Significant Main Effect Of Age Research Articles

Abnormal resting-state functional connectivity in subregions of amygdala in adults and adolescents with major depressive disorder

BackgroundThe different symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescents compared to adults suggested there may be differences in the pathophysiology between adolescents and adults with MDD. However, despite the amygdala being considered critical in the pathophysiology, there was limited knowledge about the commonalities and differences in the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of amygdala subregions in MDD patients of different age groups.MethodsIn the current study, 65 adolescents (46 with MDD and 19 controls) and 91 adults (35 with MDD and 56 controls) were included. A seed-based functional connectivity analysis was performed for each of the amygdala subregions. A 2 × 2 ANOVA was used to analyze the main effect of age, diagnosis, and their interaction on the rsFC of each subregion.ResultsA significant main effect of age was revealed in the rsFC of bilateral centromedial (CM) subregions and right laterobasal (LB) subregion with several brain regions in the limbic system and frontoparietal network. The significant main effect of diagnosis showed MDD patients of different ages showed higher connectivity than controls between the right LB and left middle frontal gyrus (MFG).ConclusionsThe rsFC of specific amygdala subregions with brain regions in the limbic system and frontoparietal network is affected by age, indicating a distinct amygdala connectivity profile in adolescents. The decreased rsFC between the right LB and the left MFG in adolescents and adults with MDD could serve as a diagnostic biomarker and a target of nonpharmacological treatment for MDD.

Differential Effects of Aging on Regional Corpus Callosum Microstructure and the Modifying Influence of Pulse Pressure.

The corpus callosum is composed of several subregions, distinct in cellular and functional organization. This organization scheme may render these subregions differentially vulnerable to the aging process. Callosal integrity may be further compromised by cardiovascular risk factors, which negatively influence white matter health. Here, we test for heterochronicity of aging, hypothesizing an anteroposterior gradient of vulnerability to aging that may be altered by the effects of cardiovascular health. In 174 healthy adults across the adult lifespan (mean age = 53.56 ± 18.90; range, 20-94 years old, 58.62% women), pulse pressure (calculated as participant's systolic minus diastolic blood pressure) was assessed to determine cardiovascular risk. A deterministic tractography approach via diffusion-weighted imaging was utilized to extract fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD) from each of five callosal subregions, serving as estimates of microstructural health. General linear models tested the effects of age, hypertension, and pulse pressure on these cross-sectional metrics. We observed no significant effect of hypertensive diagnosis on callosal microstructure. We found a significant main effect of age and an age-pulse pressure interaction whereby older age and elevated pulse pressure were associated with poorer FA, AD, and RD. Age effects revealed nonlinear components and occurred along an anteroposterior gradient of severity in the callosum. This gradient disappeared when pulse pressure was considered. These results indicate that age-related deterioration across the callosum is regionally variable and that pulse pressure, a proxy of arterial stiffness, exacerbates this aging pattern in a large lifespan cohort.

Cohort Effects on Tobacco Consumption and Its Genetic and Environmental Variance Among Finnish Adults Born Between 1880 and 1957

Abstract Introduction Population research indicates that smoking behaviors in Finland have varied over time by sex and birth cohort. Smoking behaviors are influenced by genes and the environment; like the behaviors themselves, these underlying influences are not necessarily stable over time and may be modifiable by national drug policy. Aims and Methods We utilized longitudinal mixed-effects models and causal–common–contingent twin models to evaluate sex and cohort effects on tobacco consumption and the underlying genetic and environmental variance components in a birth cohort sample of same-sex twins born in Finland between 1880 and 1957, assessed in 1975, 1981, 1990, and 2011. Results We identified significant main effects of age, sex, and cohort on quantity of cigarette consumption, as well as significant age × cohort and sex × cohort interactions. We also identified sex and cohort effects on the liability to initiate regular smoking and the magnitude of variation underlying quantity of cigarette consumption. That said, heritability and environmental contributions to both traits were not different between the four sex × cohort groups. Conclusions Our results indicate sex and cohort effects on the prevalence of smoking and its underlying variation. Our results on changing prevalence mirror existing population-level research in Finnish samples, but we did not identify differences in heritability found in other studies of cohort effects in tobacco use, potentially due to power issues. These results highlight the importance of considering age, cohort, and timing of policy changes when evaluating changes in substance consumption across time. Implications This study identifies sex and cohort effects influencing tobacco consumption in a sample of Finnish adult twins born between 1880 and 1957. Our results are in line with other population-level research in Finland and research on cohort effects influencing alcohol use in the same sample. Our results highlight the intertwining effects of age, cohort, sex, and substance policies on substance use.

