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Abstract Centenarians, those aged 100 years or older, are considered the most successful biological aging model in humans. This population is commonly characterized by a low prevalence of chronic diseases, with favorable maintenance of functionality and independence, thus determining a health phenotype of successful aging. There are many factors usually associated with extreme longevity: genetics, lifestyles, diet, among others. However, it is most likely a multifactorial condition where protective factors contribute individually to some extent. The gut microbiota (GM) has emerged as a potential factor associated with the establishment of a favorable health phenotype that allows for extreme longevity, as seen in centenarians. To understand the possible impact generated by the GM, its changes, and the probable causes for successful aging, the aim of this review was to synthesize evidence on the role of the GM as a potential protective factor for achieving extreme longevity, using its relationship with centenarians.

Abstract Aging is a process that represents the accumulation of changes in organism overtime. In biological level, accumulations of molecular and cellular damage in aging lead to an increasing risk of diseases like sarcopenia. Sarcopenia reduces mobility, leads to fall‐related injuries, and diminishes life quality. Thus, it is meaningful to find out novel therapeutic strategies for sarcopenia intervention that may help the elderly maintain their functional ability. Oxidative damage‐induced dysfunctional mitochondria are considered as a culprit of muscle wasting during aging. Herein, we aimed to demonstrate whether myricanol (MY) protects aged mice against muscle wasting through alleviating oxidative damage in mitochondria and identify the direct protein target and its underlying mechanism. We discovered that MY protects aged mice against the loss of muscle mass and strength through scavenging reactive oxygen species accumulation to rebuild the redox homeostasis. Taking advantage of biophysical assays, peroxiredoxin 5 was discovered and validated as the direct target of MY. Through activating peroxiredoxin 5, MY reduced reactive oxygen species accumulation and damaged mitochondrial DNA in C2C12 myotubes. Our findings provide an insight for therapy against sarcopenia through alleviating oxidative damage‐induced dysfunctional mitochondria by targeting peroxiredoxin 5, which may contribute an insight for healthy aging.

Abstract Objectives This study aims to identify a new barrier to the use of the Mini‐Nutrition Assessment Short‐Form (MNA‐SF), which is a malnutrition assessment tool for the risk assessment of sarcopenia in a nourished population. Methods The MNA‐SF was completed, and individuals with a score of > 11 were considered nourished in this cross‐sectional feasibility study of a registry. Sarcopenia was assessed in 766 healthy, nourished adults (33.4% men, 64.9 ± 7.1 years) based on the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2). Results The MNA‐SF scores for non‐sarcopenia, pre‐, confirmed, and severe sarcopenia were 13.59 ± 0.69, 13.73 ± 0.60, 12.64 ± 0.74, and 12.5 ± 0.71, respectively. The higher MNA‐SF score association with pre‐sarcopenia [odds ratio (OR): 1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06–1.86, P = 0.02], confirmed sarcopenia (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.13–0.49, P

Abstract Projected trends in population aging have forecasted a massive increase in the number of people with dementia, in particular in sub‐Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Cognitive decline is a significant marker for dementia, typically assessed with standardized neuropsychological tools that have been validated in some well‐researched languages such as English. However, with the existing language diversity, current tools cannot cater to speakers of understudied languages, putting these populations at a disadvantage when it comes to access to early and accurate diagnosis of dementia. Here, we shed light on the detrimental impact of this language gap in the context of the MENA region, highlighting inadequate tools and an unacceptable lack of expertise for a MENA population of a half billion people. Our perspective calls for more research to unravel the exact impact of the language gap on the quality of cognitive decline assessment in speakers of understudied languages. Highlights Cognitive decline is a marker for dementia, assessed with neuropsychological tests. There is a lack of culturally valid tests for speakers of understudied languages. For example, suboptimal cognitive tests are used in the Middle East and North Africa region. Linguistic diversity should be considered in the development of cognitive tests.

Abstract In 2021, China became an aged society when the share of its elderly population (age 65 years and above) exceeded 14%. In China, as in other upper‐middle‐income and high‐income countries, life expectancy gains are increasingly concentrated at older ages with below‐average health and economic activity. Governments worldwide are hence actively pursuing healthy and productive aging. Healthy aging by some measures is taking place. Similar with other upper‐middle‐income countries, China's young old in their 60s are healthier than the same age group two decades ago. The picture is more complex for the older age group (70 years and above). Although there is a substantial decline in leading disease burdens such as stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diseases such as Alzheimer's and other dementia are on the rise. To meet the challenge of a rapidly aging population, China's healthy aging agenda should improve its multipronged approach that seeks to promote healthy lifestyles, enhance the healthcare system, create age‐friendly communities, and tackle socioeconomic and health disparities.

