Relation between cognitive and cerebello-thalamo-cortical functions in healthy elderly people: Evidence from the Yakumo Study.

Relations between cognitive and cerebello-thalamo-cortical functions in healthy elderly people (65-75 years old) were examined by longitudinal behavioral data. Based on the individually calculated cognitive decline ratio in D-CAT (digit cancelation test) and in LMT (Logical Memory Test) during the period of 11 years, participants were classified into the Decline and the Maintain groups and group differences in the postural tremor measures (Quotient of Romberg) were compared. Significant group differences were shown in the postural tremor measure in D-CAT that reflects prefrontal function, but it was not the case in LMT. These results strengthened our previous findings that suggest a strong relation between the cerebello-thalamo-cortical function and the prefrontal cortex function using behavioral measures. Findings provide evidence that to strengthen postural function such as physical exercise is effective for slowing cognitive decline with age.

Visual Search Load Effects on Age-Related Cognitive Decline: Evidence From the Yakumo Longitudinal Study.

The validity of Bucur and Madden's (2010) proposal that an age-related decline is particularly pronounced in executive function measures rather than in elementary perceptual speed measures was examined via the Yakumo Study longitudinal database. Their proposal suggests that cognitive load differentially affects cognitive abilities in older adults. To address their proposal, linear regression coefficients of 104 participants were calculated individually for the digit cancellation task 1 (D-CAT1), where participants search for a given single digit, and the D-CAT3, where they search for 3 digits simultaneously. Therefore, it can be conjectured that the D-CAT1 represents primarily elementary perceptual speed and low-visual search load task. whereas the D-CAT3 represents primarily executive function and high-visual search load task. Regression coefficients from age 65 to 75 for the D-CAT3 showed a significantly steeper decline than that for the D-CAT1, and a large number of participants showed this tendency. These results support the proposal by Brcur and Madden (2010) and suggest that the degree of cognitive load affects age-related cognitive decline.

[Relations among higher brain function, trust, and gullibility in middle-aged and elderly people].

In this study, we examined the relationships among higher brain function, trust or distrust, and gullibility in middle-aged and elderly people. It has been pointed out that the trust can be regarded the psychological frame of automatic processing in decision-makinig. The participants were 309 rural community dwellers (127-males and 182 females) whose mean age was 64.9 years old (SD = 9.9). The trust scale of Amagai (1997) and the Nagoya University Cognitive Assessment Battery were used to measure sense of trust and higher brain function, respectively. Gullibility was measured by self-report using two items. Correlation analyses showed that higher brain function positively correlated with degree of trust in others and negatively correlated with distrust. However, regression analysis demonstrated that only the relationship between category fluency and distrust was significant. Furthermore, the degree of distrust positively correlated with gullibility.

Developmental trajectories of verbal and visuospatial abilities in healthy older adults: comparison of the hemisphere asymmetry reduction in older adults model and the right hemi-ageing model.

Two models of cognitive ageing, the hemisphere asymmetry reduction in older adults (HAROLD) model and the right hemi-ageing model, were compared based upon the verbal memory and visuospatial task performance of 338 elderly participants. Comparison of the developmental trajectories for four age groups (50s, 60s, 70s and 80s) supported the HAROLD model, but not the right hemi-ageing model. Performance differences between the verbal memory and visuospatial tasks in the earlier age groups decreased in the later age groups. There was a sex difference in the cognitive-decline trajectories for verbal and visuospatial task performance after the 50s.

The relation between cognitive function and UI in healthy, community-dwelling, middle-aged and elderly people.

The aim of this study was to examine the relation between UI and cognitive function among non-disabled middle-aged and elderly community-dwelling people. A total of 201 participants (86 men and 115 women) were given a structured questionnaire regarding their condition of UI as well as a cognitive assessment battery (memory, attention, verbal fluency, information processing speed, and visuospatial function). The results showed a significant relation between UI and cognitive tasks for letter fluency, attention, and information processing speed, while no relation was found in cognitive tasks for memory and visuospatial function. Based on these findings, possible mechanisms regarding the relation between UI and cognitive function, and preventive methods to reduce the prevalence of UI in middle-aged and upper middle-aged community dwellers are discussed.

Subjective age in a modern Japanese young, middle-age, and upper middle-age sample.

The subjective age perception of a Japanese sample of 1,459 (ages in the 20s to 80s) was surveyed, and participants were asked to give their subjective psychological ages. Irrespective of the cohort, participants felt their subjective age to be younger than their chronological age, and a cohort difference was found in the size of the discrepancy. The middle- and upper middle-age generations (50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s) showed a larger discrepancy than that of prior tested young adults (20s and 30s). A cross-cultural comparison was conducted, and possible reasons for the discrepancy between subjective and chronological ages were examined.