Cross-sectional, comparative study of health-related quality of life across the adult lifespan in multiple sclerosis

Purpose This study examines the independent and interactive effects of age and multiple sclerosis (MS) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Materials and methods The sample included persons with MS (n = 207) and healthy controls (HCs; n = 99) divided into three age groups (young, middle-aged, and older adults) who completed a battery of questionnaires, including the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) as a measure of HRQOL. The SF-36 yielded scores for the Physical Component Summary (PCS) (i.e. physical HRQOL) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) (i.e. mental HRQOL). The data were analyzed using two-way MANOVA. Results There was no interaction between age and disease status on HRQOL, but there were significant main effects of age and disease status on HRQOL. HRQOL was significantly lower in participants with MS than HCs, regardless of age. Physical HRQOL was lower, whereas mental HRQOL was higher across age groups. Conclusion The findings suggest that future research should develop behavioral and rehabilitation approaches that are applicable for improving HRQOL across the lifespan in persons with MS, particularly for physical HRQOL in older adults with MS.

Normative data of the digit span test for the Turkish population aged between 50 and 83 years

Objectives: This study aimed to determine normative values stratified by age, education, and sex for the digit span test (DST), a commonly used tool for assessing attention, short-term memory, and working memory in Türkiye, in the Turkish population aged 50 and above. Patients and methods: A total of 340 healthy individuals (139 males, 201 females; mean age 64.4±8.5; range, 50 to 83 years) were included in the study, stratified by age (three levels: 50-59 years, 60-69 years, 70-83 years), education (three levels: 0-5 years, 6-11 years, 12 years and above), and sex (female, male) variables. The participants’ longest digit span forward (DSF), digit span backward (DSB) scores and total DST scores were included in the analyses. The relative contributions of age, education, and sex variables to DST scores were examined using multiple linear regression analysis, while their main effects and interaction effects were investigated using a 3×3×2 ANOVA design. Test-retest reliability of the DST was determined by tests administered in 12-month intervals. Results: Demographic variables accounted for 25 to 38% of the variance in the longest DSF and DSB scores and total DST scores. Significant main effects of age, education, and sex were observed on the longest DSF scores and total DST scores, while only age and education had main effects on the longest DSB scores. The DST demonstrated strong test-retest reliability. Conclusion: This study established normative values for the DST subscores for individuals aged 50-69 and 70-83 years with low, moderate, and high levels of education. Notably, years of education emerged as the strongest predictor of DST performance. Overall, advanced age, lower educational attainment, and female gender were associated with reduced DST performance.

Effects of implementing a mandatory and consequential annual fitness assessment in a fire department over the initial 4-year period

BACKGROUND: Despite the physical nature of the occupation many firefighters have low levels of physical fitness which is associated with poor performance of occupational tasks and increased injury rates. For many fire departments an initial step in promoting health and wellness within the department is to conduct annual fitness testing. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of implementing a consequential fitness assessment within a fire department. METHODS: A retrospective repeated measures design was used to analyze annual fitness assessment data of professional firefighters (n = 1415) from 2019 to 2022 within a large urban fire department located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The fitness tests included assessments of pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, aerobic capacity, and body composition. Repeated measure analyses of variances (ANOVAs) assessed the effect of year and a 2-way ANOVA was conducted to investigate the effects of sex and age on fitness measures on 2022 data. RESULTS: All fitness measures were found to be maintained over the 4-year period. Significant main effects of age and sex across all fitness measures, but no significant interactions were found. Older firefighters (50 + years) exhibited lower performance (p < 0.001, d > 0.80) on muscular fitness assessments than young firefighters (20–29 years). A large effect of sex (males > females) was found for pull-ups (d = 1.04), push-ups (d = 1.23), and aerobic capacity (d = 1.38). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that implementing a consequential fitness assessment could help maintain firefighters’ fitness levels over a multi-year period.

