Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors.

Background: Research on cognitive reserve (CR) in individuals aged 80 years old and above has resulted in inconsistent findings, mostly showing a relationship with baseline cognitive abilities but not follow up assessments. The effects of amyloid burden on the relationship between CR, cognitive decline and dementia in oldest old warrants further study in the presence of APOE e4. We hypothesised that CR in oldest old (≥80 yrs old) adults will result in different trajectories, depending on being amyloid PET positive or negative.

Sleep discrepancy and brain glucose metabolism in community-dwelling older adults.

Sleep discrepancy (negative discrepancy reflects worse self-reported sleep than objective measures, such as actigraphy, and positive discrepancy the opposite) has been linked to adverse health outcomes. This study is first to investigate the relationship between sleep discrepancy and brain glucose metabolism (assessed globally and regionally via positron emission tomography), and to evaluate the contribution of insomnia severity and depressive symptoms to any associations. Using data from cognitively unimpaired community-dwelling older adults ( = 68), cluster analysis was used to characterise sleep discrepancy (for total sleep time (TST), wake after sleep onset (WASO), and sleep efficiency (SE)), and logistic regression was used to explore sleep discrepancy's associations with brain glucose metabolism, while controlling for insomnia severity and depressive symptoms.

Pediatric cognitive reserve moderates the effect of brain structure in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Evidence for an optimized residual approach.

Objective: To validate a residual-based cognitive reserve (CR) index optimized for a pediatric sample with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Method: Participants were = 115 children aged 9.5-13 years at baseline ( = 10.

Improving emotion regulation ability after brain injury: A systematic review of targeted interventions.

Emotion dysregulation is a common sequela after a brain injury, and it can have serious negative consequences for individuals, families, and the community. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify and evaluate interventions designed to improve emotion regulation ability in adults with acquired brain injury. Studies were identified on ProQuest, PsycInfo, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science; last searched on 3 August 2023.

Sleep discrepancy and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults.

This was the first study to use cluster analysis to characterise sleep discrepancy (the discordance between self-reported and objective sleep) across multiple sleep parameters, in community-dwelling older adults. For sleep efficiency, negative discrepancy (the tendency to self-report worse sleep than objectively-measured) was associated with poorer memory, independent of insomnia severity, depressive symptoms and objective sleep. This suggests a unique role for sleep discrepancy as a possible risk factor for future cognitive decline, and warrants the need for further research.

The McCusker Subjective Cognitive Impairment Inventory (McSCI): a novel measure of perceived cognitive decline.

Background: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), i.e. self/other-reported concerns on one's cognitive functioning without objective evidence of significant decline, is an indicator of dementia risk.

Suboptimal self-reported sleep efficiency and duration are associated with faster accumulation of brain amyloid beta in cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Introduction: This study investigated whether self-reported sleep quality is associated with brain amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulation.

Methods: Linear mixed effect model analyses were conducted for 189 cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults (mean ± standard deviation 74.0 ± 6.

Assessing Emotion Regulation across Asian and Western Cultures: Psychometric Properties of Three Common Scales across Singaporean and Australian Samples.

Given the differences in emotion regulation across cultures, it is paramount to ensure that measures of emotion regulation measure the same construct and that conceptualizations of emotion regulation are valid across cultures. Therefore, the present study assessed the measurement invariance (alongside other psychometric properties) of three popular emotion regulation questionnaires, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory (PERCI), across 434 Singaporeans and 489 Australians. Our study showed that all three questionnaires were measurement invariant, had excellent internal consistency, and relatively good concurrent validity with psychopathology and alexithymia across our Singaporean and Australian sample, justifying their use in comparing Asian and Western cultures.

Alexithymia as a risk factor for poor emotional outcomes in adults with acquired brain injury.

Emotional disorders are pervasive in the acquired brain injury (ABI) population, adversely affecting quality of life and rehabilitation. This study aimed to explore the unique associative effects of alexithymia as measured by the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ; i.e.

Modeling the development of cognitive reserve in children: A residual index approach.

Objective: To model cognitive reserve (CR) longitudinally in a neurodiverse pediatric sample using a residual index approach, and to test the criterion and construct validity of this index.

Method: Participants were = 115 children aged 9.5-13 years at baseline ( = 10.

Loneliness and objective social isolation are differentially associated with anomalous perceptions in community-dwelling older adults.

Introduction: Anomalous perceptions are characterised by the subjective experience of a range of distorted and/or hallucinatory percepts. Whilst considerable attention has been paid to the neurocognitive processes contributing to anomalous perceptions amongst older adults, less is known about the social factors (e.g.

Tau and amyloid biomarkers modify the degree to which cognitive reserve and brain reserve predict cognitive decline.

Objective: Brain reserve, cognitive reserve, and education are thought to protect against late-life cognitive decline, but these variables have not been directly compared to one another in the same model, using future cognitive and functional decline as outcomes. We sought to determine whether the influence of these protective factors on executive function (EF) and daily function decline was dependent upon Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology severity, as measured by the total tau to beta-amyloid (T-τ/Aβ) ratio in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Method: Participants were 1201 older adult volunteers in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study.

