{"title":"Older Adults Show Reduced High Frequency Power in Both Recent and Remote Spatial Memory Retrieval Compared to Younger Adults.","authors":"Conor Thornberry, Seán Commins","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2658412","DOIUrl":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2658412","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The concept of healthy aging and its impact on spatial navigation and memory ability is well-established in the literature. However, the neural basis of these age-related changes is not well understood. There is limited research that examines the impact of healthy aging on the neural mechanisms underlying spatial memory retrieval for memories encoded recently (24 hours ago) compared to those encoded remotely (1 month ago).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study explores the neural basis of recent and remote spatial memory during navigation in older (<i>n</i> = 16) compared to younger adults (<i>n</i> = 30) using electroencephalography (EEG) and a virtual Morris water task.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our results suggest that though recent and remote memories were poorer in older compared to younger adults, older adults' remote memories were preserved. We showed reduced high-frequency oscillations in older adults for recent and remote conditions compared to younger adults. Specifically, older adults showed decreased activation at 15-30 Hz (beta) as well as failure to increase activation at 30-40 Hz (gamma) compared to younger adults. While remote memory evoked increases in delta and theta (2-7 Hz) frequencies compared to recent memories in both age groups, older adults showed significantly less increase.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The results are discussed in terms of age-related compensation for spatial navigation skills in healthy aging.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"642-666"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147689109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Attenuation of Vascular Cognitive Impairment by Panaxadiol Through Promoting Hippocampal Angiogenesis in a Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion Model.","authors":"Xingyu Bai, Yongxin Ma, Shuang Wang, He Qin, Hongbo Jia, Meng Zhang, Siyu Chen, Yaoming Xu","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2730908","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2026.2730908","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study explores the therapeutic efficacy and mechanisms of panaxadiol (PD), a ginseng-derived sapogenin, in a mouse model of vascular cognitive impairmentinduced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>CCH was induced in C57BL/6 mice by bilateral common carotid artery stenosis (BCAS). Mice were assigned to Sham + normal saline (NS), Sham + PD, BCAS + NS or BCAS + PD groups. PD (50 mg/kg/d) or NS was administered orally for 30 days after surgery. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured by laser speckle imaging at 1 h and 7, 14 and 30 d after BCAS. Cognitive function was assessed by behavioral tests, hippocampal angiogenesis by immunofluorescence staining and angiogenesis-related cytokines by protein array.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>PD restored CBF in BCAS mice by day 30 (<i>p</i> < .05 vs BCAS + NS), mitigated cognitive impairment, and increased hippocampal vascular density (<i>p</i> < .01) and new vessel formation (<i>p</i> < .0001). Neovascularisation showed significant or near-significant correlations with cognitive performance. PD decreased interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 (TIMP-2) levels and increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels (all <i>p</i> < .05). In exploratory correlation analyses, newly formed vessel counts were negatively associated with IFN-γ and TIMP-2 and positively associated with VEGF and TNF-α.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>PD alleviated CCH-induced cognitive deficits and promoted hippocampal angiogenesis, accompanied by a shift toward a pro-angiogenic neurovascular microenvironment. These findings suggest that PD may support cognitive recovery in CCH by facilitating cerebrovascular repair and remodeling, although the precise mechanisms require further investigation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149024279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Siyuan Zhang, Fengping Luo, Yujin Li, Andrew Steptoe, Bin Yu
{"title":"Social Isolation, Loneliness, Social Support and Psychophysiological Stress Response in Older Men and Women.","authors":"Siyuan Zhang, Fengping Luo, Yujin Li, Andrew Steptoe, Bin Yu","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2730907","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2026.2730907","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Social relationship factors have been linked with cardiovascular health in older adulthood, and epidemiological studies indicate that the association may vary for different constructs of social relationships. This study aims to investigate associations between three social relationship measurements including loneliness, social isolation, and social support and psychophysiological stress response among older adults, with a focus on gender differences.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Ninety older adults (34 males, mean age ± SD = 66.31 ± 5.43) completed measures of social relationships and two stress-inducing tasks including mirror tracing and Stroop-color naming. Heart rate (HR) was monitored throughout the laboratory session.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>For male participants, social support was significantly associated with a lower stress HR response (<i>β</i> = -0.181, <i>t</i> = -2.44, <i>p</i> = .022), and this association remained significant (<i>β</i> = -0.174, <i>t</i> = -2.33, <i>p</i> = .029) even after all the other covariates including loneliness and social isolation were taken into account. For female participants, no significant association was found between the three social relationship constructs and stress HR response. No significant result was found for psychological stress response for either male or female participants.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings suggest gender differences in the association between specific social relationship constructs and physiological stress response in older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148911192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cognitive Vulnerability and Multimodal Communicative-Pragmatic Difficulty in Subclinical Aging: A MoCA-Guided Exploration.","authors":"G Vegna, I Gabbatore, A Marini, F M Bosco","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2718870","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2026.2718870","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Pragmatic ability, which encompasses language and other expressive means, is associated with multiple cognitive processes and may be sensitive to subtle cognitive changes in healthy aging. This study investigated its relationship with cognitive vulnerability in older adults without diagnosed neurocognitive disorders.