Multisensory Integration and Aging

Speechreading and Aging

ABSTRACTMeaningful intergenerational interactions between older and younger adults are rare outside of family relationships. Interventions to increase positive intergenerational interactions are growing, but finding appropriate measures of attitudes toward both younger and older age groups is difficult. Many measures assessing attitudes toward older adults can remind participants of negative stereotypes of aging and are rarely used to assess attitudes toward younger adults. We adapted Pittinsky, Rosenthal, and Montoya’s allophilia measure to assess attitudes toward younger (18–25 years old) and older (over age 65) adults. In the first study, 94 traditional college age and 52 older adults rated older and younger adults. The allophilia measure distinguished between younger and older adults’ attitudes toward each age group. In the second study, we compared the age-related allophilia measures with seven traditional measures of attitudes toward older adults. Forty-seven traditional college age students completed measures. As predicted, correlations between allophilia toward older adults and the traditional semantic differential measures were weak (i.e., r = |0.15|or less), whereas correlations with general attitudes toward older adults were more moderate (r = 0.59 or less). Correlations between allophilia toward younger adults and the traditional measures were primarily non-significant as predicted. The allophilia measure differentiated between the five domains of positive attitudes toward younger and older adults and was not highly correlated with measures of more negative attitudes toward older adults. Results suggest that the allophilia measure can fill a need for a measure of positive attitudes toward older and younger adults.

Although hearing often declines with age, prior research has shown that older adults may benefit from multisensory input to a greater extent when compared to younger adults, a concept known as inverse effectiveness. While there is behavioral evidence in support of this phenomenon, less is known about its neural basis. The present functional MRI (fMRI) study examined how older and younger adults processed multimodal auditory-visual (AV) phonemic stimuli which were either congruent or incongruent across modalities. Incongruent AV pairs were designed to elicit the McGurk effect. Behaviorally, reaction times were significantly faster during congruent trials compared to incongruent trials for both age-groups, and overall older adults responded more slowly. The interaction was not significant, suggesting that older adults processed the AV stimuli similarly to younger adults. Although there were minimal behavioral differences, age-related differences in functional activation were identified: Younger adults elicited greater activation than older adults in primary sensory regions including superior temporal gyrus, the calcarine fissure, and left postcentral gyrus. In contrast, older adults elicited greater activation than younger adults in dorsal frontal regions including middle and superior frontal gyri, as well as dorsal parietal regions. These data suggest that while there is age-related stability in behavioral sensitivity to multimodal stimuli, the neural bases for this effect differed between older and younger adults. Our results demonstrated that older adults underrecruited primary sensory cortices and had increased recruitment of regions involved in executive function, attention, and monitoring processes, which may reflect an attempt to compensate.

Functional Assessment in Younger and Older Adults with Sickle Cell Disease

High Diagnostic Uncertainty and Inaccuracy in Adult Emergency Department Patients With Dyspnea: A National Database Analysis.

