Cardiovascular and Coordination Training Differentially Improve Cognitive Performance and Neural Processing in Older Adults

Recent studies revealed a positive influence of physical activity on cognitive functioning in older adults. Studies that investigate the behavioral and neurophysiological effects of type and long term duration of physical training, however, are missing. We performed a 12-month longitudinal study to investigate the effects of cardiovascular and coordination training (control group: relaxation and stretching) on cognitive functions (executive control and perceptual speed) in older adults. We analyzed data of 44 participants aged 62–79 years. Participants were trained three times a week for 12 months. Their physical and cognitive performance was tested prior to training, and after 6 and 12 months. Changes in brain activation patterns were investigated using functional MRI. On the behavioral level, both experimental groups improved in executive functioning and perceptual speed but with differential effects on speed and accuracy. In line with the behavioral findings, neurophysiological results for executive control also revealed changes (increases and reductions) in brain activity for both interventions in frontal, parietal, and sensorimotor cortical areas. In contrast to the behavioral findings, neurophysiological changes were linear without indication of a plateau. In both intervention groups, prefrontal areas showed decreased activation after 6 and 12 months when performing an executive control task, as compared to the control group, indicating more efficient information processing. Furthermore, cardiovascular training was associated with an increased activation of the sensorimotor network, whereas coordination training was associated with increased activation in the visual–spatial network. Our data suggest that besides cardiovascular training also other types of physical activity improve cognition of older adults. The mechanisms, however, that underlie the performance changes seem to differ depending on the intervention

Healthy retirement begins at school: educational differences in the health outcomes of early transitions into retirement.

The literature on socio-economic variations in the association between retirement timing and health is inconclusive and largely limited to the moderating role of occupation. By selecting the sample case of Mexico where a sizeable number of older adults have no or very little formal education, this study allows the moderating role of education to be tested properly. Drawing on panel data for 2,430 individuals age 50 and over from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) and combining propensity score matching models with fixed-effects regressions, this article investigates differences in the health effects of retirement timing between older adults with varying years of education. Subjective health is measured using a self-reported assessment of respondents' overall health and physical health as a reverse count of doctor-diagnosed chronic diseases. The results indicate that early transitions into retirement are associated with worse health outcomes, but education fully compensates for the detrimental association with subjective and physical health, while adjusting for baseline health, demographics and socio-economic characteristics. In conclusion, formal education during childhood and adolescence is associated with a long-term protective effect on health. It attenuates negative health consequences of early retirement transitions. Policies and programmes promoting healthy and active ageing would benefit from considering the influence of formal education in shaping older adults' health after the transition into retirement

Income inequality and its relationship with loneliness prevalence: A cross-sectional study among older adults in the US and 16 European countries

BACKGROUNDS: The prevalence of loneliness increases among older adults, varies across countries, and is related to within-country socioeconomic, psychosocial, and health factors. The 2000-2019 pooled prevalence of loneliness among adults 60 years and older went from 5.2% in Northern Europe to 24% in Eastern Europe, while in the US was 56% in 2012. The relationship between country-level factors and loneliness, however, has been underexplored. Because income inequality shapes material conditions and relative social deprivation and has been related to loneliness in 11 European countries, we expected a relationship between income inequality and loneliness in the US and 16 European countries. METHODS: We used secondary cross-sectional data for 75,891 adults age 50+ from HRS (US 2014), ELSA (England, 2014), and SHARE (15 European countries, 2013). Loneliness was measured using the R-UCLA three-item scale. We employed hierarchical logistic regressions to analyse whether income inequality (GINI coefficient) was associated with loneliness prevalence. RESULTS: The prevalence of loneliness was 25.32% in the US (HRS), 17.55% in England (ELSA) and ranged from 5.12% to 20.15% in European countries (SHARE). Older adults living in countries with higher income inequality were more likely to report loneliness, even after adjusting for the sociodemographic composition of the countries and their Gross Domestic Products per capita (OR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.17-1.97). DISCUSSION: Greater country-level income inequality was associated with higher prevalence of loneliness over and above individual-level sociodemographics. The present study is the first attempt to explore income inequality as a predictor of loneliness prevalence among older adults in the US and 16 European countries. Addressing income distribution and the underlying experience of relative deprivation might be an opportunity to improve older adults' life expectancy and wellbeing by reducing loneliness prevalence

Interactive Minds - A Paradigm for the Study of the Social-Interactive Nature of Human Cognition and its Lifespan Development

After a brief review of historical and contemporary trends in the study of the socialinteractive nature of cognition, a definition of the interactive minds paradigm is presented. Cognition is social-interactive in nature in at least three respects (a) its cultural evolution as well as its ontogeny, (b) its activation and application, and (c) its recognition. But is it true that two heads are better than one? An empirical «interactive minds» paradigm was developed and tested using the sample case of wisdom-related performance. Five performance settings were developed which differed in the ratio of individual and interactive cognition and its ecological relevance. Results revealed that the condition combining individual and interactive cognition, that is, dialogue and appraisal, was most facilitative for the activation of wisdom-related knowledge and judgment. Thus, not any interactive cognition seems to be facilitative but rather a sequential combination of both individual as well as interactive cognition. (DIPF/orig.)Nach einem kurzen Überblick über historische sowie aktuelle Entwicklungen in der Forschung zur sozial interaktiven Natur des Denkens, wird eine Definition des «interactive minds» Paradigmas vorgestellt. In mindestens dreierlei Hinsicht sind Kognitionen von Natur aus sozial interaktiv: (a) in ihrer kulturellen Evolution und ihrer Ontogenese (b) in ihrer Aktivierung und Anwendung (c) und in ihrer Bewertung. Aber ist es immer wahr, daß zwei Köpfe besser sind als einer? Ein empirisches «interactive minds» Paradigma wurde entwickelt und beispielhaft im Bereich des weisheitsbezogenen Wissens überprüft. Fünf Versuchsbedingungen, die sich im Verhältnis individueller und interaktiver Kognitionen, sowie ihrer ökologischen Relevanz unterschieden, wurden entwickelt. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, daß die Bedingung, die aus einer Kombination sowohl individueller als auch interaktiver Kognitionen bestand, am förderlichsten für die Aktivierung weisheitsbezogenen Wissens und Urteilens war. Es scheint, daß nicht jede interaktive Kognition förderlich ist, sondern eher eine sequentielle Kombination aus individuellen und interaktiven Kognitionen. (DIPF/Orig.