Changes In Old Age Research Articles

Effects of Resistance Training on Selected Hemodynamic and Functional Factors in Older Men

Objectives Changes in hemodynamic factors such as blood pressure, rate of pressure product (RPP) and flow mediated dilation (FMD), are the most important cardiovascular changes in older age. This study aims to investigate the effect of resistance training on some hemodynamic and functional factors in older men. Methods & Materials In this quasi-experimental study, 24 older men were selected from among 100 older residents of Kahrizak Nursing Home in Alborz Province, Iran and were randomly divided into control and training groups. Before and after eight weeks of resistance training, mean blood pressure (MBP), RPP, FMD, hand grip strength and timed up & go (TUG) time were measured. The difference in the variables between the two groups was analyzed by independent and paired t-test using SPSS software version 25. The significance level was set at 0.05 Results The mean of age of participants was 67.75 years. Decreased MBP (P=0.027), increased FMD changes (P=0.022), decreased RPP (P=0.023), increased hand grip strength (P=0.019), and decreased TUG time (P=0.032) were reported in the training group. Conclusion Resistance training can reduce the load on the cardiovascular system by improving hemodynamic factors and possibly prevent the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases related to older age. Therefore, resistance training with sufficient intensity can be considered as a supplement to aerobic training in old age.

Poorer aging trajectories are associated with elevated serotonin synthesis capacity.

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) is one of the earliest targets of Alzheimer's disease-related tau pathology and is a major source of brain serotonin. We used [18F]Fluoro-m-tyrosine ([18F]FMT) PET imaging to measure serotonin synthesis capacity in the DRN in 111 healthy adults (18-85 years-old). Similar to reports in catecholamine systems, we found elevated serotonin synthesis capacity in older adults relative to young. To establish the structural and functional context within which serotonin synthesis capacity is elevated in aging, we examined relationships among DRN [18F]FMT net tracer influx (Ki) and longitudinal changes in cortical thickness using magnetic resonance imaging, longitudinal changes in self-reported depression symptoms, and AD-related tau and β-amyloid (Aβ) pathology using cross-sectional [18F]Flortaucipir and [11C]Pittsburgh compound-B PET respectively. Together, our findings point to elevated DRN [18F]FMT Ki as a marker of poorer aging trajectories. Older adults with highest serotonin synthesis capacity showed greatest temporal lobe cortical atrophy. Cortical atrophy was associated with increasing depression symptoms over time, and these effects appeared to be strongest in individuals with highest serotonin synthesis capacity. We did not find direct relationships between serotonin synthesis capacity and AD-related pathology. Exploratory analyses revealed nuanced effects of sex within the older adult group. Older adult females showed the highest DRN synthesis capacity and exhibited the strongest relationships between entorhinal cortex tau pathology and increasing depression symptoms. Together these findings reveal PET measurement of the serotonin system to be a promising marker of aging trajectories relevant to both AD and affective changes in older age.

Perceptions of Audio-Visual Impact Events in Younger and Older Adults.

Previous studies have examined whether audio-visual integration changes in older age, with some studies reporting age-related differences and others reporting no differences. Most studies have either used very basic and ambiguous stimuli (e.g., flash/beep) or highly contextualized, causally related stimuli (e.g., speech). However, few have used tasks that fall somewhere between the extremes of this continuum, such as those that include contextualized, causally related stimuli that are not speech-based; for example, audio-visual impact events. The present study used a paradigm requiring duration estimates and temporal order judgements (TOJ) of audio-visual impact events. Specifically, the Schutz-Lipscomb illusion, in which the perceived duration of a percussive tone is influenced by the length of the visual striking gesture, was examined in younger and older adults. Twenty-one younger and 21 older adult participants were presented with a visual point-light representation of a percussive impact event (i.e., a marimbist striking their instrument with a long or short gesture) combined with a percussive auditory tone. Participants completed a tone duration judgement task and a TOJ task. Five audio-visual temporal offsets (-400 to +400ms) and five spatial offsets (from -90 to +90°) were randomly introduced. Results demonstrated that the strength of the illusion did not differ between older and younger adults and was not influenced by spatial or temporal offsets. Older adults showed an 'auditory first bias' when making TOJs. The current findings expand what is known about age-related differences in audio-visual integration by considering them in the context of impact-related events.