The hyperemic response to passive leg movement (PLM) is largely (~80%) nitric oxide (NO) mediated in young adults, whereas both the overall response and NO contribution (~20%) are diminished in older adults. A transient hyperemic response remains in both groups after NO blockade, however, the mechanisms contributing to this remaining response are unknown. Vasodilatory substances including prostaglandins (PG) and endothelial derived hyperpolarizing factors (EDHF) are primary candidates contributing to PLM response. Moreover, these underlying mechanisms of the PLM response are likely influenced by exercise training in both young and older adults but this remains to be determined. Thus, we sought to determine if 1) PG and EDHF contribute to the hyperemic response in older adults, and 2) exercise training alters the mechanisms contributing to changes in PLM (i.e., NO, PG, or EDHF). The leg blood flow (LBF) response to PLM was measured by Doppler ultrasound in 9 young (25±4 yr) and 9 older (69±5 yr) adult males. PLM was performed with intra-arterial infusions of saline (control), NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) to inhibit NOS and NO production, and a combination of L-NMMA, ketorolac tromethamine (KET) to inhibit cyclooxygenase and PG production, and fluconazole (FLUC) to inhibit cytochrome P-450 and EDHF (L-NMMA+KET+FLUC). This PLM and drug infusion protocol were repeated following 8 weeks of single leg knee-extension (KE) exercise training to determine if the vasodilatory mechanisms regulating PLM-induced hyperemia are altered by exercise training. The hyperemic response to PLM (total LBF area under the curve) was significantly attenuated from control with infusion of L-NMMA in young adults (-287±280 mL, p<0.05) but remained unchanged in the older (-55±86 mL, P=0.70). Combined infusion of L-NMMA+KET+FLUC yielded similar results such that PLM decreased to the same degree as L-NMMA in young (-276±108 mL, p<0.05) with no significant change in older adults (-116±81 mL, P=0.36). Following 8 weeks of single leg KE training, maximal power (KEmax) improved in both young (+33±13 W, p<0.05) and older adults (+16±8 W, p<0.05). Despite improvements in KEmax, the hyperemic response to PLM only increased in young adults by ~30% (454±194 v. 604±351 mL, p<0.05), while no improvement was observed in older adults (225±142 v. 236±89 mL, P=0.86). The contribution of NO to PLM did not change following exercise training in either young (-238±217 mL, P=0.14) or older (-62±82 mL, P=0.72) adults. Likewise, the contribution of PG and EDHF also did not change in both young (-306±222 mL, P=0.68) and older (-108±116 mL, P=0.77) adults. These findings indicate that PG and EDHF do not have an additive effect to NO on the hyperemic response to PLM in both young and older adults. Therefore, the remaining hyperemic response following combined NO, PG, and EDHF inhibition is likely driven by non-endothelial dependent mechanisms. Moreover, these data indicate that 8 weeks of KE specific exercise training significantly improves the hyperemic response to PLM in young but not older adults. Interestingly, the observed improvements to PLM were not directly mediated through the NO, PG, or EDHF pathways but by some other, currently unidentified, mechanism. National Institutes of Health R01HL142603 (to J.D. Trinity) This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.

Multisensory integration typically follows the predictions of a statistically optimal model whereby the contribution of each sensory modality is weighted according to its reliability. Previous research has shown that multisensory integration is affected by ageing, however it is less certain whether older adults follow this statistically optimal model. Additionally, previous studies often present multisensory cues which are conflicting in size, shape or location, yet naturally occurring multisensory cues are usually non-conflicting. Therefore, the mechanisms of integration in older adults might differ depending on whether the multisensory cues are consistent or conflicting. In the current experiment, young ( n = 21) and older ( n = 30) adults were asked to make judgements regarding the height of wooden blocks using visual, haptic or combined visual-haptic information. Dual modality visual-haptic blocks could be presented as equal or conflicting in size. Young and older adults' size discrimination thresholds (i.e., precision) were not significantly different for visual, haptic or visual-haptic cues. In addition, both young and older adults' discrimination thresholds and points of subjective equality did not follow model predictions of optimal integration, for both conflicting and non-conflicting cues. Instead, there was considerable between subject variability as to how visual and haptic cues were processed when presented simultaneously. This finding has implications for the development of multisensory therapeutic aids and interventions to assist older adults with everyday activities, where these should be tailored to the needs of each individual.

BackgroundCardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with data showing an increasing trend. Previously uncommon, CVDs of lifestyle are now increasing in many Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries including Tanzania. The study aimed at determining the spectrum and distribution of CVDs among young (< 45 years) and older (≥ 45 years) adults referred for echocardiography at Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI).MethodsHospital-based cross sectional study was conducted among adult patients referred for echocardiography at JKCI between July and December 2021. Patient’s socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. CVD diagnoses were made using established diagnostic criterias. Comparisons were done using chi-square test and student’s t-test. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with abnormal echocardiography. A significance level was set at p-value < 0.05.ResultsIn total 1,050 patients (750 old and 300 young adults) were enrolled. The mean ± SD age was 62.2 ± 10.4 years and 33.5 ± 7.4 years for older and young adults respectively. Hypertension was the commonest indication for echocardiography both in the young (31%) and older (80%) adults. Majority of older adults were found to have abnormal echocardiography (90.7%), while only 44.7% of the young adults had abnormal echocardiography (p < 0.001). For the older adults, the commonest diagnoses were HHD (70.3%), IHD (9.7%), and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (6.1%) while for young adults, HHD (16.7%), non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (8%), RHD (8%) and MVP (4.3%) were the commonest. The differences in the echocardiographic diagnoses between young and older adults were statistically significant, p < 0.001. Being an older adult, hypertensive, overweight/obese were independently associated with abnormal echocardiography (p < 0.01).ConclusionHypertensive heart disease is the most common diagnosis among adult patients referred for echocardiography at JKCI, both in young and older adults. Primary prevention, early detection and treatment of systemic hypertension should be reinforced in order to delay or prevent its complications.

