Does institutionalization influence perceived metamemory, psychological well-being, and working-memory efficiency in Italian elders? A preliminary study

Background/Purpose: This study was mainly aimed at investigating the impact of institutionalization on working-memory and self-referent metamemory abilities in a sample of cognitively healthy Italian elders. Methods: Fifteen participants (70-91 years old) were recruited from several nursing homes located in Ogliastra, the central eastern area of Sardinia, which is characterized by a higher longevity of its inhabitants. A further sample of 15 community-dwelling elders was recruited in the same areas. The participants were asked to complete several visuospatial and verbal working-memory tasks, and a battery of questionnaires assessing their psychological well-being, general beliefs about global and prospective-memory efficiency, and personal metamnestic abilities. Results: The results showed that, compared with the community-dwelling participants, the institutionalized elders self-rated lower metamemory efficiency, but they trust more general metamemory functions of a stereotypical adult. Furthermore, no differences were found on the well-being measures between the two groups. These outcomes are not biased by social desirability. Conclusion: These findings suggest that institutionalization selectively impacts self-assessed metamemory functions, but not psychological well-being

Role of the mesoamygdaloid dopamine projection in emotional learning

Amygdala dopamine is crucially involved in the acquisition of Pavlovian associations, as measured via conditioned approach to the location of the unconditioned stimulus (US). However, learning begins before skeletomotor output, so this study assessed whether amygdala dopamine is also involved in earlier 'emotional' learning. A variant of the conditioned reinforcement (CR) procedure was validated where training was restricted to curtail the development of selective conditioned approach to the US location, and effects of amygdala dopamine manipulations before training or later CR testing assessed. Experiment 1a presented a light paired (CS+ group) or unpaired (CS- group) with a US. There were 1, 2 or 10 sessions, 4 trials per session. Then, the US was removed, and two novel levers presented. One lever (CR+) presented the light, and lever pressing was recorded. Experiment 1b also included a tone stimulus. Experiment 2 applied intra-amygdala R(+) 7-OH-DPAT (10 nmol/1.0 A mu l/side) before two training sessions (Experiment 2a) or a CR session (Experiment 2b). For Experiments 1a and 1b, the CS+ group preferred the CR+ lever across all sessions. Conditioned alcove approach during 1 or 2 training sessions or associated CR tests was low and nonspecific. In Experiment 2a, R(+) 7-OH-DPAT before training greatly diminished lever pressing during a subsequent CR test, preferentially on the CR+ lever. For Experiment 2b, R(+) 7-OH-DPAT infusions before the CR test also reduced lever pressing. Manipulations of amygdala dopamine impact the earliest stage of learning in which emotional reactions may be most prevalent

Reliance on habits at the expense of goal-directed control following dopamine precursor depletion

Rationale Dopamine is well known to play an important role in learning and motivation. Recent animal studies have implicated dopamine in the reinforcement of stimulus-response habits, as well as in flexible, goal-directed action. However, the role of dopamine in human action control is still not well understood. Objectives We present the first investigation of the effect of reducing dopamine function in healthy volunteers on the balance between habitual and goal-directed action control. Methods The dietary intervention of acute dietary phenylalanine and tyrosine depletion (APTD) was adopted to study the effects of reduced global dopamine function on action control. Participants were randomly assigned to either the APTD or placebo group (ns = 14) to allow for a between-subjects comparison of performance on a novel three-stage experimental paradigm. In the initial learning phase, participants learned to respond to different stimuli in order to gain rewarding outcomes. Subsequently, an outcome-devaluation test and a slips-of-action test were conducted to assess whether participants were able to flexibly adjust their behaviour to changes in the desirability of the outcomes. Results APTD did not prevent stimulus-response learning, nor did we find evidence for impaired response-outcome learning in the subsequent outcome-devaluation test. However, when goal-directed and habitual systems competed for control in the slips-of-action test, APTD tipped the balance towards habitual control. These findings were restricted to female volunteers. Conclusions We provide direct evidence that the balance between goal-directed and habitual control in humans is dopamine dependent. The results are discussed in light of gender differences in dopamine function and psychopathologies

Does education influence visuo-spatial and verbal immediate serial recall in healthy older adults?