Variability in Receptive Language Development Following Bilateral Cochlear Implantation.

The primary aim was to investigate the variability in language development in children aged 5-7.5 years after bilateral cochlear implantation (CI) up to the age of 2 years, and any impact of the age at implantation and additional noncognitive or anatomical disorders at implantation. Data of 84 congenitally deaf children that had received simultaneous bilateral CI at the age of ≤ 24 months were included in this retrospective study. The results of language comprehension acquisition were evaluated using a standardized German language acquisition test for normal hearing preschoolers and first graders. Data on speech perception of monosyllables and sentences in quiet and noise were added. In a monosyllabic test, the children achieved a median performance of 75.0 ± 12.88%. In the sentence test in quiet, the median performance was 89 ± 12.69%, but dropped to 54 ± 18.92% in noise. A simple analysis showed a significant main effect of age at implantation on monosyllabic word comprehension (p < .001), but no significant effect of comorbidities that lacked cognitive effects (p = .24). Language acquisition values correspond to the normal range of children with normal hearing. Approximately 25% of the variability in the language acquisition tests is due to the outcome of the monosyllabic speech perception test. Congenitally deaf children who were fitted bilaterally in the 1st year of life can develop age-appropriate language skills by the time they start school. The high variability in the data is partly due to the age of implantation, but additional factors such as cognitive factors (e.g., working memory) are likely to influence the variability.

52 Demographic influences on test performance may not be universal: considerations from a cross-country comparison of South Africa and Zimbabwe

Objective:Appropriate adjustments to normative data for neuropsychological (NP) tests are imperative for their equitable use in brain health practices. Age and education are known to be strong predictors of test performance. In settings where validated tests are not available, common practice has been to adapt and apply them in similar fashion as settings where they were developed. However, demographic adjustments cannot be assumed de facto to be universal in their strength and domain associations. For example, South Africa (SA) and Zimbabwe are neighboring countries with some similarities in their demographic makeup, but with vastly different sociopolitical trajectories- Zimbabwe was colonially occupied until 1980 and SA was oppressed under Apartheid until 1994- which have impacted access to and quality of education by severely limiting educational opportunities for native citizens. The present study explored whether the direction and strength of relationships between age and education on NP test performance were similar or not between SA and Zimbabwe adults living with and without HIV.Participants and Methods:Data was extracted from two IRB-approved studies in SA and Zimbabwe with similar inclusion and exclusion criteria. The SA sample (n=214) was comprised of 56% females, 48% HIV-positive adults, mean age of 34 years, and a nine-year range in education (3-14 years). The Zimbabwe sample (n=212) was comprised of 68% females, 67% HIV-positive adults, mean age of 36 years, and a thirteen-year range in education (7-20 years). Participants completed NeuroScreen, a tablet-based battery of 12 brief NP tests adapted for indigenous SA and Zimbabwe languages. The two study samples were analyzed separately. Zero order correlations between each of the tests and age and gender were conducted to determine the influence of the demographic variables. Relationships with moderate correlations (r&gt;0.3) in both samples were further analyzed using univariate ANOVA to examine the main effects and interactions of age and educationResults:Overall, there was a similar pattern of results across samples, with nine tests showing no-to-low associative relationships with age and education respectively. Moderate, significant relationships were found between age, education and three tests of processing speed (Visual Discrimination A, Visual discrimination B, and Number Speed) in both samples. Age and education had different effects on Visual discrimination A across samples with a significant main effect for age but not education in SA [F(40,83)=3.060, p&lt;0.01], whilst Zimbabwe had a significant main effect for education but not age [F(10,87)=4.541, p&lt;0.01]. Visual Discrimination B and Number Speed showed significant main effects for both variables in both samples. However, there was a significant interaction for both tests in Zimbabwe only.Conclusions:The current study is novel in its exploration of country-specific relationships between NP test performance and demographic factors in settings where assessment science is emergent. Results demonstrate the presence of differential relationships between demographic variables on test performance which raises questions about the source of these differences. One important potential source is the socio-cultural context of each country and the intersection of demographic factors in these contexts. Further research is required to explore these considerations.

