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Prospective Associations Of Homocysteine, Executive Function, And Depressive Symptoms, Peter J. Dearborn
Prospective Associations Of Homocysteine, Executive Function, And Depressive Symptoms, Peter J. Dearborn
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Associations of cardiovascular risk factors, cognitive performance, and depressive symptoms have been well established. However, the directionality of these associations as well as the specificity of these associations with respect to executive function are less clear. Additionally few studies have determined whether genetic risk factors, such as apolipoprotein-E4 (APOE-E4) genotype, and age moderate the associations of cardiovascular risk factors such as homocysteine with changes in depressive symptoms and how these associations may be mediated by cognitive performance. The primary aim of this study was to analyze the bidirectional associations of a full range of cognitive domains and symptoms of depression …
Rescuing Age-Related Proteolysis Deficits With Methylene Blue, Shane E. Pullins
Rescuing Age-Related Proteolysis Deficits With Methylene Blue, Shane E. Pullins
Theses and Dissertations
The average lifespan is constantly increasing with the advent of new medical techniques, and age-related cognitive decline is becoming a prevalent societal issue. Even during healthy aging, humans and rats exhibit progressive deficits in episodic/declarative memory. In laboratory rats, age-related memory impairment can be assessed with trace fear conditioning (TFC). Recent research implicates ubiquitin proteasome system-mediated protein degradation in the synaptic plasticity supporting memory formation and retrieval. In rats, aging leads to decreased basal proteolytic activity in brain structures known to support the acquisition and retrieval of trace fear memories, and our preliminary data suggests activity-dependent proteasome activity declines in …
Life-Long Creativity: Changing The Narrative Of Aging And Retirement, Jennifer K. Gippel Dr
Life-Long Creativity: Changing The Narrative Of Aging And Retirement, Jennifer K. Gippel Dr
Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects
The current narratives and stereotypes around retirement and aging are both inaccurate and incomplete. The popular media regularly portrays retirees and older citizens as blissfully happy but bland; or physically feeble and forgetful. Rarely are they portrayed as achievers and vibrant problem solvers. Instead they are perceived by policy makers as a problem to be solved. This project offers a different narrative ― one that presents retirement and aging as a unique time of creative opportunity, possibility, and freedom to choose. The primary outcome of the project is two chapters of a book entitled: Retirement by design: How to discover …
Association Between Latent Toxoplasma Gondii Infection And Alzheimer's Disease, Cynthia Elizabeth Wyman
Association Between Latent Toxoplasma Gondii Infection And Alzheimer's Disease, Cynthia Elizabeth Wyman
Theses and Dissertations
Introduction: Many studies have found an association between Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity and behavioral and cognitive changes in animal models and in humans. In addition, early findings have suggested an association between T. gondii seropositivity and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We sought to determine whether there is an association between T. gondii seropositivity and AD as well as cognitive functioning (including memory, working memory, processing speed, language functioning, executive functioning) in a large, well-characterized sample of subjects with AD and matched controls without dementia. Method: Using ELISA assays, we determined anti-T. gondii IgG antibody titers in 114 control subjects and in 105 …
Association Between Latent Toxoplasma Gondii Infection And Alzheimer's Disease, Cynthia Elizabeth Wyman
Association Between Latent Toxoplasma Gondii Infection And Alzheimer's Disease, Cynthia Elizabeth Wyman
Theses and Dissertations
Introduction: Many studies have found an association between Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity and behavioral and cognitive changes in animal models and in humans. In addition, early findings have suggested an association between T. gondii seropositivity and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We sought to determine whether there is an association between T. gondii seropositivity and AD as well as cognitive functioning (including memory, working memory, processing speed, language functioning, executive functioning) in a large, well-characterized sample of subjects with AD and matched controls without dementia. Method: Using ELISA assays, we determined anti-T. gondii IgG antibody titers in 114 control subjects and in …
A Descriptive Study Of The Elderly In California Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, David Berenschot
A Descriptive Study Of The Elderly In California Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, David Berenschot
Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations
As gerontologists may know, there are a great deal of studies and a variety of academic literature on the misuse of alcohol and prescription medication amongst the elderly population. While there is a plethora of information on alcohol and prescription misuse, there is little reported data about the prevalence of other substance misuse experienced by this population. This study aims to help to fill that gap in the data by using quantitative methods to describe the scope of substance abuse of individuals 55-years or older. This study utilizes data from the Treatment Data Set Admission (TEDS-A). The TEDS-A is a …
Age-Related Changes In Visual Spatial Performance, Samantha Farrell
Age-Related Changes In Visual Spatial Performance, Samantha Farrell
Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)
Visual spatial skills allow individuals to understand the relationship between objects, people, and the environment for their everyday activities. Visual spatial abilities incorporate visual, motor, and cognitive components, each of which changes across the lifespan. The current study examined the effects of age-related changes and practice type on visual spatial performance. Participants between 40 and 79 years of age were asked to complete the Block Design Task (BDT) by using nine blocks to recreate various designs. Both accuracy and latency were measured to examine these changes. Task difficulty and practice type were varied and cognitive abilities were measured via MMSE …
Optimism And Pain Interference In Aging Women, Stephanie T. Judge
Optimism And Pain Interference In Aging Women, Stephanie T. Judge
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Pain interferes with people's daily lives and often limits the extent to which they can pursue goals and engages in activities that promote well-being. The present study test how optimism affects and is affected by pain interference and activity among older women. Every three months for two years, middle- and older-age women (N = 199) complete daily diaries at home for a seven-day period, reporting their daily pain, pain interference, and activity. Optimism was measured at baseline and end-of-study. Multilevel models test the between- and within-person relationships among pain, optimism, pain interference and activity. Pain best predicted pain interference …
Aging Is In The Eye Of The Beholder: Eye-Tracking And Person-Perception Analyses Of Young And Old Faces, Stephanie M. Ha
Aging Is In The Eye Of The Beholder: Eye-Tracking And Person-Perception Analyses Of Young And Old Faces, Stephanie M. Ha
Honors Theses
To examine possible mechanisms related to negative attitudes of aging revealed in face processing patterns, young and old participants rated their first impressions (positive or negative) of 100 faces of young and old individuals taken from the CAL/PAL Fate Database (Minear & Park, 2004) while gaze patterns were recorded using eye-tracking methods. In a follow-up study, an independent sample of young participants rated the same 100 faces on competence, attractiveness, and subjective age in order to further assess age-related stereotypes. This study replicated the T-gaze pattern in previous eye-tracking studies (Firestone, Turk, Browne, & Ryan 2007). We also found evidence …
Testing A Values-Based Approach To Healthcare Decision-Making In Older Adults, Paul Jefferson Geiger
Testing A Values-Based Approach To Healthcare Decision-Making In Older Adults, Paul Jefferson Geiger
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Despite natural declines in physical and cognitive function, older adults maintain good emotion regulation abilities, leading to emotional wellbeing and resilience. This phenomenon can partially be explained by socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), which posits that when time is perceived as a limited resource, older adults focus attention on positive environmental stimuli to regulate emotions. Although this positivity effect maintains emotional wellbeing, it may disrupt information processing related to healthcare decision-making. Older adults request less information from their doctors, are less likely to ask for a second opinion, make their decisions more quickly, and devote more attention to positive medical information, …
Maintenance Of Positive Affect Following Pain In Younger And Older Adults, Ian Andres Boggero
Maintenance Of Positive Affect Following Pain In Younger And Older Adults, Ian Andres Boggero
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that as people age, they become motivated and successful at maximizing positive emotions and minimizing negative ones. Yet, 70% of older adults report physical pain, which is associated with negative affect. The strategies and resources that older adults use to maintain positive affect in the face of pain remain largely unknown. Specific positivity-enhancing strategies include recalling, recognizing, and responding to positive stimuli and prioritizing close over knowledgeable social partners. Executive functions (EF, i.e., task-switching, working memory, and inhibition) and heart rate variability (HRV) may be important resources for coping with pain. The current project used two …