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Brito DVC, Esteves F, Rajado AT, Silva N, Araújo I, Bragança J, Castelo-Branco P, Nóbrega C. Assessing cognitive decline in the aging brain: lessons from rodent and human studies. NPJ AGING 2023; 9:23. [PMID: 37857723 PMCID: PMC10587123 DOI: 10.1038/s41514-023-00120-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
As life expectancy continues to increase worldwide, age-related dysfunction will largely impact our societies in the future. Aging is well established to promote the deterioration of cognitive function and is the primary risk factor for the development of prevalent neurological disorders. Even in the absence of dementia, age-related cognitive decline impacts specific types of memories and brain structures in humans and animal models. Despite this, preclinical and clinical studies that investigate age-related changes in brain physiology often use largely different methods, which hinders the translational potential of findings. This review seeks to integrate what is known about age-related changes in the brain with analogue cognitive tests used in humans and rodent studies, ranging from "pen and paper" tests to virtual-reality-based paradigms. Finally, we draw parallels between the behavior paradigms used in research compared to the enrollment into clinical trials that aim to study age-related cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- D V C Brito
- Algarve Biomedical Center-Research Institute (ABC-RI), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Algarve Biomedical Center- (ABC), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
| | - F Esteves
- Algarve Biomedical Center-Research Institute (ABC-RI), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Algarve Biomedical Center- (ABC), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
| | - A T Rajado
- Algarve Biomedical Center-Research Institute (ABC-RI), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Algarve Biomedical Center- (ABC), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
| | - N Silva
- Algarve Biomedical Center-Research Institute (ABC-RI), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Algarve Biomedical Center- (ABC), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
| | - I Araújo
- Algarve Biomedical Center-Research Institute (ABC-RI), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMCB), University of Algarve, Gambelas Campus, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Champalimaud Research Program, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - J Bragança
- Algarve Biomedical Center-Research Institute (ABC-RI), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Algarve Biomedical Center- (ABC), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMCB), University of Algarve, Gambelas Campus, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Champalimaud Research Program, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - P Castelo-Branco
- Algarve Biomedical Center-Research Institute (ABC-RI), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Algarve Biomedical Center- (ABC), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMCB), University of Algarve, Gambelas Campus, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal
- Champalimaud Research Program, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - C Nóbrega
- Algarve Biomedical Center-Research Institute (ABC-RI), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal.
- Algarve Biomedical Center- (ABC), Campus Gambelas, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal.
- Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMCB), University of Algarve, Gambelas Campus, Bld.2, Faro, Portugal.
- Champalimaud Research Program, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal.
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Ma J, Tang L, Peng P, Wang T, Gui H, Ren X. Shifting as an executive function separate from updating and inhibition in old age: Behavioral and genetic evidence. Behav Brain Res 2023; 452:114604. [PMID: 37516210 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
This study aimed to examine the organization of executive functions (EFs), specifically working memory updating, prepotent response inhibition, and mental-set shifting in old age, with a particular focus on determining whether the shifting function was behaviorally and genetically separated from the other functions. A total of 248 healthy older Chinese individuals participated, and multiple measures of executive functions were collected. Additionally, measures of fluid intelligence were included to explore the varying relationships between the three executive functions and this higher-order cognitive ability. Furthermore, genetic data were gathered and analyzed to investigate the associations between EFs and six candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mapped to dopaminergic, serotonergic, or glutamatergic genes. The results indicated that both the three-factor model and the two-factor model, which combined updating and inhibition, demonstrated a good fit. Furthermore, shifting was found to be behaviorally separated from the other two functions, and the correlation between shifting and fluid intelligence was smaller compared to the correlations between updating and inhibition with fluid intelligence. Moreover, the DRD2 SNPs showed significant associations with shifting, rather than with updating and inhibition. These findings provide evidence that shifting is distinct and separate from updating and inhibition, highlighting the diversity of EFs among older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juanjuan Ma
- School of Education, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Lixu Tang
- School of Wushu, Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan 430079, China
| | - Peng Peng
- Department of Special Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA
| | - Tengfei Wang
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hongsheng Gui
- Behavioral Health Services and Psychiatry Research, Henry Ford Health, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Michigan State University, USA
| | - Xuezhu Ren
- School of Education, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China.
