Today's Older Adults Are Cognitively Fitter Than Older Adults Were 20 Years Ago, but When and How They Decline Is No Different Than in the Past

On some challenges of psychological research in late adulthood and aging

The World population is aging and, consequently, understanding late adulthood and aging processes is a major scientific priority. Research in this segment of the life is particularly challenging: the lifespan approach, necessary for thorough aging investigations, implies theoretical multidisciplinary and methodological multivariate perspectives; variability during aging is particularly high compared to previous life phases; study designs must account for specific predicaments (such as confound between age, cohort, and time of measurement; selective study participation and attrition; assumed age-invariance of measurements; retest effects). Furthermore, promising methods for data analysis develop on a daily basis, requiring continuous technical training. I will discuss some of these challenges, summarize extant potential solutions, and touch on some ethical and broader social responsibility issues.

Feasibility of using virtual reality in geriatric psychiatry

OBJECTIVES

Virtual Reality-based interventions have become an important element of digital mental health, offering accessible and scalable treatment options. However, studies on VR-based approaches in elderly patients are scarce. This explorative study examined the feasibility of using Virtual Reality (VR) for elderly patients with psychiatric illness, focusing on the sense of presence as the primary outcome.

METHODS

The study included N = 30 patients between the ages of 59-92 years who were currently in geriatric psychiatric inpatient and day clinic treatment. Participants were assessed before, during and after a relaxing ten-minute VR experience. Attitude towards digital media and VR, subjective digital competence, and previous experience were examined using questionnaires. Motion sickness was measured repeatedly during the VR experience using the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS). Patients rated their motion sickness and their general well-being in the virtual environment. Sense of presence in the virtual environment was quantified with the Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ).

RESULTS

Participants reported a notable sense of presence (M = 0.41 ± 1.4) in the virtual environment, particularly in terms of spatial presence. Motion sickness was reported by a minority of patients. Three patients terminated the VR application before it was finished. The average well-being during the VR experience was reported as high (70/100). Sense of presence and motion sickness showed a significant negative correlation. Presence, motion sickness and well-being were not significantly correlated with age, nor did they differ significantly between groups.

CONCLUSIONS

This study underscores the potential of VR-based experiences in the treatment of elderly psychiatric patients and highlights their willingness and ability to engage with VR technology. While the results are promising, future research should explore more interactive VR scenarios and assess their safety and feasibility in elderly populations.

Exploring determinants of formation of cognitive anchors from altruistic messages: A fuzzy DEMATEL approach

Altruistic communication by non-profit organizations plays a crucial role in shaping individuals' perceptions and beliefs about altruism. One of the indicators of effective communication is the anchoring of the messages. Therefore, understanding the underlying determinants of anchoring in altruistic communication is essential. Despite the importance of anchoring in the communication of altruism, extant research has not done much to examine the determinants of anchoring in altruistic communication. This paper investigates the determinants of anchoring in non-profit organizations' altruistic communication through the lens of the dual process theory. It applies the Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (F-DEMATEL) method to analyze the causal and effect factors. Data were gathered from 12 social communication experts based in Taiwan. Out of the 12 proposed determinants, three factors, namely consistency, cultural consideration, and emotional anchoring, were established as significant causal factors. Consistency had causal effects on five other factors, namely, the use of metaphors, the use of antinomies, thematic anchoring, understanding the cognitive ability of the audience, and crafting engaging information. Cultural consideration had causal effects on feedback, naming, use of antinomies, thematic anchoring, emotional anchoring, and repetition. Emotional anchoring had causal effects on thematic anchoring, use of antinomies, use of metaphors, consistency, naming, feedback, understanding the cognitive ability of the audience, and repetition. On the other hand, feedback, naming, and use of antinomies were established as significant effect factors. The study's findings offer crucial contributions to the social communication literature and provide important insights for social communication practitioners.

Timing of lifespan influences on brain and cognition

Modifiable risk and protective factors for boosting brain and cognitive development and preventing neurodegeneration and cognitive decline are embraced in neuroimaging studies. We call for sobriety regarding the timing and quantity of such influences on brain and cognition. Individual differences in the level of brain and cognition, many of which present already at birth and early in development, appear stable, larger, and more pervasive than differences in change across the lifespan. Incorporating early-life factors, including genetics, and investigating both level and change will reduce the risk of ascribing undue importance and causality to proximate factors in adulthood and older age. This has implications for both mechanistic understanding and prevention.

Explaining Variation in Individual Aging, Its Sources, and Consequences: A Comprehensive Conceptual Model of Human Aging

We define aging as a characteristic deterioration in one (or more) observable attributes of an organism that typically occurs during later life. With this narrow functional definition, we gain the freedom to separate aging from other processes of age-related change (e.g., maturation, growth, illness, terminal decline). We introduce a structural model that distinguishes between (1) the phenomenon of aging, (2) the subjective experience of aging, (3) sources of aging, and (4) consequences of aging. A core focus of the model is on the role of buffering mechanisms of biological repair and personal adaptation that regulate the relations between sources of aging, aging proper, and its consequences. The quality and level of functioning of these buffering mechanisms also varies across the life span, which directly affects the sources of aging, resulting in either resilience against or accelerated aging, and thus can be considered to be a major source of the variation in aging processes among different individuals. External factors comprising attributes of the physical environment and sociocultural characteristics are considered as contexts in which aging occurs. These contextual factors are assumed to feed into the various components of the model. Our model provides an interdisciplinary account of human aging, its sources and consequences, and also its subjective experience, by integrating biological, psychological, lifestyle, and sociocultural factors, and by specifying their interrelations and interactions. The model provides a comprehensive understanding of individual human aging, its underlying processes, and modulating factors. It allows for the derivation of empirically testable hypotheses, and it helps practitioners to identify elements that lend themselves to targeted intervention efforts aimed at increasing the resilience of individuals against aging and buffering its negative consequences.

Younger Than Ever? Subjective Age Is Becoming Younger and Remains More Stable in Middle-Age and Older Adults Today

Little is known about historical shifts in subjective age (i.e., how old individuals feel). Moving beyond the very few time-lagged cross-sectional cohort comparisons, we examined historical shifts in within-person trajectories of subjective age from midlife to advanced old age. We used cohort-comparative longitudinal data from middle-age and older adults in the German Ageing Survey (N = 14,928; ~50% female) who lived in Germany and were between 40 and 85 years old when entering the study. They provided up to seven observations over 24 years. Results revealed that being born later in historical time is associated with feeling younger by 2% every birth-year decade and with less intraindividual change toward an older subjective age. Women reported feeling younger than men; this gender gap widened across cohorts. The association of higher education with younger subjective age became weaker across cohorts. Potential reasons for the subjective-rejuvenation effect across cohorts are discussed.