Abstract Background and Aims The population of older adults in rural areas is rising, and they experience higher rates of poverty and chronic illness, have poorer health behaviors, and experience different challenges than those in urban areas. This scoping review seeks to (1) map the state of the science of age‐friendly systems in rural areas regarding structural characteristics, processes for delivering age‐friendly practices, and outcomes of age‐friendly systems, (2) analyze strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of age‐friendly system implementation, and (3) make person, practice, and policy‐level recommendations to support active aging and development of age‐friendly communities. Methods An international scoping review was conducted of articles that used age‐friendly framing, had a sample age of 45 years of age or older, self‐identified as rural, and reported empiric data. Searches were conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, AgeLine, PsychINFO, EMBASE, Scopus, and Academic Search Elite on October 26, 2021, and rerun March 10, 2023. Data were charted across three analytic layers: socioecological model, Donabedian's framework, and SWOT analysis. Results Results reveal limited data on outcomes relevant to organizations, such as return on investment or healthcare utilization. While the SWOT analysis revealed many strengths of age‐friendly systems, including their impact on persons' outcomes, it also revealed several weaknesses, threats, and gaps. Namely, age‐friendly systems have weaknesses due to reliance on trained volunteers and staff, communication, and teamwork. System‐level threats include community and health system barriers, and challenges in poor/developing areas. Conclusions While age‐friendly systems in this review were heterogeneous, there is an opportunity to focus on unifying elements including the World Health Organization age‐friendly cities framework or 4Ms framework for age‐friendly care. Despite the many benefits of age‐friendly systems, we must acknowledge limitations of the evidence base, pursue opportunities to examine organizational metrics to support implementation and sustainability of age‐friendly systems, and leverage improvements in age‐friendliness at a community level.

Purpose: Relaxation correction is crucial for accurately estimating metabolite concentrations measured using in vivo MRS. However, the majority of MRS quantification routines assume that relaxation values remain constant across the lifespan, despite prior evidence of T 2 changes with aging for multiple of the major metabolites. Here, we comprehensively investigate correlations between T 2 and age in a large, multi-site cohort., Methods: We recruited approximately 10 male and 10 female participants from each decade of life: 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60+ y old (n = 101 total). We collected PRESS data at eight TEs (30, 50, 74, 101, 135, 179, 241, and 350 ms) from voxels placed in white-matter-rich centrum semiovale (CSO) and gray-matter-rich posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). We quantified metabolite amplitudes using Osprey and fit exponential decay curves to estimate T 2 ., Results: Older age was correlated with shorter T 2 for tNAA 2.0 , tCr 3.0 , tCr 3.9 , tCho, and tissue water (CSO and PCC), as well as mI and Glx (PCC only); r s  = -0.22 to -0.63, all p < 0.05, false discovery rate (FDR)-corrected. These associations largely remained statistically significant when controlling for cortical atrophy. By region, T 2 values were longer in the CSO for tNAA 2.0 , tCr 3.9 , Glx, and tissue water and longer in the PCC for tCho and mI. T 2 did not differ by region for tCr 3.0 ., Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of considering metabolite T 2 differences with aging in MRS quantification. We suggest that future 3T work utilize the equations presented here to estimate age-specific T 2 values instead of relying on uniform default values., (© 2024 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Issue Addressed: Despite increasing interest in citizen science as an approach to engage members of the public in research and decision making about health and wellbeing, there is a lack of practical evidence to guide policy and practice organisations to utilise these approaches. In this study we investigated how and why citizen science came to be incorporated into the work of two policy organisations., Methods: We offer two in-depth case studies of Australian government organisations which have utilised citizen science in environmental and healthy ageing policy. Interviews with organisational informants and relevant documents were analysed inductively to explore how citizen science came to be adopted, legitimised and supported., Results: Citizen science was utilised to address multiple organisational objectives, including increasing community participation in science; enhancing individuals' wellbeing, learning, and skills, and generating data to support research and policy in a relatively cost-effective manner. In both cases, grant funding was a mechanism to support citizen science, with project delivery facilitated through academic-policy partnerships and led by external academic or community partners., Conclusion: Although citizen science is relatively new in policy and practice settings, this study underscores the value of these approaches in realising co-benefits for organisations, academics, and community members. The support and advocacy of senior managers as 'champions', and a willingness to invest in trialling new approaches to address policy problems are necessary ingredients to foster acceptance and legitimacy of citizen science. SO WHAT?: Citizen science initiatives can be strategically utilised by health promotion organisations to enact priorities related to genuine community involvement, support research and innovation and facilitate collaboration and partnerships between academic, policy and community stakeholders., (© 2024 The Authors. Health Promotion Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Health Promotion Association.)