Objective:Epilepsy is the third most common neurological disorder among older adults, and as adults are living longer, the incidence of epilepsy is increasing (Kun Lee, 2019). The purpose of this study is to examine 1. differences in quality of life (QOL) between older and younger adults with medically intractable epilepsy and 2. the impact of seizure frequency, seizure duration, depression, sex, and marital status on QOL. Given differences in the prevalence rates of depression between men and women and importance of depression in QOL, we predicted that sex and marital status would moderate the effect of depression on total QOL (TQOL).Hypothesis I: Compared to younger adults, older adults with epilepsy will report lower TQOL scores and lower scores on subscales measuring energy/fatigue, cognition, and medication effects. Hypothesis II: Seizure variables and depression will significantly account for TQOL scores in both groups (younger and older) above demographic variables (sex, marital status, and education). Hypothesis III: Sex will moderate the effect of depression in both groups and marital status will moderate the effect of depression only in the older adults.Participants and Methods:Participants were 607 adults (&gt; 18 years old) who were prospective candidates for epilepsy surgery and underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation including QOL assessment using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Scale-31 (QOLIE-31). Individuals were grouped by older (&gt; 50 years old; N = 122) and younger adults (&lt; 50 years old; N = 485). Hierarchical regression was used to examine the proposed associations.Results:Hypothesis I: In contrast to our hypothesis, a one-way ANOVA did not reveal significant differences between the older and younger groups on the QOL subscales, TQOL, or depression.Hypothesis II: For older adults, longer seizure duration was associated with better TQOL; bivariate correlations showed no evidence of statistical suppression. Higher depression scores were associated with worse TQOL. Overall, the model accounted for 39.6% of variance among older adults. For younger adults, only depression was a significant predictor of TQOL wherein higher depression scores were associated with worse TQOL. Overall, the model accounted for 36.1% of the variance among younger adults. Hypothesis III: There was no moderation between depression and marital status in older or younger adults (b = -.009, p &gt; .05). There was multicollinearity evidenced by VIF (variance inflation factor) greater than 10, so the associations between depression and sex could not be examined.Conclusions:Overall, there were no significant differences between QOL in younger versus older adults. Greater depression symptoms were associated with lower TQOL in both groups. Longer seizure duration was a significant predictor of better TQOL in older adults only, perhaps indicating better adjustment to having a seizure disorder with longer duration of epilepsy. Lastly, marital status did not moderate the effects of depression on TQOL and the moderating effects of sex on TQOL could not be assessed due to multicollinearity. Study limitations include dichotomizing the sample into these particular age groups and the heterogeneity of seizure types.

Preferred and maximum walking speeds decline as we age, and the decline has been associated with worsening health. Slowing of gait in older individuals is correlated with biomechanical and neural factors, but historically it has been difficult to measure whole brain activity during walking. Recent advances in mobile brain imaging with high-density electroencephalography (EEG) allow for separation and localization of electrical brain activity during walking. We studied younger (N = 31) and older (N = 59) adults walking on a treadmill at different speeds (0.25-1.0 m/s) while we recorded electrocortical dynamics with EEG. We hypothesized that faster walking speeds would result in greater sensorimotor and posterior parietal theta-band (4-7 Hz) spectral power and lower beta-band (13-30 Hz) spectral power compared to slower walking speeds for older adults, consistent with previous studies on younger adults. Additionally, we used a standardized test of physical function to group older adults into high-functioning [Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) ≥ 10] and low-functioning (SPPB < 10) groups for comparison. In agreement with our hypotheses, sensorimotor and posterior parietal theta power increased and beta power decreased at faster walking speeds. We also found that left posterior parietal, mid cingulate, and cuneus exhibited differences in theta power at faster speeds between younger and older adults. The results suggest that older and younger adults activate cortical areas throughout the brain while walking at different speeds and older adults, particularly those with lower mobility, recruit greater cognitive resources in parietal cortex compared to younger adults. These results could inform stimulation protocols targeting parietal cortex.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Older and younger adults show widespread EEG beta power decreases at faster walking speeds compared to slower walking speeds. Older adults differentially alter EEG theta power while walking compared to younger adults. Prior studies with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) have documented differences in prefrontal activation in older adults walking compared to younger adults, but our results show cortical changes within speed and age outside of the prefrontal cortex.