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>38 community-dwelling older adults were divided into a group scoring below the MoCA cutoff (CIbM) and a control group within the normal range (CTRL). Pragmatic performance and cognitive functions, including language, attention, memory, and executive functions, were assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>CIbM participants showed significantly poorer pragmatic performance, particularly in linguistic and contextual domains. Regression and ROC analyses indicated that multimodal pragmatic scores distinguished the groups and predicted MoCA status more effectively than traditional cognitive measures.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Pragmatic ability may represent a complementary, ecologically valid marker of cognitive vulnerability in healthy aging. Since pragmatic processing involves multiple cognitive and neural systems, subtle difficulties may emerge even when impairment in traditional cognitive domains is less evident. Assessing pragmatic performance alongside conventional measures could therefore provide a broader characterization of cognitive functioning and help identify early vulnerability. These findings support including pragmatic assessment in evaluations of cognitive health and inform individualized monitoring of aging trajectories.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-27"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148790185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spoken Word Recognition as a Function of Age and Musicianship.","authors":"Bethany G Cox, Conor T McLennan","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2713357","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2026.2713357","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>A variety of factors influence a person's language abilities. We investigated possible relationships between age, musicianship, and spoken word recognition.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants heard words and nonwords in the presence of background noise and made lexical decision responses. Participants were categorized as either a musician or a nonmusician.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results indicate that both younger and older adult musicians had more efficient responses than nonmusicians. Participants were more efficient at responding to easy than hard words. Interestingly, older adults had significantly more accurate responses than younger adults.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results further our understanding of the connections between age, musicianship, and spoken word recognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148668842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Differential Effects of Age and Simulated Sensory-Motor Constraints on Digit Symbol Substitution Test Performance.","authors":"Anna Heggenberger, Kai Leisge, Sabine Schaefer","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2703931","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2026.2703931","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Cognitive performance in later life is shaped by both central processing declines and sensorimotor limitations. This study examined the impact of simulated sensory and motor constraints on Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) performance and compared younger adults under such constraints with older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>84 young adults (19-37 years) were assigned to one of four conditions: no constraints, visual impairment glasses, motor constraints (gloves), or both. 20 older adults (60-75 years) completed the task without restrictions. Participants practiced the DSST over six weeks and completed recognition and reconstruction tasks assessing symbol-digit memory.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Older adults consistently performed worse than all younger groups across pre- and posttest, practice and memory tasks, confirming age-related declines in processing speed and memory. Younger adults largely compensated for simulated constraints, with no significant overall performance difference between constrained and unconstrained groups. However, the constraints affected practice-related improvement: constrained younger adults showed a flatter linear increase and a stronger leveling off of performance gains across sessions than unconstrained younger adults. Recognition and reconstruction were unaffected by restrictions among younger adults.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Overall, in DSST-like tasks, age influenced overall performance and memory more than temporary peripheral limitations. Younger adults' cognitive-motor resources could offset moderate constraints, although these altered learning trajectories.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148445275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Burcin Alacam, Ahmet Ridvan Dogan, Ayca Tas Tuna, Pelin Tanyeri
{"title":"Protective Effects of Amantadine Against Propofol-Associated Spatial Memory Impairment in Aged Mice.","authors":"Burcin Alacam, Ahmet Ridvan Dogan, Ayca Tas Tuna, Pelin Tanyeri","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2703924","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2026.2703924","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Aging is associated with progressive alterations in synaptic plasticity, NMDA receptor function, and neurotransmitter signaling that render the aging brain disproportionately vulnerable to anesthetic-associated cognitive disturbances. Propofol has been associated with hippocampus-dependent memory impairment in aged experimental models, yet pharmacological strategies to mitigate this vulnerability remain insufficiently explored.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty-eight aged BALB/C mice were randomly assigned to four groups: control, propofol (75 mg/kg), amantadine (20 mg/kg), and propofol+amantadine (<i>n</i> = 7 each). Anesthetic induction and recovery were assessed using loss and return of the righting reflex. Locomotor activity and nociceptive responses were evaluated using the open-field and hot plate tests. Spatial memory was assessed using the Morris water maze at three time points following drug administration.