Relaxation correction is an integral step in quantifying brain metabolite concentrations measured by in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). While most quantification routines assume constant T 1 relaxation across age, it is possible that aging alters T 1 relaxation rates, as is seen for T 2 relaxation. Here, we investigate the age dependence of metabolite T 1 relaxation times at 3 T in both gray- and white-matter-rich voxels using publicly available metabolite and metabolite-nulled (single inversion recovery TI = 600 ms) spectra acquired at 3 T using Point RESolved Spectroscopy (PRESS) localization. Data were acquired from voxels in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and centrum semiovale (CSO) in 102 healthy volunteers across 5 decades of life (aged 20-69 years). All spectra were analyzed in Osprey v.2.4.0. To estimate T 1 relaxation times for total N-acetyl aspartate at 2.0 ppm (tNAA 2.0 ) and total creatine at 3.0 ppm (tCr 3.0 ), the ratio of modeled metabolite residual amplitudes in the metabolite-nulled spectrum to the full metabolite signal was calculated using the single-inversion-recovery signal equation. Correlations between T 1 and subject age were evaluated. Spearman correlations revealed that estimated T 1 relaxation times of tNAA 2.0 (r s  = -0.27; p < 0.006) and tCr 3.0 (r s  = -0.40; p < 0.001) decreased significantly with age in white-matter-rich CSO, and less steeply for tNAA 2.0 (r s  = -0.228; p = 0.005) and (not significantly for) tCr 3.0 (r s  = -0.13; p = 0.196) in graymatter-rich PCC. The analysis harnessed a large publicly available cross-sectional dataset to test an important hypothesis, that metabolite T 1 relaxation times change with age. This preliminary study stresses the importance of further work to measure age-normed metabolite T 1 relaxation times for accurate quantification of metabolite levels in studies of aging., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Abstract Background Physical activity (PA) is a recognized contributor to healthy aging. However, the majority of studies exploring its associations with adverse outcomes in cohorts of older adults use single‐time PA estimates, which do not consider its dynamic nature. The aim of the present study is to explore the presence of different PA trajectories in the Toledo Study of Healthy Aging and their association with adverse outcomes. Our hypothesis is that prospectively maintaining or increasing PA is associated with a reduced risk of adverse outcomes. Methods We used data from 1679 participants enrolled in the Toledo Study of Healthy Aging. Trajectories based on the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly were identified using group‐based trajectory modelling. Cox and logistic regression were used to investigate associations between PA trajectories and mortality and hospitalization, and incident and worsening disability, respectively. Mortality was ascertained by linkage to the Spanish National Death Index; disability was evaluated through the Katz Index; and hospitalization was defined as the first admission to Toledo Hospital. Models were adjusted by age, sex, smoking, Charlson Index, education, cognitive impairment, polypharmacy, and Katz Index at Wave 2. Results We found four PA‐decreasing and one PA‐increasing trajectories: high PA‐consistent (n = 566), moderate PA‐mildly decreasing (n = 392), low PA‐increasing (n = 237), moderate PA‐consistent (n = 191), and low PA‐decreasing (n = 293). Belonging to the high PA‐consistent trajectory group was associated with reduced risks of mortality as compared with the low PA‐decreasing group [hazard ratio (HR) 1.68; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.21–2.31] and hospitalization compared with the low PA‐increasing and low PA‐decreasing trajectory groups (HR 1.24; 95% CI = 1.004–1.54 and HR 1.25; 95% CI = 1.01–1.55, respectively) and with lower rates of incident [odds ratio (OR) 3.14; 95% CI = 1.59–6.19] and worsening disability (OR 2.16; 95% CI = 1.35–3.45) in relation to the low PA‐decreasing trajectory group and at follow‐up. Increasing PA during late life (low PA‐increasing group) was associated with lower incident disability rates (OR 0.38; 95% CI = 0.19–0.82) compared with decreasing PA (low PA‐decreasing group), despite similar baseline PA. Conclusions Our results suggest that sustaining higher PA levels during aging might lead to healthy aging, characterized by a reduction in adverse outcomes. Our study supports the need for enhancing PA participation among older populations, with the goal of reducing personal and economic burden in a worldwide aging population.