Residual reserve index modifies the effect of amyloid pathology on fluorodeoxyglucose metabolism: Implications for efficiency and capacity in cognitive reserve.

Background: The residual approach to measuring cognitive reserve (using the residual reserve index) aims to capture cognitive resilience conferred by cognitive reserve, but may be confounded by factors representing brain resilience. We sought to distinguish between brain and cognitive resilience by comparing interactions between the residual reserve index and amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration ["AT(N)"] biomarkers when predicting executive function. We hypothesized that the residual reserve index would moderate at least one path from an AT(N) biomarker to executive function (consistent with cognitive resilience), as opposed to moderating a path between two AT(N) biomarkers (suggestive of brain resilience).

Factor Structure of the Memory for Intentions Test (MIsT): A Conceptual Replication in Older Adults and People with HIV Disease.

Objective: The Memory for Intentions Test (MIsT) is a clinical measure of prospective memory that has strong evidence for convergent, discriminative, and ecological validity. This study uses a conceptual replication design to evaluate the latent structure of the MIsT in two parallel samples who commonly experience prospective memory deficits: older adults and people living with HIV disease.

Participants And Methods: Study participants included 303 people with HIV disease (ages 18-67) and 267 community-dwelling older adults (ages 50-91).

Assessing Alexithymia across Asian and Western Cultures: Psychometric Properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 in Singaporean and Australian Samples.

Alexithymia refers to difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), describing feelings (DDF), and externally orientated thinking (EOT). Originally conceptualized by American psychiatrists, some researchers have since questioned the validity and application of this construct in Asian cultures. However, to date, there is little empirical work formally assessing the invariance of alexithymia across Asian and Western cultures.

The Western Australia Olfactory Memory Test: Reliability and Validity in a Sample of Older Adults.

Objective: The Western Australia Olfactory Memory Test (WAOMT) is a newly developed test designed to meet a need for a comprehensive measure of olfactory episodic memory (OEM) for clinical and research applications.

Method: This study aimed to establish the psychometric properties of the WAOMT in a sample of 209 community-dwelling older adults. An independent sample of 27 test-naïve participants were recruited to assess test retest reliability (between 7 and 28 days).

Assessing alexithymia in adults with acquired brain injury: Psychometric properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire.

Background: Alexithymia is a multidimensional personality trait comprised of difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. The assessment of alexithymia in people with acquired brain injury (ABI) is of clinical interest because alexithymia is linked to poor psychosocial functioning and community reintegration after ABI. To date, alexithymia measures have not been psychometrically investigated/validated in an ABI sample, restricting confident empirical work in this area.

The Effect of Self-Paced Exercise Intensity and Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Frontal Grey Matter Volume in Cognitively Normal Older Adults: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Objective: Exercise has been found to be important in maintaining neurocognitive health. However, the effect of exercise intensity level remains relatively underexplored. Thus, to test the hypothesis that self-paced high-intensity exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness (peak aerobic capacity; VO) increase grey matter (GM) volume, we examined the effect of a 6-month exercise intervention on frontal lobe GM regions that support the executive functions in older adults.

Sensitivity to misinformation retractions in the continued influence paradigm: Evidence for stability.

Research has consistently shown that misinformation can continue to affect inferential reasoning after a correction. This phenomenon is known as the (CIE). Recent studies have demonstrated that CIE susceptibility can be predicted by individual differences in stable cognitive abilities.

Intake of Products Containing Anthocyanins, Flavanols, and Flavanones, and Cognitive Function: A Narrative Review.

The purpose of this review is to examine human research studies published within the past 6 years which evaluate the role of anthocyanin, flavanol, and flavanone consumption in cognitive function, and to discuss potential mechanisms of action underlying any observed benefits. Evidence to date suggests the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods, such as berries and cocoa, may have the potential to limit, or even reverse, age-related declines in cognition. Over the last 6 years, the flavonoid subgroups of anthocyanins, flavanols, and flavanones have been shown to be beneficial in terms of conferring neuroprotection.

Longitudinal association of intraindividual variability with cognitive decline and dementia: A meta-analysis.

Objective: Intraindividual variability (IIV)-variance in an individual's cognitive performance-may be associated with subsequent cognitive decline and/or conversion to dementia in older adults. This novel measure of cognition encompasses two main operationalizations: inconsistency (IIV-I) and dispersion (IIV-D), referring to variance within or across tasks, respectively. Each operationalization can also be measured with or without covariates.

Fifteen Years of the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study: Progress and Observations from 2,359 Older Adults Spanning the Spectrum from Cognitive Normality to Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: The Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study commenced in 2006 as a prospective study of 1,112 individuals (768 cognitively normal (CN), 133 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 211 with Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD)) as an 'Inception cohort' who underwent detailed ssessments every 18 months. Over the past decade, an additional 1247 subjects have been added as an 'Enrichment cohort' (as of 10 April 2019).

Objective: Here we provide an overview of these Inception and Enrichment cohorts of more than 8,500 person-years of investigation.