Aging

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Air pollution substantially reduces cognitive ability in older adults
  • A very large study shows that greater exposure to air pollution was linked to poorer cognitive performance in older adults, especially men and the less educated.

A large Chinese study involving 20,000 people has found that the longer people were exposed to air pollution, the worse their cognitive performance in verbal and math tests. The effect of air pollution on verbal tests became more pronounced with age, especially for men and the less educated.
Depression linked to faster cognitive decline in older adults
  • A review of 34 studies confirms depression is linked to faster cognitive decline in older adults.

A review of 34 longitudinal studies, involving 71,244 older adults, has concluded that depression is associated with greater cognitive decline.
Fruit & veges slow memory decline in long-running study
  • A large, long-running study has found an association between consumption of fruit & vegetables and subjectively assessed memory skills in older men.

A study following nearly 28,000 older men for 20 years has found that regular consumption of leafy greens, dark orange and red vegetables and berry fruits, and orange juice, was associated with a lower risk of memory loss.
Older adults' distractability can be used to help put a face to a name
  • A small study has used older adults’ inability to ignore irrelevant information to improve their memory for face-name pairs.

One important reason for the greater cognitive problems commonly experienced as we age, is our increasing difficulty in ignoring distracting and irrelevant information. But it may be that in some circumstances that propensity can be used to help memory.
Gist memory may be why false memories are more common in older adults
  • Gist processing appears to play a strong role in false memories.
  • Older adults rely on gist memory more.
  • Older adults find it harder to recall specific sensory details that would help confirm whether a memory is true.

Do older adults forget as much as they think, or is it rather that they ‘misremember’?
Lifestyle changes can prevent cognitive decline even in genetically at-risk individuals
  • A large study indicates that lifestyle changes, together with advice and support for managing vascular health, can help prevent cognitive decline even in carriers of the Alzheimer's gene.

A Finnish study involving over 1000 older adults suggests that a counselling program can prevent cognitive decline even among those with the Alzheimer’s gene.
Daily crosswords linked to sharper brain in later life
  • A very large online study has found that doing word puzzles regularly protects against age-related cognitive decline.

Data from more than 17,000 healthy people aged 50 and over has revealed that the more regularly participants engaged with word puzzles, the better they performed on tasks assessing attention, reasoning and memory.
How risky is surgery for older adults' cognitive function?

Several studies suggest that post-operative cognitive decline in older adults is due to several factors:

  • the stress of hospitalization, if unexpected
  • brain inflammation caused by an immune response from the brain’s microglia
  • post-operative delirium.

It also seems that higher levels of cognitive function, higher levels of engagement in certain cognitive activities, and better cerebrovascular health, all protect against such decline.

Unplanned hospitalizations accelerate cognitive decline in older adults

Data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project has found that emergency and urgent hospitalizations are associated with an increased rate of cognitive decline in older adults.
Greater muscle strength = better cognitive function
  • While handgrip strength has been linked to dementia risk in the elderly, a new study indicates that less impaired or fragile older adults need upper and lower body strength tests — but that these, too, are correlated with cognitive function.

A Finnish study involving 338 older adults (average age 66) has found that greater muscle strength is associated with better cognitive function.
Rapid blood pressure drops in middle age linked to dementia in old age
  • A large study indicates that an inclination to dizziness on standing up is associated with a greater risk of developing cognitive impairment and dementia decades later.

Data from over 11,500 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort has found evidence that orthostatic hypotension in middle age may increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia 20 years later.

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