Dynamic links between memory and functional limitations in old age: Longitudinal evidence for age-based structural dynamics from the ahead study.

This study examined competing substantive hypotheses about dynamic (i.e., time-ordered) links between memory and functional limitations in old age. We applied the Bivariate Dual Change Score Model to 13-year longitudinal data from the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old Study (AHEAD; N = 6,990; ages 70 – 95). Results revealed that better memory predicted shallower increases in functional limitations. Little evidence was found for the opposite direction that functional limitations predict ensuing changes in memory. Spline models indicated that dynamic associations between memory and functional limitations were substantively similar between participants aged 70–79 and those aged 80–95. Potential covariates (gender, education, health conditions, and depressive symptoms) did not account for these differential lead–lag associations. Applying a multivariate approach, our results suggest that late-life developments in two key components of successful aging are intrinsically interrelated. Our discussion focuses on possible mechanisms why cognitive functioning may serve as a source of age-related changes in health both among the young-old and the old-old. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature and cross-domain correlates of subjective age in the oldest old: Evidence from the OCTO Study.

Self-reflections of age and aging are predictors for key outcomes such as mortality, but little is known about the nature and potential antecedents of subjective age in very old age. We used cross-sectional data from the Swedish OCTO study (N = 267; B. Johansson & S. H. Zarit, 1995) and found that almost two thirds of the 84- to 90-year-olds reported not feeling old. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that younger age and better physical functioning as well as higher well-being and mastery beliefs were all related to not feeling old. In multivariate analyses, however, mastery beliefs emerged as the most consistent and robust predictor of subjective age. Our findings suggest that adaptive capacities may be preserved into advanced age and highlight the pivotal role of perceived control for successful aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining dynamic links between perceived control and health: Longitudinal evidence for differential effects in midlife and old age.

Perceived control and health are often closely linked in adulthood and old age. Little is known, however, about their time-ordered interplay at various phases of adult life. By applying dynamic models to four waves of data over 15.5 years from the Americans' Changing Lives Study, we examined time-ordered relations between perceived control and health in midlife and old age. Results revealed that levels of perceived control predict subsequent changes in health over time in old age (65+ years of age; n = 1,238) but not in midlife (25–64 years of age; n = 2,364). No evidence was found for predictive effects of health for changes in perceived control in either age group. These age-differential findings were corroborated with nested-model comparisons. Predictive effects of perceived control for health were attenuated to the null in models covarying for sociodemographic and psychosocial factors (physical activity, memory, emotional support, and depressive symptoms), suggesting that these variables play an important role in control-health relations. Our discussion focuses on the importance of perceived control for healthy living in old age and the differential implications of perceived control for health in midlife and old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term antecedents and outcomes of perceived control.

Perceived control plays an important role in shaping development throughout adulthood and old age. Using data from the adult lifespan sample of the national German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP; N > 10,000, covering 25 years of measurement), we explored long-term antecedents, correlates, and outcomes of perceived control and examined if associations differ with age. Targeting correlates and antecedents of control, findings indicated that higher concurrent levels of social participation, life satisfaction, and self-rated health as well as more positive changes in social participation over the preceding 11 years were each predictive of between-person differences in perceived control. Targeting health outcomes of control, survival analyses revealed that perceived control predicted 14-year hazard ratio for disability (n = 996 became disabled) and mortality (n = 1,382 died). The effect for mortality, but not for disability, was independent of sociodemographic and psychosocial factors. Overall, we found very limited support for age-differential associations. Our results provide further impetus to thoroughly examine processes involved in antecedent-consequent relations among perceived control, facets of social life, well-being, and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ontogenetic changes in the modulation of taste aversion learning by home environmental cues in rats.

Conducted 3 experiments using 611 Sprague-Dawley rats to define and analyze an age-related phenomenon of conditioned taste aversion. When consumption of sucrose solution was followed by LiCl-induced illness in Ss' home, acquisition of the aversion to sucrose solution was retarded in preweanling (18-day-old) Ss. This effect was not found in adults or in 21-day-old Ss. Place of testing had no effect in the younger 2 age-groups, but in adults manifestation of the acquired aversion was retarded when they were tested in the home. There was no interaction between place of conditioning and testing for any age. The locus of the environmental influence on conditioning in preweanling Ss was found to be the place of tasting rather than place of illness, retention interval, or testing. Also, the effect was found to be invariant under minor variations in familiarization of Ss with the nonhome environment. The principle emerging from these data and others is that the home environment can have a significant influence on learning and conditioning in the immature rat. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily biorhythmicity influences homing behavior, psychopharmacological responsiveness, learning, and retention of suckling rats.

385 Sprague-Dawley suckling rats were used to investigate the effects of 24-hr biorhythmicity on performance. Nest-seeking (homing) in 7-day-old Ss and its facilitation by dextro-amphetamine varied across time of day. Analysis of initial choice revealed that Ss' ability to detect and position themselves in the direction of the nest did not vary across time of day. Homing behavior was not an artifact of random activity level but was related to Ss' motor performance, which varied with a daily rhythm. Circadian rhythmic influences on acquisition and retention of an amphetamine-induced odor aversion were demonstrated by manipulating time of day of conditioning and subsequent retention testing. The time of day effect on conditioning was attributed, in part, to daily rhythmic changes in the effectiveness of the UCS. Retention was optimal in Ss tested at the time of day corresponding to that of their original training. Thus, time of day may serve as an important contextual stimulus for retention in immature as well as adult Ss. (101 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)