The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences最新文献

{"title":"Long-term air pollutants exposure on risk of psoriasis: the mediating role of accelerated biological aging among 284,544 participants.","authors":"Jie Gao, Jiarong He, Wenbo Zhao, Jing Cui, Qi Zhang, Ping Yang, Fan Yang, Yuquan Chen, Mingming Zhang","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf118","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glaf118","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Psoriasis burdens children and adults, but the impact of air pollution and aging is unclear. This study examines the association between air pollution exposure and psoriasis risk, considering the mediating role of biological aging. A prospective cohort study of 284 544 adults (51.3% female, mean age 56.26 ± 8.10 years) from the UK Biobank examined long-term exposure to air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, PM2.5-10, NO2, and NOX). Biological aging was assessed using phenotypic age algorithms. Cox proportional hazards models were constructed to analyze the relationships with the risk of psoriasis, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related factors. Mediation analysis explored the role of biological aging. During a median follow-up of 15.58 years, 3,446 (1.21%) participants developed psoriasis. After adjusting for all confounders, each ten-unit increase (10 μg/m³) in PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and NOx, corresponded to the significantly increased risk of psoriasis by 95.7% (HR = 1.957, 95% CI 1.435-2.671), 19.7% (HR = 1.197, 95% CI 1.006-1.426), 9.0% (HR = 1.090, 95% CI 1.043-1.138) and 4.4% (HR = 1.044, 95% CI 1.024-1.066), respectively. Moreover, all air pollutants are significantly associated with biologically aging, while each one-year increase in PhenoAge was associated with a 5.0% higher risk of psoriasis (HR = 1.050, 95% CI 1.045-1.056). Finally, accelerated biological aging partially mediated 5.96%-13.86% of these air pollutants. Long-term exposure to air pollution significantly affects psoriasis risk, with biological aging as a partial mediator. Reducing pollution may lower the risk of psoriasis by slowing biological aging.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144268320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Concurrent impact of sarcopenia and cognitive impairment on walking recovery after rehabilitation following hip fracture surgery.","authors":"Seung-Kyu Lim, Younji Kim, Jae-Young Lim","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf137","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glaf137","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Cognitive impairment and sarcopenia each negatively impact functional recovery after hip fracture, yet their combined effects remain underexplored. This study investigated the influence of these conditions on 1-year independent walking recovery in older adults undergoing post-fracture rehabilitation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This secondary analysis used data from the Fragility Fracture Integrated Rehabilitation Management clinical trial, a parallel-group, single-blind, multicenter superiority randomized controlled trial, and its preliminary feasibility study. A total of 114 patients aged ≥65 years from three tertiary hospitals in South Korea were included. Patients were classified into four groups based on the presence of cognitive impairment and/or sarcopenia. Walking ability was assessed over a 12-month period. Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate Cox regression were used to evaluate independent ambulation rates and associated factors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Patients with sarcopenia had lower independent ambulation rates than those without (71.9% vs. 84.4%; P = .025), as did those with cognitive impairment (65.2% vs. 89.1%; P = .010). The lowest rate was inpatients with both conditions (60.8%, P = .022) and the highest in those without either (90.2%). Post hoc pairwise comparisons confirmed significant differences (P = .011). Cox regression showed cognitive impairment reduced independent ambulation likelihood by 45.8% (HR: 0.542, 95% CI: 0.340-0.865, P = .010), while both conditions together lowered it by 57% (HR: 0.431, 95% CI: 0.233-0.798, P = .007).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Cognitive impairment, especially with sarcopenia, significantly hinders walking recovery after hip fracture. Targeted rehabilitation strategies are crucial to addressing their combined impact in older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144512990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Racial disparities in palliative care among hospitalized older adults with traumatic brain injury.","authors":"Jennifer S Albrecht, Justin Price, Chih Chun Tung, Raya Elfadel Kheirbek","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf121","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glaf121","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Enhanced understanding of the use of palliative care among older adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) could help guide development of policy and educational interventions. Our objective was to assess racial and ethnic disparities in the receipt of palliative care among older adults with TBI.