Abstract Background Frailty is the pre‐eminent exigency of aging. Although frailty‐related impairments are preventable, and multidomain interventions appear more effective than unimodal ones, the optimal components remain uncertain. Methods We devised multidomain interventions against physical and cognitive decline among prefrail/frail community‐dwelling ≥65‐year‐olds and evaluated these in complementary cluster‐randomized trials of efficacy and participant empowerment. The Efficacy Study compared ~3‐monthly telephone consultations vs. 16, 2 h sessions/year comprising communally partaken physical and cognitive training plus nutrition and disease education; the Empowerment Study compared the standard Efficacy Study multidomain intervention (Sessions 1–10) vs. an enhanced version redesigned to empower and motivate individual participants. Changes from baseline in physical, functional, and cognitive performance were measured after 6 and 12 months in the Efficacy Study and after 6 months in the Empowerment Study, with post‐intervention follow‐up at 9 months. Primary outcomes are as follows: Cardiovascular Health Study frailty score; gait speed; handgrip strength; and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Secondary outcomes are as follows: instrumental activities of daily living; metabolic equivalent of task (MET); depressed mood (Geriatric Depression Scale‐5 ≥2); and malnutrition (Mini‐Nutritional Assessment short‐form ≤11). Intervention effects were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model. Results Efficacy Study participants (n = 1082, 40 clusters) were 75.1 ± 6.3 years old, 68.7% women, and 64.7% prefrail/frail; analytic clusters: 19 intervention (410/549 completed) vs. 21 control (375/533 completed). Empowerment Study participants (n = 440, 14 clusters) were 75.9 ± 7.1 years old, 83.6% women, and 56.7% prefrail/frail; analytic clusters: seven intervention (209/230 completed) vs. seven control (189/210 completed). The standard and enhanced multidomain interventions both reduced frailty and significantly improved aspects of physical, functional, and cognitive performance, especially among ≥75‐year‐olds. Standard multidomain intervention decreased depression [odds ratio 0.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.32, 0.99] and malnutrition (odds ratio 0.45, 95% CI 0.26, 0.78) by 12 months and improved concentration at Months 6 (0.23, 95% CI 0.04, 0.42) and 12 (0.46, 95% CI 0.22, 0.70). Participant empowerment augmented activity (4.67 MET/h, 95% CI 1.64, 7.69) and gait speed (0.06 m/s, 95% CI 0.00, 0.11) at 6 months, with sustained improvements in delayed recall (0.63, 95% CI 0.20, 1.06) and MoCA performance (1.29, 95% CI 0.54, 2.03), and less prevalent malnutrition (odds ratio 0.39, 95% CI 0.18, 0.84), 3 months after the intervention ceased. Conclusions Pragmatic multidomain intervention can diminish physical frailty, malnutrition, and depression and enhance cognitive performance among community‐dwelling elders, especially ≥75‐year‐olds; this might supplement healthy aging policies, probably more effectively if participants are empowered.

Abstract Background To assess: (a) cancer treatment in prostate cancer survivors (PCS) by age at diagnosis (ADx) and prostate cancer (PC) aggressiveness; (b) potential impact on PC mortality; and (c) these results in the context of environmental/behavioral risk factors on PCS in Pennsylvania. Methods Prostate cancer survivors ages ≥40 years were identified from the 2004‐2014 Pennsylvania Cancer Registry (PCR). Demographic/clinical descriptors and PC treatment were extracted from PCR. Prostate cancer aggressiveness was defined by clinical/pathologic Gleason score and tumor stage. Logistic and Cox regression analyses tested associations between treatment received and PC‐specific mortality. County‐level data from the Pennsylvania BRFSS were used to estimate cancer‐related behavioral risk factors (eg, smoking, physical inactivity, fruit/vegetable consumption [FV], alcohol use) and used as covariates. Results There were 90 694 PCS ages 40‐105 years (mean age = 66.19 years, SD = 9.25) included. Most were non‐Hispanic white men (83%). Prostate cancer survivors ≥75 years were least likely to receive any treatment but men ages 65‐74 were more likely to receive combined therapies (OR = 1.47; 95% CI 1.28, 1.69) vs PCS ages 40‐54 years, controlling for covariates. Prostate cancer survivors 55‐75+ with aggressive PC who received any treatment vs no definitive treatment had significantly reduced mortality. Men from counties with high obesity and smoking rates were significantly less likely to receive any treatment than men living in counties with lower rates of these risk factors. Prostate cancer survivors who lived in counties with high rates of physical inactivity and had high rates of sufficient FV consumption were slightly more likely to receive cancer treatment vs no definitive treatment compared to men who lived in counties with high rates of physical activity and lower FV consumption. Conclusions We observed a general age‐related decline in receipt of treatment. Prostate cancer survivors ages ≥75 years were significantly less likely to get any cancer treatment compared to younger PCS. However, most men with more aggressive disease who received any treatment had greatly reduced PC mortality, regardless of age. Considering environmental/behavioral risk factors may attenuate PC risk and inform treatment options.