With a little help from familiar interlocutors: real-world language use in young and older adults

Objectives Functional psychologists are concerned with the performance of cognitive activities in the real world in relation to cognitive changes in older age. Conversational contexts may mitigate the influence of cognitive aging on the cognitive activity of language production. This study examined effects of familiarity with interlocutors, as a context, on language production in the real world. Method We collected speech samples using iPhones, where an audio recording app (i.e. Electronically Activated Recorder [EAR]) was installed. Over 31,300 brief audio files (30-second long) were randomly collected across four days from 61 young and 48 healthy older adults in Switzerland. We transcribed the audio files that included participants’ speech and manually coded for familiar interlocutors (i.e. significant other, friends, family members) and strangers. We computed scores of vocabulary richness and grammatical complexity from the transcripts using computational linguistics techniques. Results Bayesian multilevel analyses showed that participants used richer vocabulary and more complex grammar when talking with familiar interlocutors than with strangers. Young adults used more diverse vocabulary than older adults and the age effects remained stable across contexts. Furthermore, older adults produced equally complex grammar as young adults did with the significant other, but simpler grammar than young adults with friends and family members. Conclusion Familiarity with interlocutors is a promising contextual factor for research on aging and language complexity in the real world. Results were discussed in the context of cognitive aging.

Corticospinal responses during passive shortening and lengthening of tibialis anterior and soleus in older compared to younger adults.

What is the central question of this study? Are there age-related differences in corticospinal responses whilst passively changing muscle length? What is the main finding and its importance? In contrast to young, older adults exhibited no modulation of corticospinal excitability in tibialis anterior during passive ankle movement. These data show impaired sensorimotor response in older adults during length changes of tibialis anterior, thus contributing to our understanding of age-related changes in sensorimotor control. Corticospinal responses have been shown to increase and decrease with passive muscle shortening and lengthening, respectively, as a result of changes in muscle spindle afferent feedback. The ageing sensory system is accompanied by a number of alterations that might influence the processing and integration of sensory information. Consequently, corticospinal excitability might be modulated differently whilst changing muscle length. In 10 older adults (66±4years), corticospinal responses (MEP/Mmax ) were evoked in a static position, and during passive shortening and lengthening of soleus (SOL) and tibialis anterior (TA), and these data were compared to the re-analysed data pool of 18 younger adults (25±4years) published previously. Resting motor threshold was greater in SOL compared to TA (P<0.001), but did not differ between young and older (P=0.405). No differences were observed in MEP/Mmax between the static position, passive shortening or lengthening in SOL (young: all 0.02±0.01; older: 0.05±0.04, 0.03±0.02 and 0.04±0.01, respectively; P=0.298), and responses were not dependent on age (P=0.090). Conversely, corticospinal responses in TA were modulated differently between the age groups (P=0.002), with greater MEP/Mmax during passive shortening (0.22±0.12) compared to passive lengthening (0.13±0.10) and static position (0.10±0.05) in young (P<0.001), but unchanged in older adults (0.19±0.11, 0.22±0.11 and 0.18±0.07, respectively; P≥0.867). The present experiment shows that length-dependent changes in corticospinal excitability in TA of the young are not evident in older adults. This suggests impaired sensorimotor response during muscle length changes in older age that might only be present in ankle flexors, but not extensors.

"Shades of Grey": Exploring Public Opinion about Later-Life Sexuality.

Public opinion on later-life sexuality affects older people's sexual health, behaviour, and satisfaction. In this study, we explored public opinion on later-life sexuality by participants' responding to an open-ended question rather than rank their level of agreement or disagreement with different statements about older people's sexuality. Responses from 135 men and women reflecting on how sexuality changes in older age were thematically analysed. Five themes emerged, varying from positive to negative perceptions of later-life sexuality. Older people's sexuality was described as declining, non-existent, conservative, narrow, tedious, and boring, but also as encompassing more emotions and feelings; being better and more "complete". This study provides qualitative data and an opportunity to gain insights on valuable opinions on what young and middle-aged people think about later-life sexuality. Assessing what people think about later-life sexuality is the first stage in instilling more liberating views about the diversity of sexual expressions in old age.

Physical Functional Limitations in a First-Admission Cohort at Midlife: Findings From the Suffolk County Mental Health Project.