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Jin Y, Lin L, Xiong M, Sun S, Wu SC. Moderating effects of cognitive reserve on the relationship between brain structure and cognitive abilities in middle-aged and older adults. Neurobiol Aging 2023; 128:49-64. [PMID: 37163923 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
The cognitive reserve (CR) hypothesis is reinforced by negative moderating effects, suggesting that those with higher CR are less reliant on brain structure for cognitive function. Previous research on CR's moderating effects yielded inconsistent results, motivating our 3 studies using UK Biobank data. Study I examined five CR proxies' moderating effects on global, lobar, and regional brain-cognition models; study II extended study I by using a larger sample size; and study III investigated age-related moderating effects on the hippocampal regions. In study I, most moderating effects were negative and none survived the multiple comparison correction, but study II identified 13 global-level models with significant negative moderating effects that survived correction. Study III showed age influenced CR proxies' moderating effects in hippocampal regions. Our findings suggest that the effects of CR proxies on brain integrity and cognition varied depending on the proxy used, brain integrity indicators, cognitive domain, and age group. This study offers significant insights regarding the importance of CR for brain integrity and cognitive outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Jin
- Intelligent Physiological Measurement and Clinical Translation, Beijing International Base for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Lan Lin
- Intelligent Physiological Measurement and Clinical Translation, Beijing International Base for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China.
| | - Min Xiong
- Intelligent Physiological Measurement and Clinical Translation, Beijing International Base for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Shen Sun
- Intelligent Physiological Measurement and Clinical Translation, Beijing International Base for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Shui-Cai Wu
- Intelligent Physiological Measurement and Clinical Translation, Beijing International Base for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
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Schulte M, Trujillo N, Rodríguez-Villagra OA, Salas N, Ibañez A, Carriedo N, Huepe D. The role of executive functions, social cognition and intelligence in predicting social adaptation of vulnerable populations. Sci Rep 2022; 12:18693. [PMID: 36333437 PMCID: PMC9636196 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21985-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
This study sought to evaluate the roles of and interactions between cognitive processes that have been shown to exhibit impact from socioeconomic status (SES) and living conditions in predicting social adaptation (SA) in a population of adults living in socially vulnerable conditions. Participants included 226 people between the ages of 18 and 60 who have been living in vulnerable contexts throughout life in Santiago, Chile. Data was collected through a battery of psychological assessments. A structural equation model (SEM) was implemented to examine the interrelationships among cognitive and social variables. Results indicate a significant relationship between executive function (EF) and SA through both social cognition (SC) and intelligence. Theory of Mind (ToM), a component of SC, was shown to exhibit a significant relationship with affective empathy; interestingly, this was negatively related to SA. Moreover, fluid intelligence (FI) was found to exhibit a positive, indirect relationship with SA through crystallized intelligence (CI). Evaluation of these results in the context of research on the impacts of SES and vulnerable living conditions on psychological function may allow for the development of more effective clinical, political, and social interventions to support psychosocial health among socially vulnerable populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Schulte
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - N Trujillo
- Mental Health Group, National Department of Public Health, University of Antioquia, UDEA, calle 62#52-59, 050010, Medellín, Colombia
- Neuroscience Group, Universidad de Antioquia-UDEA, 050010, Medellín, Colombia
| | - O A Rodríguez-Villagra
- Institute for Psychological Research, University of Costa Rica, Sabanilla, San José, Costa Rica
- Neuroscience Research Center, University of Costa Rica, San Pedro, San José, Costa Rica
| | - N Salas
- Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - A Ibañez
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) UCSF, San Francisco, USA
- Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Dublin, Ireland
| | - N Carriedo
- National Distance Education University (UNED), Madrid, Spain
| | - D Huepe
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
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