Abstract Introduction Given rapid global population aging, developing interventions against age‐associated cognitive decline is an important medical and societal goal. We evaluated a cognitive training protocol combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on trained and non‐trained functions in non‐demented older adults. Methods Fifty‐six older adults (65–80 years) were randomly assigned to one of two interventional groups, using age and baseline performance as strata. Both groups performed a nine‐session cognitive training over 3 weeks with either concurrent anodal tDCS (atDCS, 1 mA, 20 minutes) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (target intervention) or sham stimulation (control intervention). Primary outcome was performance on the trained letter updating task immediately after training. Secondary outcomes included performance on other executive and memory (near and far transfer) tasks. All tasks were administered at baseline, post‐intervention, and at 1‐ and 7‐month follow‐up assessments. Prespecified analyses to investigate treatment effects were conducted using mixed‐model analyses. Results No between‐group differences emerged in the trained letter updating and Markov decision‐making tasks at post‐intervention and at follow‐up timepoints. Secondary analyses revealed group differences in one near‐transfer task: Superior n‐back task performance was observed in the tDCS group at post‐intervention and at follow‐up. No such effects were observed for the other transfer tasks. Improvements in working memory were associated with individually induced electric field strengths. Discussion Cognitive training with atDCS did not lead to superior improvement in trained task performance compared to cognitive training with sham stimulation. Thus, our results do not support the immediate benefit of tDCS‐assisted multi‐session cognitive training on the trained function. As the intervention enhanced performance in a near‐transfer working memory task, we provide exploratory evidence for effects on non‐trained working memory functions in non‐demented older adults that persist over a period of 1 month.

The pursuit of enhanced health during aging has prompted the exploration of various strategies focused on reducing the decline associated with the aging process. A key area of this exploration is the management of mitochondrial dysfunction, a notable characteristic of aging. This review sheds light on the crucial role that small molecules play in augmenting healthy aging, particularly through influencing mitochondrial functions. Mitochondrial oxidative damage, a significant aspect of aging, can potentially be lessened through interventions such as coenzyme Q10, alpha-lipoic acid, and a variety of antioxidants. Additionally, this review discusses approaches for enhancing mitochondrial proteostasis, emphasizing the importance of mitochondrial unfolded protein response inducers like doxycycline, and agents that affect mitophagy, such as urolithin A, spermidine, trehalose, and taurine, which are vital for sustaining protein quality control. Of equal importance are methods for modulating mitochondrial energy production, which involve nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide boosters, adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase activators, and compounds like metformin and mitochondria-targeted tamoxifen that enhance metabolic function. Furthermore, the review delves into emerging strategies that encourage mitochondrial biogenesis. Together, these interventions present a promising avenue for addressing age-related mitochondrial degradation, thereby setting the stage for the development of innovative treatment approaches to meet this extensive challenge., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Abstract Background Functional neuroimaging studies have identified a set of nodes in the occipital–temporal cortex that preferentially respond to faces in comparison with other visual objects. By contrast, the processing of places seems to rely on parahippocampal cortex and structures heavily implicated in memory (e.g., the hippocampus). It has been suggested that human aging leads to decreased neural specialization of core face and place processing areas and impairments in face and place perception. Methods Using mediation analysis, we tested the potential contribution of micro‐ and macrostructure within the hippocampal and occipitotemporal systems to age‐associated effects in face and place category processing (as measured by 1‐back working memory tasks) in 55 healthy adults (age range 23–79 years). To test for specific contributions of the studied structures to face/place processing, we also studied a distinct tract (i.e., the anterior thalamic radiation [ATR]) and cognitive performance for other visual object categories (objects, bodies, and verbal material). Constrained spherical deconvolution‐based tractography was used to reconstruct the fornix, the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), and the ATR. Hippocampal volumetric measures were segmented from FSL‐FIRST toolbox. Results It was found that age associates with (a) decreases in fractional anisotropy (FA) in the fornix, in right ILF (but not left ILF), and in the ATR (b) reduced volume in the right and left hippocampus and (c) decline in visual object category processing. Importantly, mediation analysis showed that micro‐ and macrostructural impairments in the fornix and right hippocampus, respectively, associated with age‐dependent decline in place processing. Alternatively, microstructural impairments in right hemispheric ILF associated with age‐dependent decline in face processing. There were no other mediator effects of micro‐ and macrostructural variables on age–cognition relationships. Conclusion Together, the findings support specific contributions of the fornix and right hippocampus in visuospatial scene processing and of the long‐range right hemispheric occipitotemporal network in face category processing.

