Childhood cognitive ability and the risk of self-harm and suicide in later life.

Objectives Suicide rates are high among older adults, with self-harm as an important risk factor. In middle-aged adults, self-harm and suicide risk appears to be predicted by early-life factors including cognitive ability. The present study examines whether associations between early-life factors and self-harm and suicide can be observed among older adults. Approach We construct a large, representative cohort using participants of the Scottish Mental Survey 1947 – a nationwide assessment of cognitive ability and socioeconomic conditions administered to all 11-year-olds attending a Scottish school (N ~ 70,000). We link research data from childhood to later-life (age 50+) routinely-collected hospital admissions and deaths data. Results Using survival analyses, we report the associations between early-life predictors – including childhood cognitive ability – and the risk of self-harm and suicide in later-life, further adjusting for proximal socioeconomic conditions and comorbidities. Conclusion We demonstrate the importance of early-life factors for predicting self-harm and suicide among older adults, highlighting potential mechanisms, modifiable factors and markers. The implications of the results for research and policy are discussed

Cognitive ageing and the prefrontal cortex

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a site which has been shown to be particularly susceptible to the ageing process. However, the PFC itself is a heterogeneous area, and recent studies have suggested that it can be split into anatomically and functionally distinct subregions. The present study investigated the differential effect of cognitive ageing on these subregions and their associated functions. Firstly, the present study investigated various psychological tasks for their regional specificity and suitability for use in ageing research. Tasks thought to preferentially recruit dorsolateral PFC regions included a Self-Ordered Pointing task and the Digit Span Backwards task. Tasks thought to preferentially recruit orbital PFC regions included a Reversal Learning task and the Faux Pas task. Tasks thought to preferentially recruit medial PFC regions included a Simon task and the AX-Continuous Performance task. The performance of younger and older individuals was then compared on the selected tasks. Age-related differences were found on both dorsolateral and orbital PFC tasks, but not on medial PFC tasks. Particular declines were observed in working memory and associative learning abilities, whilst no evidence of dysfunction was found on performance monitoring and social-emotional skills. The results support a region-specific theory of cognitive ageing whereby both dorsolateral and orbital PFC regions are most susceptible to decline, with the medial PFC relatively preserved

Do childhood socioeconomic circumstances moderate the association between childhood cognitive ability and all-cause mortality across the life course? Prospective observational study of the 36-day sample of the Scottish Mental Survey 1947

Background There is growing evidence that higher childhood cognitive ability predicts lower all-cause mortality risk across the life course. Whereas this association does not appear to be mediated by childhood socioeconomic circumstances, it is unclear whether socioeconomic circumstances moderate this association.Methods The moderating role of childhood socioeconomic circumstances was assessed in 5318 members of the 36-day sample of the Scottish Mental Survey 1947. Univariate, sex-adjusted and age-adjusted, and mutually adjusted Cox models predicting all-cause mortality risk up to age 79 years were created using childhood IQ scores and childhood social class as predictors. Moderation was assessed by adding an interaction term between IQ scores and social class and comparing model fit.Results An SD advantage in childhood IQ scores (HR=0.83, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.86, p<0.001) and a single-class advantage in childhood social class (HR=0.92, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.97, p<0.001) independently predicted lower mortality risk. Adding the IQ–social class interaction effect did not improve model fit (χ2Δ=1.36, p=0.24), and the interaction effect did not predict mortality risk (HR=1.03, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.07, p=0.25).Conclusions The present study demonstrated that the association between higher childhood cognitive ability and lower all-cause mortality risk is not conditional on childhood social class. Whereas other measures of socioeconomic circumstances may play a moderating role, these findings suggest that the benefits of higher childhood cognitive ability for longevity apply regardless of the material socioeconomic circumstances experienced in childhood

Generational differences in loneliness and its psychological and sociodemographic predictors:An exploratory and confirmatory machine learning study

BACKGROUND: Loneliness is a growing public health issue in the developed world. Among older adults, loneliness is a particular challenge, as the older segment of the population is growing and loneliness is comorbid with many mental as well as physical health issues. Comorbidity and common cause factors make identifying the antecedents of loneliness difficult, however, contemporary machine learning techniques are positioned to tackle this problem. METHODS: This study analyzed four cohorts of older individuals, split into two age groups – 45–69 and 70–79 – to examine which common psychological and sociodemographic are associated with loneliness at different ages. Gradient boosted modeling, a machine learning technique, and regression models were used to identify and replicate associations with loneliness. RESULTS: In all cohorts, higher emotional stability was associated with lower loneliness. In the older group, social circumstances such as living alone were also associated with higher loneliness. In the younger group, extraversion's association with lower loneliness was the only other confirmed relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Different individual and social factors might underlie loneliness differences in distinct age groups. Machine learning methods have the potential to unveil novel associations between psychological and social variables, particularly interactions, and mental health outcomes

A novel silver bioactive glass elicits antimicrobial efficacy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus in an ex vivo skin wound biofilm model

Biofilm infection is now understood to be a potent contributor to the recalcitrant nature of chronic wounds. Bacterial biofilms evade the host immune response and show increased resistance to antibiotics. Along with improvements in antibiotic stewardship, effective new anti-biofilm therapies are urgently needed for effective wound management. Previous studies have shown that bioactive glass (Bg) is able to promote healing with moderate bactericidal activity. Here we tested the antimicrobial efficacy of a novel BG incorporating silver (BgAg), against both planktonic and biofilm forms of the wound-relevant bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. BgAg was stable, long lasting, and potently effective against planktonic bacteria in time-kill assays (6-log reduction in bacterial viability within 2 h) and in agar diffusion assays. BgAg reduced bacterial load in a physiologically relevant ex vivo porcine wound biofilm model; P. aeruginosa (2-log reduction) and S. aureus (3-log reduction). BgAg also conferred strong effects against P. aeruginosa biofilm virulence, reducing both protease activity and virulence gene expression. Co-culture biofilms appeared more resistant to BgAg, where a selective reduction in S. aureus was observed. Finally, BgAg was shown to benefit the host response to biofilm infection, directly reducing host tissue cell death. Taken together, the findings provide evidence that BgAg elicits potent antimicrobial effects against planktonic and single-species biofilms, with beneficial effects on the host tissue response. Further investigations are required to elucidate the specific consequences of BG administration on polymicrobial biofilms, and further explore the effects on host–microbe interactions