Psychosis is a risk factor for aging-related conditions and early mortality. Little is known about the age-specific risk of objectively measured physical functional limitations among individuals with serious mental illness. The Suffolk County Mental Health Project is a prospective study of individuals hospitalized for the first time for psychosis. To assess physical functioning at midlife and to identify emerging risk factors for older-age changes, 101 participants with schizophrenia (mean age = 47.2, SD = 8.0 years; 41.6% female) and 112 participants with other psychoses (mean age = 48.2, SD = 9.5 years; 45.5% female) were assessed for chair-rise and balance limitations 20 years after diagnosis. A never-psychotic comparison group of 237 age/sex/geographically matched community controls was similarly assessed (mean age = 50.3, SD = 8.8 years; 44.7% female). Logistic regression was used to examine group differences in prevalence of poor performance and demographic, medical, and treatment correlates. Chair-rise limitations (45.5% [35.8-55.3]) and balance limitations (17.2% [9.8-24.5]) were common in individuals with schizophrenia. Prevalence of chair-rise limitations was higher in schizophrenia (46.3%) than in other psychotic disorders (31.9%) and never-psychotic group (22.1%), whereas risk of balance limitations was higher in schizophrenia (17.2%) compared with never-psychotic controls (8.1%). Schizophrenia was a significant risk factor for chair-rise (adjusted odds ratio = 3.01 [1.79-5.08], p < .001) and balance limitations (adjusted odds ratio = 2.63, [1.25-5.51], p = .010). Multivariable analysis of symptom severity found avolition was associated with chair-rise limitations, but not balance, independent of diagnosis. Physical limitations are crucial because they identify existing problems with mobility and portend an increased risk of disability and death. Because participants with schizophrenia were at increased risk of physical limitations, assessments of chair-rise and balance limitations may be critical to monitoring individuals with psychosis.

Reduced serotonin receptors and transporters in normal aging adults: a meta-analysis of PET and SPECT imaging studies

Alterations in serotonin (5-HT) function have been hypothesized to underlie a range of physiological, emotional, and cognitive changes in older age. Here, we conducted a quantitative synthesis and comparison of the effects of age on 5-HT receptors and transporters from cross-sectional positron emission tomography and single-photon emission computed tomography imaging studies. Random-effects meta-analyses of 31 studies including 1087 healthy adults yielded large negative effects of age in 5-HT-2A receptors (largest in global cortex), moderate negative effects of age in 5-HT transporters (largest in thalamus), and small negative effects of age in 5-HT-1A receptors (largest in parietal cortex). Presynaptic 5-HT-1A autoreceptors in raphe/midbrain, however, were preserved across adulthood. Adult age differences were significantly larger in 5-HT-2A receptors compared with 5-HT-1A receptors. A meta-regression showed that 5-HT target, radionuclide, and publication year significantly moderated the age effects. The findings overall identify reduced serotonergic signal transmission in healthy aging. The evidence for the relative preservation of 5-HT-1A compared with 5-HT-2A receptors may partially explain psychological age differences, such as why older adults use more emotion-focused rather than problem-focused coping strategies.

Age-related differences in network flexibility and segregation at rest and during motor performance

Brain networks undergo widespread changes in older age. A large body of knowledge gathered about those changes evidenced an increase of functional connectivity between brain networks. Previous work focused mainly on cortical networks during the resting state. Subcortical structures, however, are of critical importance during the performance of motor tasks. In this study, we investigated age-related changes in cortical, striatal and cerebellar functional connectivity at rest and its modulation by motor task execution. To that end, functional MRI from twenty-five young (mean age 21.5 years) and eighteen older adults (mean age 68.6 years) were analysed during rest and while performing a bimanual tracking task practiced over a two-week period. We found that inter-network connectivity among cortical structures was more positive in older adults both during rest and task performance. Functional connectivity within striatal structures decreased with age during rest and task execution. Network flexibility, the changes in network composition from rest to task, was also reduced in older adults, but only in networks with an age-related increase in connectivity. Finally, flexibility of areas in the prefrontal cortex were associated with lower error scores during task execution, especially in older adults. In conclusion, our findings indicate an age-related reduction in the ability to suppress irrelevant network communication, leading to less segregated and less flexible cortical networks. At the same time, striatal connectivity is impaired in older adults, while cerebellar connectivity shows heterogeneous age-related effects during rest and task execution. Future research is needed to clarify how cortical and subcortical connectivity changes relate to one another.