Introduction: The use of shared automated vehicles (SAVs) should lead to several societal and individual benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced traffic, and improved mobility for persons who cannot safely drive themselves. We define SAVs as on-demand, fully automated vehicles in which passengers are paired with other riders traveling along a similar route. Previous research has shown that younger adults are more likely to report using conventional ridesharing services and are more accepting of new technologies including automated vehicles (AVs). However, older adults, particularly those who may be close to retiring from driving, stand to greatly benefit from SAV services. In order for SAVs to deliver on their aforementioned benefits, they must be viewed favorably and utilized. We sought to investigate how short educational and/or experiential videos might impact younger, middle-aged, and older adult respondents’ anticipated acceptance and attitudes toward SAVs. Knowing what types of introductory experiences improve different age groups’ perceptions of SAVs will be beneficial for tailoring campaigns aiming to promote SAV usage. Methods: We deployed an online survey using the platform Prolific for middle-aged and older respondents, and our departmental participant pool for younger adults, collecting 585 total responses that resulted in 448 valid responses. Respondents answered questions regarding their demographic attributes, their ridesharing history, preconceptions of technology, as well as their anticipated acceptance attitudes towards SAVs as measured by the dimensions of the Automated Vehicle User Perception Survey (AVUPS). After this, respondents were randomly assigned to an intervention condition where they either watched 1) an educational video about how SAVs work and their potential benefits, 2) an experiential video showing a AV navigating traffic, 3) both the experiential and educational videos, or 4) a control video explaining how ridesharing works. Anticipated acceptance attitudes towards SAVs were measured again after this intervention and difference scores calculated to investigate the effect of the intervention conditions. Prolific respondents were paid at a rate of $9.50/hour and younger adults received course credit. Results: Controlling for preconceptions of technology and ridesharing experience, a MANOVA was run on the difference scores of the dimensions of the AVUPS (intention to use, trust/reliability, perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), safety, control/driving-efficacy, cost, authority, media, and social influence). Both older and middle-aged adults expressed significantly greater increases in PEOU and PU of SAVs than younger adults. We also observed an interaction between age and condition for both PU and PEOU. For PU, older adults’ difference scores were found to be significantly greater than younger adults’ for the control video condition. With PEOU, older adults’ difference scores were significantly greater than both younger adults’ for the control video condition, and middle-aged adults had greater difference scores for the educational-only video condition than younger or older adults. Discussion: The increases in PU observed for older adults in the control condition suggests that educating them on how to use currently available ridesharing services might transfer to and/or highlight the benefits that automated ridesharing might provide. The PEOU interactions also suggest that middle-aged adults might respond more positively than younger or older adults to an educational introduction to SAVs. Conclusion: The positive findings pertaining to PU and PEOU show that exposure to information related to SAVs has a positive impact on these attitudes. PU’s and PEOU’s positive relationship to behavioral intentions (BI) in the Technology Acceptance Model, coupled with the findings from this study, bode well for higher fidelity interventions seeking to inform and/or give individuals experience with SAVs. Providing information on how currently available ridesharing services work helped our older adult respondents recognize the potential usefulness of SAVs. Knowing that different age groups may respond better to educational versus experiential interventions, for example middle-aged adults in this study responding more positively to the educational video condition than younger or older adults, may be useful for targeted promotional campaigns.

The sympathetic nervous system is an important regulator of coronary blood flow. The cold pressor test (CPT) is a powerful sympathoexcitatory stressor. We tested the hypotheses that: (1) CPT-induced sympathetic activation elicits coronary vasodilatation in young adults that is impaired with advancing age and (2) combined α- and β-adrenergic blockade diminishes/abolishes these age-related differences. Vascular responses of the left anterior descending artery to the CPT were determined by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography before (pre-blockade) and during (post-blockade) systemic co-administration of α- and β-adrenergic antagonists in young (n = 9; 26 ± 1 years old, mean ± SEM) and older healthy men (n = 9; 66 ± 2 years old). Coronary vascular resistance (CVR; mean arterial pressure/coronary blood velocity) was used as an index of vascular tone. CPT decreased CVR (i.e. coronary vasodilatation occurred) in young ( -33 ± 6%), but not older men ( -3 ± 4%; P < 0.05 vs. young) pre-blockade. Adrenergic blockade abolished CPT-induced coronary vasodilatation in young men ( -33 ± 6% vs. 0 ± 6%, pre-blockade vs. post-blockade, respectively; P < 0.05) such that responses post-blockade mirrored those of older men ( -3 ± 4% vs. 8 ± 9%; both P > 0.05 compared to young pre-blockade). Impaired CPT-induced coronary vasodilatation could not be explained by a reduced stimulus for vasodilatation as group and condition effects persisted when CVR responses were expressed relative to myocardial oxygen demand (rate-pressure product). These data indicate that the normal coronary vascular response to sympathetic activation in young men is pronounced vasodilatation and this effect is lost with age as the result of an adrenergic mechanism. These findings may help explain how acute sympathoexcitation may precipitate angina and coronary ischaemic events, particularly in older adults.

