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Wayne State University Dissertations

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Aging

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Trained And Derived Relational Responding, Jonathan D. Sober Jan 2021

Trained And Derived Relational Responding, Jonathan D. Sober

Wayne State University Dissertations

Introduction: Persons with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) show impairments in semantic and associative memory years before the onset of clinical symptoms. However, many tasks used to assess these deficits make use of previously learned stimuli, often within well-established semantic networks that may be more resistant to disease-related changes. No research has been conducted examining trained and derived relational responding (TDRR) in older adults or in the presence of AD risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a novel TDRR task would be sensitive to age-related and disease-risk cognitive changes. Method: Thirty younger adults and 15 older …


Change In Processing Speed And Its Associations With Cerebral White Matter Microstructure, Muzamil Arshad Jan 2017

Change In Processing Speed And Its Associations With Cerebral White Matter Microstructure, Muzamil Arshad

Wayne State University Dissertations

The decline of cognition with age is one of the most feared aspects of aging, while the slowing of responses, or reduced processing speed, is one of the most reliable aspects of aging. Slowing of processing has been hypothesized to affect other domains of cognition as well. Despite the well-known slowing-age relationship and central position processing speed plays in theories of cognitive aging the neurobiological mechanisms which underpin slowing is unclear. If we could identify the biology associated with processing speed we could then attempt to develop interventions to mitigate the effects of age on those variables. In turn we …


The Impact Of Age On Workplace Motivation: A Person-Centered Perspective, Keith Lynn Zabel Jan 2016

The Impact Of Age On Workplace Motivation: A Person-Centered Perspective, Keith Lynn Zabel

Wayne State University Dissertations

The present study used the person-centered approach to examine how profiles based upon six different age conceptualizations differentially impact workplace motivation. In the first known study to examine all conceptualizations of age simultaneously, results suggested the age conceptualizations of subjective age and health significantly impact growth motives for older workers, but not social or security motives. Results suggest social motives are influenced more by chronological age as opposed to other conceptualizations of age. Implications for practitioners in designing and implementing HR activities (e.g., succession planning) and researchers in utilizing all the conceptualizations of age and studying workplace interventions are discussed.


Accumulation Of Subcortical Iron As A Modifier Of Volumetric And Cognitive Decline In Healthy Aging: Two Longitudinal Studies, Ana Marie Daugherty Jan 2014

Accumulation Of Subcortical Iron As A Modifier Of Volumetric And Cognitive Decline In Healthy Aging: Two Longitudinal Studies, Ana Marie Daugherty

Wayne State University Dissertations

Accumulation of non-heme iron in the brain has been theorized as a cellular mechanism underlying global neural and cognitive decline in normal aging and neurodegenerative disease. Relatively few studies of brain iron in normal aging exist and extant studies are almost exclusively cross-sectional. Here, I estimated iron content via T2* and measured volumes in several brain regions in two independent samples of healthy adults. The first sample (N = 89) was measured twice with a two-year delay; and the second sample (N = 32) was assessed four times over a span of 7 years. Latent models estimated change in iron …


Changes In Cerebral White Matter, Vascular Risk And Cognition Across The Adult Lifespan, Andrew Robert Bender Jan 2014

Changes In Cerebral White Matter, Vascular Risk And Cognition Across The Adult Lifespan, Andrew Robert Bender

Wayne State University Dissertations

Numerous studies over the past decade have used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine associations between age, diffusion and anisotropy measures of cerebral white matter (WM), and cognitive performance. However, few have examined relationships between intra-individual change in DTI measures of WM and cognitive function. It is possible that the extant cross-sectional findings are a poor representation of age-related change in WM and cognition. The present study used latent difference-score modeling (LDM) to assess change over two years in DTI indices fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (DR), axial diffusivity (DA) and mean diffusivity (MD). In addition, we examined the effects …


Assessment Of The Semantic Knowledge Network In Older Adults With Familial History Of Alzheimer's Disease, Erin Marie Holcomb Jan 2013

Assessment Of The Semantic Knowledge Network In Older Adults With Familial History Of Alzheimer's Disease, Erin Marie Holcomb

Wayne State University Dissertations

Current techniques for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease rely on early implementation, which necessitates the need for accurate and early identification of individuals most at risk for future cognitive decline. Research has demonstrated the usefulness of examining the temporal gradient for long-term semantic knowledge in identification of such individuals. The assessment of the temporal gradient within varying levels of knowledge specificity, however, has received considerably less attention. In this study, we aimed to contrast accuracy and reaction times for semantic memory tasks tapping multiple dimensions of semantic specificity from multiple time epochs in adult children with and without a parental …


The Influence Of Gender And Aging On The Neural Circuitry Supporing Facial Emotion Processing In Adults With Major Depressive Disorder, Emily Briceno Jan 2013

The Influence Of Gender And Aging On The Neural Circuitry Supporing Facial Emotion Processing In Adults With Major Depressive Disorder, Emily Briceno

Wayne State University Dissertations

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with decrements in facial emotion processing (FEP). Previous studies investigating the neural substrates of these decrements have often reported hyperactivity of emotion processing circuitry. Neural circuitry supporting FEP has been shown to be different between healthy men and women, and between young and elder adults. However, no prior studies have investigated how gender and aging affect emotion processing circuitry in individuals with MDD. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of gender and aging on emotion processing circuitry in MDD. One hundred-ten adults, grouped into subgroups according to MDD status, gender, and age …