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Time to loss of righting reflex did not differ between propofol-treated groups, whereas recovery from anesthesia occurred significantly earlier in animals receiving amantadine with propofol. Locomotor activity was comparable among groups. Propofol exposure was associated with significantly impaired spatial memory, while animals receiving amantadine with propofol demonstrated markedly better performance across all assessment time points.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Amantadine may mitigate anesthetic-associated spatial memory impairment and facilitate anesthetic recovery in the aging brain, supporting further investigation of neuromodulatory strategies targeting cognitive vulnerability in aged populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148445325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Communal versus Individuating Exercise: Age Differences in Responses to Messaging About Group Exercise Programs.","authors":"Sydni Adams, Joseph A Mikels","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2631323","DOIUrl":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2631323","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Understanding age differences in exercise preferences is important for targeting messages to groups across the life span. This study examined how younger and older adults differed in their affective and evaluative responses to statements about different group-based exercise programs.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Younger (<i>n</i> = 129) and older adults (<i>n</i> = 125) responded to statements about exercise programs (i.e. feelings about the programs, effectiveness of the statements, and likelihood to join the programs).</p><p><strong>Results and conclusions: </strong>Older adults gave lower ratings to individuating versus communal programs, whereas younger adult ratings did not differ by program. As such, communally focused programs seem to be the most effective for encouraging a wide audience of age groups to participate in exercise programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"606-622"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147276187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spot the Scam: Identifying Email Scams and Scam Susceptibility in Younger and Older Adults.","authors":"Kylie O Alberts, Isiah J Espiritu, Alan D Castel","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2635903","DOIUrl":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2635903","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Young and older adults are often victimized by various forms of scams and fraud. However, little research has been conducted on how a scam prevention intervention may impact young and older adults' accuracy and confidence in determining the legitimacy of emails. The present study investigated young and older adults' accuracy and confidence, as well as potential contributing factors to scam susceptibility, before and after engaging with one of three intervention activities: control (no intervention), read-only (read common scam qualities), or interactive (interactively learned scam qualities in emails).</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Young and older adult participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. Before and after the intervention, participants evaluated a series of legitimate and scam emails, indicating whether each email was legitimate or a scam. Participants also rated their confidence in their accuracy, the personal relevance of each email, and their curiosity about engaging further with the email.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both age groups showed no difference in sensitivity when determining the legitimacy of the emails before and after the interventions. Importantly, both age groups in the read-only and interactive conditions showed a bias toward labeling emails as scams, indicating a generally cautious approach.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although the interventions did not improve detection sensitivity, participants were more cautious when evaluating emails. This tendency may help reduce vulnerability to scams and fraud and suggests that interventions can encourage greater caution when evaluating suspicious emails across age groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"483-516"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147343953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluating the Efficacy of Detection Instructions on Additive and Contradictory Misinformation in Older and Younger Adults Using Eyewitnessed Visual Scenes.","authors":"Monika A Mazela, Mark J Huff","doi":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2614240","DOIUrl":"10.1080/0361073X.2026.2614240","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Empirical evidence identifies two qualitatively distinct forms of misinformation, differentiated by their relation to initial event details. Contradictory misinformation refers to suggested details that directly contrast specific details that were presented within the witnessed event. Additive misinformation refers to suggested details that supplement a witnessed event. The current study evaluated whether misinformation is reduced following a strong warning to detect misinformation compared to no warning and whether misinformation reductions depend upon misinformation type. Further, age-related detection effects were evaluated by comparing older and younger adults.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Older and younger adults viewed videos depicting everyday household scenes and were randomly assigned to receive either a detection warning or no warning. Following video exposure, participants completed memory tests assessing their recall and recognition of details from the original events.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Older adults were more suggestible on a source-recognition test. Importantly, when older adults were given a warning to detect misinformation, they were able to reduce misinformation to the same low level as younger adults without instruction. Younger adults with detection instructions improved in correct recall for objects touched in the original event compared to younger adults without instructions as well as older adults with and without instructions.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Misinformation detection instructions are effective at reducing misinformation for additive and contradictory types, and particularly so for older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":12240,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Aging Research","volume":" ","pages":"517-540"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145988911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}