Laisvalaikis ar laisvas laikas? Globos įstaigose gyvenančių vyresnio amžiaus asmenų patirtis

Dėl pasitraukimo iš darbinės veiklos padidėjęs laisvo laiko kiekis esant vyresnio amžiaus gali būti panaudojamas mėgstamai veiklai, tapti tobulėjimo, naujos patirties, ramybės, džiaugsmo ar net finansų šaltiniu. Kita vertus, laisvas, darbine veikla neužimtas laikas gali kelti ir sunkumų bei nemalonių jausmų, pavyzdžiui, lemti vyresnio amžiaus asmenų nuobodulį, beprasmybės ir neturėjimo, ką veikti, jausmus. Dalyvavimas asmeniškai prasmingoje laisvalaikio veikloje vienas iš efektyviausių būdų prisitaikyti prie esant vyresnio amžiaus vykstančių pokyčių ir pagrindinių sėkmingo senėjimo veiksnių.Kokybiniame tyrime dalyvavo 6 Vilniaus miesto socialinės globos įstaigose gyvenantys vyresnio amžiaus asmenys ir 3 jose dirbančios socialinės darbuotojos. Analizuojant duomenis buvo remiamasi socialinio konstruktyvizmo ir Giddens (2000) tapatumo teorijų idėjomis. Tyrimo duomenys atskleidė, kad vyresnio amžiaus asmenų laisvalaikio samprata ir jo patyrimas skiriasi pagal individualias galimybes dalyvauti asmeniškai prasmingoje laisvalaikio veikloje. Laisvalaikio veiklos tęstinumas padeda išsaugoti tapatumo tęstinumo jausmą, dėl to svarbu sudaryti vyresnio amžiaus asmenims galimybes globos įstaigoje tęsti veiklą, kuri buvo jų mėgstama brandos amžiuje.

Identity Processes Among Older Norwegians Living in Urban and Rural Areas.

Guided by the Identity Process Theory, we examined whether 424 Norwegians 60+ years of age would attribute their physical and mental functioning to their health (identity assimilation), to aging itself (identity accommodation), or to both (identity balance). We were also interested in the effect of these attribution styles upon depressive symptoms. Secondary data from the 2004 World Health Organization Quality of Life OLD Group Norwegian Field Study were analyzed using General Linear Model Regression and subsequent Path Analyses. Attributing physical functioning to health as opposed to aging had a negligible effect on depressive symptoms among both study groups. Attributing mental functioning to aging worsened depressive symptoms among rural participants. Attributing mental functioning to health was associated with more positive perceptions of psychosocial loss among urban participants. Positivity toward psychosocial loss lessened depressive symptoms and factors affecting those perceptions differed among rural versus urban participants. Adapting to functional changes in older age is a complex process affecting depressive symptoms.

Adaptation of Reactive Saccades is Influenced by Unconscious Priming of the Attention Focus

ABSTRACTThe authors investigated whether the size of the attention focus can influence saccadic adaptation, and whether this influence changes in older age. Using the scrambled sentence task, young and older participants were either primed for a wide attention focus, or primed of a narrow attention focus, or were not primed for any specific attention focus. Subsequently, all participants underwent a double-step saccadic adaptation paradigm aimed at changing the direction of reflexive saccades. The authors found that compared to the nonprimed control group, priming for a wide attention focus enhanced saccadic adaptation in both age groups by a similar amount; the benefit persisted throughout the adaptation phase, but was absent during the deadaptation phase. In contrast, the authors found no effects of priming with a narrow attention focus on saccadic adaptation. From this the authors conclude that a wide attention focus is beneficial for workaround strategies but not for adaptive recalibration, and that those benefits are similar in young and older persons.

Life-Course Socioeconomic Position and Hippocampal Atrophy in a Prospective Cohort of Older Adults.

Low socioeconomic position (SEP) has been linked to an increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline. However, little is known about the association between SEP and morphologic brain changes in older age. This study examines the relationships between indicators of life-course SEP with both hippocampal volume (HcV) and HcV loss in a population-based cohort of 1328 older adults aged 65 to 80 years. Multivariable linear regression models were used to estimate the associations of SEP with baseline HcV and the annual rate of HcV atrophy according to three life-course conceptual models: the sensitive/critical periods model (which explored SEP in specific periods: in childhood [using parental education], early adulthood [based on participants' education], and midlife [based on participants' socioprofessional group]); the accumulation-of-risk model (life-course cumulative SEP), and the social mobility model (life-course SEP trajectories). Participants with lower midlife SEP had smaller HcV (-0.08 cm; 95% confidence interval, -0.15 to -0.01) and 0.17% (95% confidence interval, 0.04%-0.30%) faster hippocampal atrophy than participants with higher midlife SEP. Childhood and early adulthood SEPs were not related to hippocampal measures. The accumulation-of-risk and the social mobility models revealed that the accumulation of socioeconomic disadvantage and declining socioeconomic trajectories were related to faster hippocampal atrophy. In this cohort of older adults, lower socioprofessional attainment in midlife and disadvantageous life-course socioeconomic position were associated with faster hippocampal atrophy, a cerebral change linked to cognitive disorders. Results support the hypothesized links between socioenvironmental exposures related to stress and/or cognitive enrichment and brain/cognitive reserve capacities.

