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Aging is associated with a decreased efficiency of different cognitive functions as well as in the perceptive, physical and physiological changes. The age-related cognitive decline concerns mainly attention, executive control and episodic memory. Some factors such as being physically active protect against the age-related decline. This review will discuss how physical activity can positively affect the cognitive efficiency and mental health of older healthy individuals, and possibly reduces the risk of progression into dementia, and depression. Underlying neurophysiological mechanisms play an important role for improving attention and episodic memory, which are the most sensitive to the effects of aging. We also present recommendations for the management of physical activity for the prevention of cognitive deficits, and the reduction of depressive symptoms in older persons. Given the benefits of physical activity for the prevention of neurodegenerative disease and the improvement of the well-being, it appears to be an important low cost therapeutic approach that should be integrated into clinical practice.

Aging is usually associated with cognitive decline, specifically of the executive functions supported by the frontal lobe. However, in line with observations about the preservation or even the increase of well-being with age, it has been suggested that emotion regulation efficiency follows the same developmental trajectory, remaining stable over time, or even increasing. Emotion regulation refers to a family of strategies aiming at modifying the nature, the intensity, the duration or the expression of emotions. These various strategies rely on different neurocognitive processes in order to be efficient. As these processes are differently affected by aging, some of those strategies appear more affected than others. Thus, elderly people tend to use more frequently situation selection strategies, such as avoiding potentially negative situations, while their ability to regulate an emotion using cognitive reappraisal (i.e., changing the meaning of the situation), a strategy drawing heavily on executive resources, appears less efficient than in younger people.

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Aims: As the risk of visual impairment increases with age, so does the risk of developing cognitive impairment. Detection of cognitive deficits in people with visual impairments is a challenge and it remains unclear to what extent cognitive issues impact daily habits and the rehabilitation process. The present study aimed to (1) verify the consistency between the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (“Blind” versions) and the therapist's observations of elderly individuals in low-vision rehabilitation (LVR), and (2) document how cognitive difficulties may influence LVR and the satisfactory carrying-out of life habits.Methods: Six elderly individuals who received LVR completed the MMSE and MoCA (“Blind” versions) and Assessment of Life Habits (LIFE-H). The therapist rated the achievement of rehabilitation objectives, clients' cognitive functioning and its impact on the rehabilitation process.Results: All participants obtained scores within the normative score range for both tests except for one participant on the MoCA. The therapist perceived that four out of six participants had cognitive difficulties significant enough to hinder the rehabilitation process and these persons required more adaptations to therapy. All participants were satisfied with their life habits despite remaining functional limitations and the need for assistance.Conclusions: In this sample, standardized cognitive tests had limited utility to predict the complexity of LVR. Even if present, cognitive difficulties do not preclude rehabilitation for even severe visual impairment in elderly persons and does not imply significantly longer or more intense rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Dementia Rating Scale-2 is used to measure cognitive status of adults with cognitive impairment, especially of the degenerative type, by assessing five cognitive functions, namely attention, initiation/perseveration, construction, conceptualization, and memory. The present study aimed to establish normative data for this test in the elderly French-Quebec population. A total of 432 French-speaking elders from the province of Quebec (Canada), aged 50 to 85 years, were administered the Dementia Rating Scale-2. Age and education were found to be associated with the total score on the test, while gender was not. Percentile ranks were then calculated for age- and education-stratified groups. Previous studies have shown that cultural background can affect performance on the DRS and the development of culture-specific norms for French-speaking Quebecers could be very useful to clinicians and researchers working with this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary objective: The goal of the present study was to assess the impact of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) on episodic memory performance in relation to attentional and executive control processes in young adults. Research design/methods: A verbal memory paradigm manipulating attentional load (full attention or divided attention) and semantic congruency between pairs of category-target words during encoding was administrated to 13 individuals with MTBI and 12 normal control participants. Environmental supports during retrieval (free recall, cued recall and recognition modes) were also manipulated. Main outcomes and results: Results show that recall performances of individuals with MTBI were similar to those of controls when words were encoded under full attention. In contrast, individuals with MTBI performed worse than control participants when encoding under divided attention, whatever the semantic link between pairs of words. Conclusions: By using a sensitive test, one was able to objectively measure subtle impairments in memory performance, suggesting a diminished availability of attentional resources after MTBI. Young adults' learning of verbal material under divided attention might be compromised by the reduction of cognitive resources following MTBI. These findings are also discussed in light of different factors that can influence cognitive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]