Abstract Background and aims There is a growing demand for health and social care services to provide technology‐mediated interventions that promote the health and well‐being of older people with health or care needs and of their informal carers. The objectives of this study were to scope and review the nature and extent of prior intervention studies involving ambient assisted living technology‐mediated interventions for older people and their informal carers, and how and in what ways (if any) the goals and aims of these interventions reflected the domains of the World Health Organization framework for healthy ageing. Methods We conducted a scoping review. Data were collected between June and October 2018 with an updated search in October 2020. A total of 85 articles were eligible for inclusion. Results Nine categories described the aims and content of the included studies. The healthy ageing domain “Ability to meet basic needs” was mirrored in four categories, whereas “Ability to contribute to society” was not addressed at all. Conclusion The ways in which domains of healthy ageing are mirrored suggest that there is an emphasis on individual factors and individual responsibility, and a lack of attention given to broader, environmental factors affecting healthy ageing. Only a few of the studies used a dyadic approach when assessing health outcomes concerning older people and their informal carers.

Abstract Introduction We investigated whether life‐course factors and neuroimaging biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease pathology predict reaction time (RT) performance in older adults. Methods Insight 46 study participants, all born in the same week in 1946 (n = 501; ages at assessment = 69 to 71 years), completed a 2‐choice RT task and amyloid beta (Aβ) positron emission tomography and MR imaging. We tested for associations between task outcomes (RT; error rate; intra‐individual variability in RT) and life‐course predictors including childhood cognitive ability and education. In a subsample of 406 cognitively normal participants, we investigated associations between task outcomes and biomarkers including Aβ‐positivity. Results Cognitively normal Aβ‐positive participants had 10% more variable RTs than Aβ‐negative participants, despite having similar mean RTs. Childhood cognitive ability and education independently predicted task performance. Discussion This study provides novel evidence that Aβ pathology is associated with poorer consistency of RT in cognitively normal older adults, at an age when dementia prevalence is still very low.

Fluid intelligence (Gf) involves logical reasoning and novel problem-solving abilities. Often, abstract reasoning tasks like Raven's progressive matrices are used to assess Gf. Prior work has shown an age-related decline in fluid intelligence capabilities, and although many studies have sought to identify the underlying mechanisms, our understanding of the critical brain regions and dynamics remains largely incomplete. In this study, we utilized magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate 78 individuals, ages 20-65 years, as they completed an abstract reasoning task. MEG data was co-registered with structural MRI data, transformed into the time-frequency domain, and the resulting neural oscillations were imaged using a beamformer. We found worsening behavioral performance with age, including prolonged reaction times and reduced accuracy. MEG analyses indicated robust oscillations in the theta, alpha/beta, and gamma range during the task. Whole brain correlation analyses with age revealed relationships in the theta and alpha/beta frequency bands, such that theta oscillations became stronger with increasing age in a right prefrontal region and alpha/beta oscillations became stronger with increasing age in parietal and right motor cortices. Follow-up connectivity analyses revealed increasing parieto-frontal connectivity with increasing age in the alpha/beta frequency range. Importantly, our findings are consistent with the parieto-frontal integration theory of intelligence (P-FIT). These results further suggest that as people age, there may be alterations in neural responses that are spectrally specific, such that older people exhibit stronger alpha/beta oscillations across the parieto-frontal network during abstract reasoning tasks., (© 2024 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