The effect of age on the hearing-related quality of life in normal-hearing adults

IntroductionRecently, a new holistic Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) to assess hearing-related quality of life was developed, named the hearing-related quality of life questionnaire for Auditory-VIsual, COgnitive and Psychosocial functioning (hAVICOP). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate if the hAVICOP is sufficiently sensitive to detect an age effect in the hearing-related quality of life. MethodsOne-hundred thirteen normal-hearing participants (mean age: 42.13; range: 19 to 69 years) filled in the entire hAVICOP questionnaire online through the Research Electronic Data Capture surface. The hAVICOP consists of 27 statements, across three major subdomains (auditory-visual, cognitive, and psychosocial functioning), which have to be rated on a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 (rarely to never) to 100 (almost always). Mean scores were calculated for each subdomain separately as well as combined within a total score; the worse one's hearing-related quality of life, the lower the score. Linear regression models were run to predict the hAVICOP total as well as the three subdomain scores from age and sex. ResultsA significant main effect of age was observed for the total hAVICOP and all three subdomain scores, indicating a decrease in hearing-related quality of life with increasing age. For none of the analyses, a significant sex effect was found. ConclusionThe hAVICOP is sufficiently sensitive to detect an age effect in the hearing-related quality of life within a large group of normal-hearing adults, emphasizing its clinical utility. This age effect on the hearing-related quality of life might be related to the interplay of age-related changes in the bottom-up and top-down processes involved during speech processing.

Variables Affecting Cochlear Implant Performance After Loss of Residual Hearing.

Determine variables that influence post-activation performance for cochlear implant (CI) recipients who lost low-frequency acoustic hearing. A retrospective review evaluated CNC word recognition for adults with normal to moderately severe low-frequency hearing (preoperative unaided thresholds of ≤70 dB HL at 250 Hz) who were implanted between 2012 and 2021 at a tertiary academic center, lost functional acoustic hearing, and were fit with a CI-alone device. Performance scores were queried from the 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24-month post-activation visits. A linear mixed model evaluated the effects of age at implantation, array length (long vs. mid/short), and preoperative low-frequency hearing (normal to mild, moderate, and moderately severe) on speech recognition with a CI alone. 113 patients met the inclusion criteria. There was a significant main effect of interval (p < 0.001), indicating improved word recognition post-activation despite loss of residual hearing. There were significant main effects of age (p = 0.029) and array length (p = 0.038), with no effect of preoperative low-frequency hearing (p = 0.171). There was a significant 2-way interaction between age and array length (p = 0.018), indicating that older adults with mid/short arrays performed more poorly than younger adults with long lateral wall arrays when functional acoustic hearing was lost. CI recipients with preoperative functional low-frequency hearing experience a significant improvement in speech recognition with a CI alone as compared to preoperative performance-despite the loss of low-frequency hearing. Age and electrode array length may play a role in post-activation performance. These data have implications for the preoperative counseling and device selection for hearing preservation candidates. 4 Laryngoscope, 134:1868-1873, 2024.

Macro periodisation of competition in international women's tennis: Insights for long-term athlete development

Aims This study reports the multi-year periodised international competition engagement of elite top 100 [T100] and 250 [T250] female tennis players during their youth. Methods Tournament data was analysed for 258 female players from 13 to 18 years of age. Players were categorised into groups based on peak professional ranking of T100 or T250. ‘Fast’ or ‘slow’ achieving T100 players were further classified according to the years taken to achieve a professional T100 status. International tournament and match volumes were quantified for junior and professional categories, along with measures of competition density (i.e., time between tournaments and consecutive tournaments). Tournament quality and category were determined by ranking point offerings. A two-way analysis of variance determined the effects of age and ranking group on tournament play. Results Significant interaction effects for age and ranking group were observed for all junior and professional category tournaments ( p &lt; .05). Significantly higher annual junior tournament volumes featured in the schedules of T100 at ages 14 and 15 ( p &lt; .05) while participation in annual professional tournaments increased for all players at ages 17 and 18 ( p &lt; .05). The top 100 players played more annual matches than the T250 group at 14–16 years ( p &lt; .05). Significant main effects for age revealed decreased days between tournaments and increased consecutive tournaments at 15 years ( p &lt; .05). Conclusions Increased volume and density of tournament-play exist from 14 years professional female tennis players. Faster achieving T100 players contest higher-quality junior and professional tournaments at earlier ages. These distinctive tournament characteristics can underpin training and competition scheduling recommendations used by national tennis federations.