IntroductionPeripheral nervous system feedback arising from mechanically and metabolically sensitive afferents (Group III/IV, respectively) are central components of the exercise pressor reflex. Experimentally, locomotor venous distention can be simulated via subsytolic regional circulatory occlusion (SubRCO) thereby augmenting the exercise pressor reflex. Furthermore, high pedal frequency increases type II muscle fiber recruitment during exercise likely increasing non‐oxidative metabolism. To date, studies investigating the influence of aging on the exercise pressor reflex have presented conflicting data with most utilizing small muscle mass exercise (e.g. handgrip). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of SubRCO, pedal frequency, and the combination thereof on blood pressure (BP) during exercise in older and younger adults. We hypothesized that during exercise 1) independent of pedal frequencies and age, SubRCO will augment BP and 2) older adults will have greater increases in BP at high pedal frequencies with and without SubRCO compared younger adults.Methods10 younger (22±2 yrs; 4M/6W; 24±4 kg/m2) and 10 older (63±10yrs; 4M/6W; 24±4 kg/m2) adults participated in two study visits each consisting of two cycling exercise sessions at 20 W, with bilateral upper thigh pressure cuffs. Participants engaged in 3 minutes of exercise at 35 (LOW) or 100 (HIGH) rpm with 5 additional minutes of exercise at that rpm with no cuffing (CTL) or SubRCO in randomized order. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively) were measured via manual sphygmomanometry. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was calculated as (SBP‐DBP)/3+DBP and the changes in MAP from rest are reported.ResultsDuring LOW, SubRCO resulted in greater MAP than CTL in younger (CTL: 4±7; SubRCO: 13±7 mmHg) and older adults (CTL: 4±6; SubRCO: 13±4 mmHg) (both p&lt;0.01). During HIGH, SubRCO resulted in greater MAP than CTL in younger (CTL: 7±4; SubRCO: 20±6 mmHg) and older adults (CTL: 20±9; SubRCO: 31±8 mmHg) (both p&lt;0.01). Younger and older adults had greater increases in MAP during HIGH CTL and SubRCO compared to LOW CTL and SubRCO, respectively (all, p&lt;0.01). Within LOW, there were no differences between younger and older adults during CTL or SubRCO (all, p&gt;0.05). Within HIGH, older adults had greater increases in MAP than younger adults during CTL and SubRCO (both p&lt;0.01).ConclusionThese data support the hypothesis that older compared to younger adults have a greater BP response at higher pedal frequencies during exercise. Our results suggest that aging contributes to a greater exercise pressor response to exercise, possibly due to greater feedback from group III/IV afferents.Support or Funding InformationNIH HL126638AHA 18POST3990251This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Though some studies suggest that older adults are not differentially impacted by foreign-accented speech relative to younger adults, other studies indicate that older adults are poorer at perceiving foreign-accented speech than younger adults. The present study sought, first, to clarify the extent to which older and younger adults differed in their perception of foreign-accented speech. The secondary aim was to elucidate the extent to which the cognitive mechanisms supporting accented speech perception differ for older and younger adults. The data indicated that older adults were poorer at perceiving accented speech than younger adults. Older adults' speech perception accuracy was associated with a significant main effect of working memory as well as significant interactions between hearing acuity and cognitive flexibility and between hearing acuity and inhibitory control. Younger adults' speech perception accuracy, in contrast, was associated with a significant interaction between hearing acuity and processing speed. It therefore appears that the differences in performance between younger and older adults observed here may be attributable to differences in the cognitive mechanisms that support accented speech perception.

The Role of Oxytocin in Older Adults’ Facial Emotion Recognition Difficulties