Virtual blunt injury of human thorax: age-dependent response of vascular system

AbstractThis work is the numerical study of the age-dependent responses of the vascular system under low-mass high-speed impact scenario. The grid-characteristic method on the adaptive mesh model of the human thorax is the numerical tool of the study. Due to the lack of valid vascular injury criteria, the numerical model only provides information on injury risk. The numerical simulation demonstrates that an older age changes significantly the vascular response and increases the risk of aorta injury. We focused on the aorta because its rupture is the general consequence of vehicle accidents (great mass impacts at relatively low velocity). Our numerical results are in good agreement with previous studies of great-mass low-speed blunt thorax impact.

Bilateral difference of superficial and deep femoral artery haemodynamic and anatomical parameters

Clinically revealed, non-uniform distribution of peripheral vascular diseases throughout the arterial tree suggests that haemodynamic forces can modulate the endothelial dysfunction. In the present study the bilateral differences of deep (DFA) and superficial (SFA) femoral artery blood velocity waveform parameters were examined in relation to artery ramification patterns and subject anthropometry. Young, sedentary women (n = 25; age 21.2 ± 3.6 years) were enrolled. Anthropometric data as well as systemic cardiovascular parameters (arterial pressure, heart rate and cardiac output) and Doppler velocity spectrum of SFA and DFA were instantly registered in rest conditions. The study revealed a slight and mutually independent anatomical and morphometric asymmetries of femoral arteries in paired legs which were fluctuation type (do not display any directional tendency). Also bilateral asymmetry of artery haemodynamic parameters was related neither to subjects' anthropometric nor artery anatomical parameters. The magnitude of haemodynamic asymmetry is larger for retrograde linear velocity, retrograde shear rate and oscillatory index – parameters which reflect peripheral resistance of microcirculatory bed and thus has a rather functional origin. Possibly, the observed unilateral changes of femoral artery haemodynamic parameters of young healthy and sedentary women could be considered as a sign of potential genesis of artery structure pathological changes in older age.

Age as a Determinant of Instability of Serum Lithium Concentrations

Lithium is used both in bipolar disorder and as augmentation in treatment-resistant unipolar depression. Long-term treatment is often indicated. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes in older age, as well as increasing comorbidities and polypharmacy, could result in instability of serum lithium concentrations. In this study, several parameters, considered proxy for instability, were compared between age groups. These parameters were derived from studies involving oral anticoagulants. A retrospective study (1995-2004) was conducted using serum lithium concentrations from the laboratories of 3 hospitals in the Netherlands; 759 patients treated with lithium, 40 years or older, with at least 2 years' follow-up were identified. They were divided into 4 age groups: 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70+ years; the youngest group was used as a reference group. The variance growth rate and percentage of time below, in, and above treatment range are all proxies for instability. They were analyzed between the age categories. There was no significant difference for these variables between the reference group and the older age groups. In a subgroup of 454 patients, the parameters considered as proxy for instability during titration, number of days and number of serum lithium concentration measurements during titration, were evaluated; no significant difference was found between the age groups. In a small group of 117 patients, titration and maintenance treatment for at least 2 years could be analyzed separately. Also in this group, there was no difference between the age groups. Age is not a determinant of serum lithium concentration instability. Therefore, age is not a reason to not initiate or discontinue lithium therapy.