In this study, we aimed to understand the contributions of hippocampal anteroposterior subregions (head, body, tail) and subfields (cornu ammonis 1-3 [CA1-3], dentate gyrus [DG], and subiculum [Sub]) and encoding strategies to the age-related verbal memory decline. Healthy participants were administered the California Verbal Learning Test-II to evaluate verbal memory performance and encoding strategies and underwent 4.7 T magnetic resonance imaging brain scan with subsequent hippocampal subregions and subfields manual segmentation. While total hippocampal volume was not associated with verbal memory performance, we found the volumes of the posterior hippocampus (body) and Sub showed significant effects on verbal memory performance. Additionally, the age-related volume decline in hippocampal body volume contributed to lower use of semantic clustering, resulting in lower verbal memory performance. The effect of Sub on verbal memory was statistically independent of encoding strategies. While total CA1-3 and DG volumes did not show direct or indirect effects on verbal memory, exploratory analyses with DG and CA1-3 volumes within the hippocampal body subregion suggested an indirect effect of age-related volumetric reduction on verbal memory performance through semantic clustering. As semantic clustering is sensitive to age-related hippocampal volumetric decline but not to the direct effect of age, further investigation of mechanisms supporting semantic clustering can have implications for early detection of cognitive impairments and decline., (© 2023 The Authors. Hippocampus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Healthy aging leads to complex changes in the functional network of speech processing in a noisy environment. The dual-route neural architecture has been applied to the study of speech processing. Although evidence suggests that senescent increases activity in the brain regions across the dorsal and ventral stream regions to offset reduced periphery, the regulatory mechanism of dual-route functional networks underlying such compensation remains largely unknown. Here, by utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we investigated the compensatory mechanism of the dual-route functional connectivity, and its relationship with healthy aging by using a speech perception task at varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) in healthy individuals (young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults). Results showed that the speech perception scores showed a significant age-related decrease with the reduction of the SNR. The analysis results of dual-route speech processing networks showed that the functional connection of Wernicke's area and homolog Wernicke's area were age-related increases. Further to clarify the age-related characteristics of the dual-route speech processing networks, graph-theoretical network analysis revealed an age-related increase in the efficiency of the networks, and the age-related differences in nodal characteristics were found both in Wernicke's area and homolog Wernicke's area under noise environment. Thus, Wernicke's area might be a key network hub to maintain efficient information transfer across the speech process network with healthy aging. Moreover, older adults would recruit more resources from the homologous Wernicke's area in a noisy environment. The recruitment of the homolog of Wernicke's area might provide a means of compensation for older adults for decoding speech in an adverse listening environment. Together, our results characterized dual-route speech processing networks at varying noise environments and provided new insight for the compensatory theories of how aging modulates the dual-route speech processing functional networks., (© 2024 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Recent evidence suggests that speech substantially changes in ageing. As a complex neurophysiological process, it can accurately reflect changes in the motor and cognitive systems underpinning human speech. Since healthy ageing is not always easily discriminable from early stages of dementia based on cognitive and behavioural hallmarks, speech is explored as a preclinical biomarker of pathological itineraries in old age. A greater and more specific impairment of neuromuscular activation, as well as  a specific cognitive and linguistic impairment in dementia, unchain discriminating changes in speech. Yet, there is no consensus on such discriminatory speech parameters, neither on how they should be elicited and assessed., Aims: To provide a state-of-the-art on speech parameters that allow for early discrimination between healthy and pathological ageing; the aetiology of these parameters; the effect of the type of experimental stimuli on speech elicitation and the predictive power of different speech parameters; and the most promising methods for speech analysis and their clinical implications., Methods & Procedures: A scoping review methodology is used in accordance with the PRISMA model. Following a systematic search of PubMed, PsycINFO and CINAHL, 24 studies are included and analysed in the review., Main Contribution: The results of this review yield three key questions for the clinical assessment of speech in ageing. First, acoustic and temporal parameters are more sensitive to changes in pathological ageing and, of these two, temporal variables are more affected by cognitive impairment. Second, different types of stimuli can trigger speech parameters with different degree of accuracy for the discrimination of clinical groups. Tasks with higher cognitive load are more precise in eliciting higher levels of accuracy. Finally, automatic speech analysis for the discrimination of healthy and pathological ageing should be improved for both research and clinical practice., Conclusions & Implications: Speech analysis is a promising non-invasive tool for the preclinical screening of healthy and pathological ageing. The main current challenges of speech analysis in ageing are the automatization of its clinical assessment and the consideration of the speaker's cognitive background during evaluation., What This Paper Adds: What is already known on the subject Societal aging  goes hand in hand with the rising incidence of ageing-related neurodegenerations, mainly Alzheimer's disease (AD). This is particularly noteworthy in countries with longer life expectancies. Healthy ageing and early stages of AD share a set of cognitive and behavioural characteristics. Since there is no cure for dementias, developing methods for accurate discrimination of healthy ageing and early AD is currently a priority. Speech has been described as one of the most significantly impaired features in AD. Neuropathological alterations in motor and cognitive systems would underlie specific speech impairment in dementia. Since speech can be evaluated quickly, non-invasively and inexpensively, its value for the clinical assessment of ageing itineraries may be particularly high. What this paper adds to existing knowledge Theoretical and experimental advances in the assessment of speech as a marker of AD have developed rapidly over the last decade. Yet, they are not always known to clinicians. Furthermore, there is a need to provide an updated state-of-the-art on which speech features are discriminatory to AD, how they can be assessed, what kind of results they can yield, and how such results should be interpreted. This article provides an updated overview of speech profiling, methods of speech measurement and analysis, and the clinical power of speech assessment for early discrimination of AD as the most common cause of dementia. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? This article provides an overview of the predictive potential of different speech parameters in relation to AD cognitive impairment. In addition, it discusses the effect that the cognitive state, the type of elicitation task and the type of assessment method may have on the results of the speech-based analysis in ageing., (© 2023 The Authors. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.)

