Pacific Northwest ≥62 years old were enrolled as part of the Collaborative Aging Research Using Technology initiative (n = 100, age = 71.2 ± 6.

A Review of Oxylipins in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD): Potential Therapeutic Targets for the Modulation of Vascular Tone and Inflammation.

There is now a convincing body of evidence from observational studies that the majority of modifiable Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) risk factors are vascular in nature. In addition, the co-existence of cerebrovascular disease with AD is more common than AD alone, and conditions resulting in brain ischemia likely promote detrimental effects of AD pathology. Oxylipins are a class of bioactive lipid mediators derived from the oxidation of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) which act as modulators of both vascular tone and inflammation.

Venous Collagenosis as Pathogenesis of White Matter Hyperintensity.

Objective: Periventricular white matter hyperintensities (pvWMHs) are commonly observed on MRI in older individuals and are associated with cognitive and motor decline. The etiology of pvWMH remains unknown. Venous collagenosis has been implicated, which may also interfere with perivascular fluid flow leading to dilation of perivascular spaces (PVS).

Longitudinal MRI-visible perivascular space (PVS) changes with long-duration spaceflight.

Humans are exposed to extreme environmental stressors during spaceflight and return with alterations in brain structure and shifts in intracranial fluids. To date, no studies have evaluated the effects of spaceflight on perivascular spaces (PVSs) within the brain, which are believed to facilitate fluid drainage and brain homeostasis. Here, we examined how the number and morphology of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-visible PVSs are affected by spaceflight, including prior spaceflight experience.

Can changes in social contact (frequency and mode) mitigate low mood before and during the COVID-19 pandemic? The I-CONECT project.

Background/objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global outbreak allowed a natural experiment to observe how older adults changed social patterns and how it affected their emotional well-being. We studied the frequency and modes of social contact and their effects on older adults' mood before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Phone-based surveys were administered weekly before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.