Does Camera Type Affect Patient Comfort? An Analysis of Patient Opinions of Office Photography

Purpose: Photography is an essential part to plastic surgery in terms of procedural planning and documentation. With the increasing quality of commercially available digital cameras, an investigation of the effect of camera type on patient perception of the office visit is necessary. Therefore, we aim to investigate the impact of using a traditional DSLR style camera versus a smartphone in office-based patient photography. Method: A Likert scale survey was completed by patients following office visits to assess comfort with office photography. Key points included: sex, age, number of previous visits, comfort with photographic experience, and camera type used. Results: 100 patients (78 F, 21 M) were included; 47 had photographs taken with a DSLR camera and 52 had photos taken with a smartphone. The mean decade of cohort age was 40 to 49 years old. No statistical difference in patient comfort between DSLR camera and smartphone use was observed (4.71 ± 0.72 vs 4.64 ± 0.57, P: .58). When data was stratified by sex or number of previous visits, there was still no difference in comfort across camera types. There was no significant main effect of age on comfort level ( P = .109); However, a post-hoc Tukey’s analysis showed significant comfort differences between the &lt;18 and 18-29 subgroups and the &lt;18 and 60 to 69 subgroups ( P = .040 and P = .041 respectively). Conclusion: Patients were overall equally comfortable with their photographic experience when providers used either camera. Smartphone cameras, therefore, should be regarded as a suitable alternative for office use without fear of invoking negative perceptions in patients.

Discrimination of consonants in quiet and in noise in Mandarin-speaking children with normal hearing.

Given the critical role of consonants in speech perception and the lack of knowledge on consonant perception in noise in Mandarin-speaking children, the current study aimed to investigate Mandarin consonant discrimination in normal-hearing children, in relation to the effects of age and signal-to-noise ratios (S/N). A discrimination task consisting of 33 minimal pairs in monosyllabic words was designed to explore the development of consonant discrimination in five test conditions: 0, -5, -10, -15 dB S/Ns, and quiet. Forty Mandarin-speaking, normal-hearing children aged from 4;0 to 8;9 in one-year-age increment were recruited and their performance was compared to 10 adult listeners. A significant main effect of age, test conditions, and an interaction effect between these variables was noted. Consonant discrimination in quiet and in noise improved as children became older. Consonants that were difficult to discriminate in quiet and in noise were mainly velar contrasts. Noise seemed to have less effect on the discrimination of affricates and fricatives, and plosives appeared to be to be more difficult to discriminate in noise than in quiet. Place contrasts between alveolar and palato-alveolar consonants were difficult in quiet. The findings were the first to reveal typical perceptual development of Mandarin consonant discrimination in children and can serve as a reference for comparison with children with disordered perceptual development, such as those with hearing loss.

Short-term removal of exercise impairs glycemic control in older adults: A randomized trial.

Postprandial glycemia (PPG) predicts cardiovascular disease, and short-term physical inactivity increases PPG in young, active adults. Whether this occurs in older, active adults who may be more prone to bouts of inactivity is unknown. This study determined if postprandial interstitial glucose (PPIG) was impaired in active older adults following the removal of exercise for 3 days (NOEX) compared to active young adults. In this randomized, crossover study, 11 older (69.1 ± 1.9 years) and 9 young (32.8 ± 1.8 years) habitually active (≥90 min/week of exercise) adults completed 3-days of NOEX and 3-days of normal habitual exercise (EX), separated by ≥1week. Diet was standardized across phases. Glycemic control (3-day average) was assessed via continuous glucose monitoring during both phases. Significant main effects of age and phase were detected (p < 0.05), but no interaction was found for steps/day (p > 0.05) (old EX: 6283 ± 607, old NOEX: 2380 ± 382 and young EX: 8798 ± 623, young NOEX: 4075 ± 516 steps/day). Significant main effects of age (p=0.002) and time (p < 0.001) existed for 1-h PPIG, but no effect of phase or interactions was found (p > 0.05). Significant main effects (p < 0.05) of age (old: 114 ± 1mg/dl, young: 106 ± 1mg/dl), phase (NOEX: 112 ± 1mg/dl, EX: 108 ± 1mg/dl), and time (0min: 100 ± 2, 30 min: 118 ± 2, 60 min: 116 ± 2, 90 min: 111 ± 2, 120 min: 108 ± 2mg/dl) in 2-h PPIG were detected, but no interaction was found (p > 0.05). However, only significant main effects of phase (NOEX: 14 ± 1 and EX:12 ± 1, p > 0.05) were found for 24-h blood glucose standard deviation. Older adults appear to have impaired glycemic control compared to young adults and exercise removal impairs glycemic control in both populations. Yet, the impairment in glycemic control with exercise removal is not different between old and young adults.