Background: We developed a program that encourages interaction among older people living at home by combining face-to-face and online activities and examined its effects on older adults' psychosocial health., Methods: In this mixed-methods study, we recruited 11 women and 6 men (Mage = 79.5 ± 6.4 years), who lived in a rural community and participated in a senior citizen club. The intervention was conducted for 13 months, comprising monthly face-to-face group and social media activities. For the program process evaluation, we collected focus-group interview data on participants' perceptions of their personal lives, club membership, and community post-intervention. For the outcome evaluation, we collected six outcome measures pre- and post-intervention: loneliness, subjective health, subjective well-being, self-esteem, social support and social activity satisfaction. Finally, through the integration of the process-outcome evaluation, we inferred what effects the program had on participants' psychosocial health., Results: In the process evaluation, we identified four themes: 'Stimulation brought about by relationships with peers,' 'Realization as to where they feel they belong,' 'Rethinking of oneself in the community,' and 'Awareness of attachment to and coexistence with the community.' In the outcome evaluation, the outcome measures were maintained without significant decline post-intervention., Conclusion: Through the integration of the process-outcome evaluation, we deduced three effects of the program on psychosocial health: (1) fulfilment of subjective health, (2) maintenance and assurance of moderate distance connectedness and (3) orientation toward aging in place., Implications for Practice: This study offers a promising opportunity for further development and research into community-based preventive nursing care intervention strategies to maintain the psychosocial health of homebound older people in communities with social activity groups., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The identification of meaningful functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) biomarkers requires measures that reliably capture brain performance across different subjects and over multiple scanning sessions. Recent developments in fMRI acquisition, such as the introduction of multiband (MB) protocols and in-plane acceleration, allow for increased scanning speed and improved temporal resolution. However, they may also lead to reduced temporal signal to noise ratio and increased signal leakage between simultaneously excited slices. These methods have been adopted in several scanning modalities including diffusion weighted imaging and fMRI. To our knowledge, no study has formally compared the reliability of the same resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) metrics (amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations; seed-to-voxel and region of interest [ROI]-to-ROI connectivity) across conventional single-band fMRI and different MB acquisitions, with and without in-plane acceleration, across three sessions. In this study, 24 healthy older adults were scanned over three visits, on weeks 0, 1, and 4, and, on each occasion, underwent a conventional single band rs-fMRI scan and three different rs-fMRI scans with MB factors 4 and 6, with and without in-plane acceleration. Across all three rs-fMRI metrics, the reliability scores were highest with MB factor 4 with no in-plane acceleration for cortical areas and with conventional single band for subcortical areas. Recommendations for future research studies are discussed., (© 2022 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: With the rise of age-friendly cities and communities, increasing attention is being paid to coproducing age-friendly guidelines with older people and community stakeholders. Little is known however about age-friendly guidelines for dining establishments., Methods: A three-stage study to develop general and contextualised requirements for an age-friendly dining experience was conducted in the City of Onkaparinga, South Australia. The first stage involved older people in co-designing aspects of an age-friendly dining experience. Subsequently, the second and third stage coproduced, trialed and evaluated age-friendly initiatives with two dining venues., Results: Through co-design, seven domains of an age-friendly dining experience were identified (Menu, Affordability, Dementia Awareness, Venue, Feeling Welcome, Special Offerings and Assistance), alongside an overarching desire for a 'meaningful' dining experience. Differences in health and socioeconomic status of diners underpinned the differences needed to ensure an age-friendly dining experience and highlight the importance of contextualisation for the local population. The trial demonstrated positive outcomes for both older diners and venues., Discussion: The environment, value and logistics of dining out are important to older people when making choices about dining in the community. The elements of an age-friendly dining experience presented in this study are a useful starting point for contextualisation to other local settings., (© 2022 Australian Health Promotion Association.)