There are conflicting findings concerning the effect of education on different cognitive measures in late adulthood. The primary aim of the current study was to determine if level of education predicted the efficiency of passive and active visuo-spatial and verbal immediate serial order functions in Italian cognitively healthy elders aged 60–99 years. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to immediately retrieve sequences of positions in forward and backward order using the Corsi Block Tapping Task. In Experiment 2 a further sample of Italian elders was presented the Digit Span test, that is, the forward and backward immediate recall of strings of digits was requested. Our results suggest that level of education impacts significantly the efficiency of visuo-spatial and verbal immediate recall processes in late adulthood. Moreover, the assessment of passive and active working memory processes in older people can be partially biased by schooling effects

Effects of nitrendipine, chlordiazepoxide, flumazenil and baclofen on the increased anxiety resulting from alcohol withdrawal

Male hooded Lister rats were fed a liquid diet containing 10% absolute ethanol for 4-5 weeks. Control rats received the liquid diet in amounts controlled to produce equal weight gain. The rats were tested 7.5 h after withdrawal of ethanol and 30 min after i.p. injection with nitrendipine, chfordiazepoxide or baclofen or 20 min after i.p. injection with flumazenil. Nitrendipine (25-100 mg/kg) was unable to reverse the anxiogenic responses detected on withdrawal from ethanol_, but the highest dose did reduce withdrawal tremor. Chiordtazepoxide (IO mg/kg), flumazenil (4 mg/kg) and bacIofen (I .2$ mgfkg) significantly reversed the anxiogenic response detected on withdrawal from ethanol. These reversals of ethanol withdrawal responses are similar to the reversal of the increased anxiety detected on withdrawal from chronic treatment with benzodiazepines. The mechanisms and clinical implications of these drug-induced reversals are discussed

L'invecchiamento di successo dei sardi continua dopo i cent'anni?

L’implementazione di interventi mirati a garantire elevati livelli di qualità di vita è una delle sfide a cui i servizi per le politiche sociali devono far fronte per promuovere l’invecchiamento di successo. Il presente studio è stato condotto per indagare il contributo dei fattori psicosociali ed evolutivi all’invecchiamento di successo nelle ultime fasi del ciclo di vita. All’indagine ha preso parte un campione di anziani di età compresa tra gli 80 e i 103 anni, che non mostrava segni di declino cognitivo e che risiedeva in Sardegna, nella medesima area, da almeno tre generazioni. A ciascun partecipante è stata presentata una batterie di prove atte ad indagare la percezione della salute fisica, lo stile di vita, l’efficienza cognitiva e metacognitiva e alcuni indici di salute mentale (benessere psicologico, depressione). I risultati mostrano che la percezione della salute mentale correla con il benessere fisico percepito. E’ stato inoltre evidenziato che i fattori legati all’età non influenzano gli indici di salute mentale né la percezione della salute fisica. Tuttavia, tali misure risentono maggiormente dell’effetto del genere sessuale. Infine, in linea con precedenti studi condotti con individui anziani più giovani della blue zone (es. Fastame et al., 2014; Fastame, Penna, Hitchcott, 2015), i centenari sardi che hanno partecipato a questo studio riportano bassi livelli di depressione e elevati indici di benessere psicologico rispetto ai valori normativi rilevati in anziani più giovani. I risultati saranno discussi alla luce dei più accreditati modelli teorici sull’invecchiamento di successo

Does social desirability influence psychological well-being: perceived physical health and religiosity of Italian elders? A developmental approach

Objective: This study was mainly aimed at exploring the relationship between psychological well-being and lifestyle, religion, perceived physical health and social desirability of Italian elders. Methods: Four hundred and six cognitively healthy 65–99 years old participants were recruited from the Italian isle of Sardinia, where a high prevalence of centenarians is registered. Participants were presented with several tools assessing psychological well-being, lifestyle, social desirability, religiosity and subjective physical health. Results: A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the social desirability measure is the best predictor of general subjective well-being, whereas further predictors are age, perceived physical health and gardening. A significant but moderate relationship was also found between psychological well-being, subjective physical health and religiosity, while controlling for social desirability. Conclusions: Social desirability seems to contaminate the self-rating of psychological well-being in late adulthood. Moreover, from a developmental perspective, age-related factors, life style and perceived physical health are strictly related to and therefore influence the perception of life quality in the third and fourth age

The neurophysiological basis of excessive daytime sleepiness: suggestions of an altered state of consciousness

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is characterized by difficulty staying awake during daytime, though additional features may be present. EDS is a significant problem for clinical and non-clinical populations, being associated with a range of negative outcomes that also represent a burden for society. Extreme EDS is associated with sleep disorders, most notably the central hypersomnias such as narcolepsy, Kleine-Levin syndrome, and idiopathic hypersomnia (IH). Although investigation of these conditions indicates that EDS results from diminished sleep quality, the underlying cause for this impairment remains uncertain. One possibility could be that previous research has been too narrow in scope with insufficient attention paid to non-sleep-related aspects. Here, we offer a broader perspective in which findings concerning the impact of EDS on cortical functioning are interpreted in relation to current understanding about the neural basis of consciousness. Alterations in the spatial distribution of cortical activity, in particular reduced connectivity of frontal cortex, suggest that EDS is associated with an altered state of consciousness