Demographic factors and consumer attitude towards unsolicited mobile-based marketing messages: A factorial design

The increasing number of mobile phone users and unethical practices of sending unsolicited mobile-based advertisement related messages without knowing the relevancy of customers have invited authors to this area of research. This study investigated the consumer attitude towards unsolicited mobile-based advertisement related messages in Pakistan. Data was collected via purposive sampling technique. Statistical tests such as t-test and one- and two-way ANOVA between groups were performed. Findings of the study revealed the existence of significant differences in the mean scores for age, education, and profession. Furthermore, results of two-way ANOVA revealed the presence of significant main effect for age and gender, whereas no interaction effect was found for such variables. The study, interestingly, found the interactive role of profession, which was further probed and confirmed via post-hoc test. The study concluded that mobile-based marketing is not unscrupulous in its true nature; however, doing mobile-based advertising at the cost of encroaching upon consumer privacy and without their permission is not the right way to achieve the desired benefits of the mobile-based advertising.

AN AGE-RELATED POSITIVITY EFFECT IN HUMOR: AN ASIAN CONTEXT

Abstract Humor plays a pivotal role in our interaction with people. According to the age-related positivity effect, older adults (OA) demonstrate more positive emotions and are better able to modulate negative emotions than younger adults (YA), suggesting an increase in humor appreciation with age. However, given the heterogeneity and complexity of humor, it is unknown if this effect holds across various types of humor in a culture with ambivalent attitudes toward humor (Yue, 2016). We explored age-related effects in the perception of four types of humor with Asian adults: incongruity-resolution/benign humor, aggressive humor, local-slang humor, and self-vs.-other-deprecating humor. Fifty-six Singaporean-Chinese OA (n=26;M=64.33) and YA (n=30;M=22.48) watched four short videos depicting the four types of humor in a randomized order. Participants rated how funny each video was (from a scale of 1-not funny-at-all to 5-very-funny), ranked them in the order of most-to-least-entertaining and answered questions on Future-Time-Perspective-scale and self-rated humor.Repeated-measures ANOVA found significant main effects of age, F(1,59)=6.60, p=.013, where OA gave higher ratings than YA (M=3.00 vs. 2.47), and humor-type, F(3,177)=26.87, p&amp;lt;.001. There was a significant linear contrast in humor-type where aggressive and benign humor had the lowest ratings while self-vs.-others-deprecating humor had the highest ratings. Ranking analyses revealed that OA preferred local-slang and others-deprecating humor while YA preferred other-deprecating humor significantly above chance. Interestingly, there was no relationship between self-rated humor and future time perspective with age. Overall, OA displayed a greater appreciation of humor than YA, supporting an age-related positivity effect in an Asian context, despite preference differences. We would like to thank Prof Suzanne Flynn, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT, for her guidance, and the MOE Tier 2 Academic Research Fund Tier 2 (T2MOE2005) and SUTD Growth Plan Grant for Healthcare (SGPHCRS1902) awarded to the last author.