Adherence to Conservative Management Recommendations for Abnormal Pap Test Results in Adolescents

To investigate whether the 2006 American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology guidelines for conservative management of minimally abnormal Pap test results (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, human papillomavirus-positive, and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions) and moderate dysplasia (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2) in adolescents 1) resulted in fewer colposcopies and loop electrosurgical excision procedures (LEEPs) in adolescents or 2) resulted in unintended treatment changes in older age groups. We analyzed data from 1,806 women aged 18 years and older attending one of six community health centers who were diagnosed with abnormal Pap test results between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2008. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine treatment differences in women with minimally abnormal Pap test results before and after guideline changes. Variables included date of abnormality, site of care, race or ethnicity, language, and insurance type. We used Fisher exact tests to examine rates of LEEP in patients with moderate dysplasia before and after guideline publication. Among 206 women aged 18-20 years, rates of colposcopy after a minimally abnormal Pap test result decreased from 78% (n=102) to 45% (n=34) after guideline changes (P<.001). Colposcopy among women over age 21 (n=1,542) remained unchanged (greater than 90%). Multivariable logistic regression indicated that both date of abnormality and site of care were associated with colposcopy referral. After guideline changes, management of moderate dysplasia with LEEP in women aged 18-23 decreased from 55% to 18% (P=.04); rates remained stable in women ages 24 and older (70% compared with 74%; P=.72). Health care providers quickly adopted new conservative management guidelines for low-income, minority adolescents, which may reduce preterm deliveries in these high-risk populations. II.

Geriatric Psychopharmacology

The development of geriatric psychopharmacology was built on advances in geriatric psychiatry nosology and clinical pharmacology and on increased investment in aging research by the National Institute of Mental Health and by academic institutions. Application of the US Food and Drug Administration's geriatric labeling rule provided further impetus. Developments in the knowledge about 3 principal classes of medications (antidepressants, antipsychotics, and treatments for Alzheimer's disease) illustrate the trajectory of geriatric psychopharmacology research. Nonetheless, the loss of information about age effects that has resulted from applying age exclusion criteria in studies limited to either younger adults or geriatric patients is regrettable. Antidepressant trials have moved from studying younger and medically well "geriatric" samples to focusing on "older old" persons and those with significant medical comorbidity including coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and dementia. Increased specificity is reflected in studies of relationships between specific neuropsychological deficits, specific brain abnormalities, and antidepressant responsiveness. Clinical trials in older adults have demonstrated that the efficacy of antipsychotic medications continues across the lifespan, but that sensitivity to specific side effects changes in older age, with poor tolerability frequently mitigating the benefits of treatment. Treatments for Alzheimer's disease have fallen within the purview of geriatric psychopharmacology. The research focus is increasingly shifting from treatments to slow the course of cognitive decline to studies of early diagnosis and of interventions designed to prevent the development of deficits in vulnerable individuals. The importance of geriatric psychopharmacology will grow further as the average lifespan increases all over the world.

Legal aspects of dementia assessment expertise: Croatian experience

Medical care and legal system are two different scientific disciplines with different sets of knowledge and a different approach to the same problem: understanding the human being and its behavior in the interest of a just approach to its actions. Social, legal and moral norms regulate relationships and coexistence in the community. In most countries, an increase in elderly criminality is difficult to prove implying the existence of “dark figures”, probably showing a strong public emotion that legal sentence is not the proper means of treatment of the elderly and feeble persons. Thus, legal norms do not explicitly address the elderly and their older age changes opposed to underage delinquency that constitutes a separate legal status.

Aging, grey matter, and blood flow in the anterior cingulate cortex

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is thought to be the neuroanatomical interface between emotion and cognition. Because effective emotion-cognition interactions are essential to optimal decision making, clarifying how the functionality of the ACC changes in older age using functional imaging holds great promise for ultimately understanding what contributes to the psychological changes occurring in late life. However, the interpretation of functional imaging studies is complicated by the fact that aging is associated with changes in grey matter volume and in the cerebral vasculature. In the present study, we obtained high-resolution structural magnetic resonance (MR) imaging data and quantitative blood flow images to examine the association between aging, blood flow, and grey matter volume in the ACC. Twenty-six healthy individuals between 25 and 79 years of age underwent quantitative [15O]water positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. The ACC was traced onto tissue-classified images derived from T1- and T2-weighted MRIs using previously defined methods. The ACC was divided into dorsal, rostral, and subgenual regions. Age was negatively correlated with blood flow in dorsal and rostral ACC regions. Effects were weaker but in a similar direction for the subgenual ACC. While older age and lower blood flow were both associated with smaller rostral ACC grey matter volumes, mediation analysis revealed that grey matter volume only partially mediated the effect of age on blood flow in the rostral ACC. Neural alterations not detectable on MR images may lead to reduced blood flow due to fewer and/or less metabolically active neurons. Alternatively, lower blood flow may be a cause, rather than a consequence, of smaller grey matter volume in the ACC.