NEUROCORRELATES BETWEEN THEORY-OF-MIND AND BILINGUALISM IN GRAY MATTER VOLUME OF YOUNG AND OLDER ADULTS

Abstract The experience of being bilingual may accrue cognitive reserve against age-related declines in older adults. Early bilingualism, e.g., second language age-of-acquisition (L2AoA), has been shown to be associated with better theory-of-mind (ToM) performance in older adults (Yow et al., 2021). Here, we aim to understand the brain structural correlates associated with bilingualism and ToM performance in normal aging. Forty-six young (YA, aged 19-30, M=21.87) and 51 older adult bilinguals (OA, aged 54-77, M=63.61) completed 1) ToM assessments, where they viewed vignettes and answered questions about the protagonists’ mental states, 2) an anatomical MRI scan, 3) a demographic questionnaire including L2AoA and years of education, and 4) a general cognitive ability assessment by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test. As expected, ANCOVA on ToM composite scores revealed a significant main effect of age – YA showed better ToM performance than OA, F(1,93)=9.48, p=.003, controlling for education and MoCA scores. Importantly, MRI data were preprocessed to obtain gray matter volume (GMV), proxy of neuronal density, of 430 brain regions. Partial least square correlation analysis identified one significant multivariate pattern linking individual differences in GMV with ToM score and L2AoA (48.7% covariance explained, p=.014). Regardless of age, larger GMV in several regions including prefrontal, frontal, medial temporal, and superior temporal cortices were associated with earlier L2AoA (p=.003) and higher ToM score (p=.004), indicating shared variance between ToM and L2AoA in brain morphology. Findings suggest that earlier bilingual acquisition might promote brain maturation that would preserve ToM ability well into later stages of life.

Recall of Vocabulary from a Second Language: Picture Naming vs. Word Definition

The present study investigated the differences between early and late-acquired words from a second language in terms of the method of recall, speed and accuracy. This involved comparing the performance of 24 native Arabic participants on two different recall methods: picture naming vs. word definition. Each participant attended two sessions, with a 24-hour interval: a learning session, in which they learned new words, and a retrieval session, in which they performed the picture-naming and word-definition tasks while their ERP signals were recorded. The main results showed a significant main effect of age of acquisition on both accuracy and reaction time. Additionally, the N400 ERP component showed a significant interaction between age of acquisition and method of recall in the N400 values recorded in the left frontal area. Together, these findings indicate that both accuracy and reaction time measures can detect differences between early and late-acquired words, recalled through either a picture-naming or word-definition task.

Audiovisual temporal binding window narrows with age in autistic individuals.

Atypical sensory perception has been recognized in autistic individuals since its earliest descriptions and is now considered a key characteristic of autism. Although the integration of sensory information (multisensory integration; MSI) has been demonstrated to be altered in autism, less is known about how this perceptual process differs with age. This study aimed to assess the integration of audiovisual information across autistic children and adolescents. MSI was measured using a non-social, simultaneity judgment task. Variation in temporal sensitivity was evaluated via Gaussian curve fitting procedures, allowing us to compare the width of temporal binding windows (TBWs), where wider TBWs indicate less sensitivity to temporal alignment. We compared TBWs in age and IQ matched groups of autistic (n= 32) and neurotypical (NT; n= 73) children and adolescents. The sensory profile of all participants was also measured. Across all ages assessed (i.e., 6 through 18 years), TBWs were negatively correlated with age in the autistic group. A significant correlation was not found in the NT group. When compared as a function of child (6-12 years) and adolescent (13-18 years) age groups, a significant interaction of group (autism vs NT) by age group was found, whereby TBWs became narrower with age in the autistic, but not neurotypical group. We also found a significant main effect of age and no significant main effect of group. Results suggest that TBW differences between autistic and neurotypical groups diminishes with increasing age, indicating an atypical developmental profile of MSI in autism which ameliorates across development.

Impact On Lonliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Based on Age and Household Size

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, individuals have had to learn to cope with isolation and adjust to new social protocols (Nooraie et al., 2021). In Washington state, a lockdown mandate was issued between March to May 2020 in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases (Washington Governor, 2020). This study aimed to analyze how King County residents experienced the lockdown and the impact it had on their daily activities, behaviors, and well-being. We examined the age and the dynamics within the household including household size and how they relate to the person’s experience of loneliness. The UCLA Loneliness Scale (Appendix A; Russel et al., 1978) was distributed online through Qualtrics, an online survey provider. The participants were adults between the ages of 18-65 living in King County during the lockdown. We hypothesized (H1) that people living alone or in crowded households experienced the highest levels of loneliness during the COVID quarantine and (H2) that age groups experienced isolation differently, specifically loneliness increases with age. The results demonstrate a significant main effect for age. The largest differences in feelings of loneliness were found between the youngest age group (18-24) and the oldest age group (55-64), although it appears that overall loneliness decreased as age increased. No significant effects were found for household size which contradicts the findings of previous studies.