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Premier Database from May 2022-May 2023. We included adults aged 65 and older with an admission diagnosis of TBI who died during hospitalization. We compared characteristics and palliative care receipt across racial/ethnic groups. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the unadjusted and adjusted odds of receiving palliative care as a function of race/ethnicity. The primary outcome was receipt of a palliative care consultation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 1,119 included patients,76.4% were Non-Hispanic White, 5.1% were Non-Hispanic Black, 5.5% were Hispanic, 4.4% were Asian, and 8.7% were classified as Other/Unknown. The majority (81.7%) received palliative care. In adjusted models, Non-Hispanic Black patients had the lowest odds of receiving a palliative care consultation compared to Non-Hispanic White patients (odds ratio (OR) 0.42; 95% confidence interval, 0.23-0.76).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In a cohort of older adults hospitalized with TBI who died in-hospital, Non-Hispanic Black patients were markedly less likely to receive palliative care compared to their White counterparts. This study underscores the need for future work to identify the extent to which historical mistrust, communication barriers, provider bias, and socioeconomic factors contribute to differences in palliative care access among older TBI patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12288951/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144259810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"MicroRNA signatures of VO2peak in older adult participants of the Study of Muscle, Mobility and Aging.","authors":"Genesio M Karere, Fang-Chi Hsu, Russell T Hepple, Paul M Coen, Steve Cummings, Anne Newman, Nancy W Glynn, Lauren Sparks, Nancy E Lane, Jianzhao Xu, Nathan Wagner, Ge Li, Jeanne Chan, Laura A Cox, Stephen Kritchevsky","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf159","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glaf159","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Peak oxygen consumption during exercise (VO2peak), is a direct measure of cardiorespiratory fitness (CF), a key indicator of physical function and overall health. However, the molecular changes that underpin VO2peak variation are not clear. Our objective is to understand the miRNA signatures that relate to VO2peak variation, which could provide insights to novel mechanisms that contribute to low VO2peak.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used small RNA sequencing to analyze baseline, cross-sectional serum samples from 72 participants (70-91 yrs old). We analyzed samples from individuals with low or high VO2peak (N = 18/group) as well as samples from 36 randomly selected participants spanning the entire spectrum of VO2peak. We used LIMMA analysis package for regression analysis and to identify differentially expressed miRNAs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified 1,055 miRNAs expressed in all serum samples. Expression of 65 miRNAs differed between participants with low and high VO2peak (p < 0.05). After p-value adjustment, expression of 5 miRNAs (miR-1301-3p, -431-5p, -501-5p, -519a-3p, and -18a-3p) remained significantly different (FDR = 0.05). The Area Under the Curve for the five miRNAs ranged from 0.77 to 0.84. The optimal sensitivity and specificity ranged from 70 to 80% and 80 to 90%, respectively. After adjustment for age and sex covariates, 46 miRNAs significantly correlated with VO2peak (p < 0.05) and miR-519a-3p remained significant based on adjusted p-values.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We identified a miRNA signature of VO2peak in older individuals that might provide insights to novel mechanisms that drive low VO2peak. Future studies will validate the findings in a larger, longitudinal study cohort.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144664139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nigrostriatal dopaminergic integrity in relation to prefrontal cortex activity and gait performance during dual-task walking in older adults.","authors":"Andrea L Rosso, Emma M Baillargeon, Nico I Bohnen, Brian J Lopresti, Theodore J Huppert, Lana M Chahine, Erin Jacobsen, Caterina Rosano","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf152","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glaf152","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Walking automaticity facilitates maintenance of gait speed without prefrontal cortex (PFC) resources. Brain aging may cause shifts to attentional gait with greater engagement of the PFC. Nigrostriatal dopaminergic integrity likely facilitates walking automaticity and gait speed during attentional dual-tasks.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Older adults (n = 201; age=74.9; 63.2% women, gait speed=1.10 m/s) completed a dual-task protocol of saying every other letter of the alphabet while walking. PFC activation was measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Four groups were defined based on PFC activation (increased during dual-task, PFC+, or not, PFC-) and gait speed performance (maintained during dual-task, gait+, or slowed, gait-). To compare nigrostriatal dopaminergic integrity across groups, we assessed binding of the type-2 vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) density in the sensorimotor and associative striatum using [11C]-(+)-a-dihydrotetrabenazine (DTBZ) positron emission tomography. Multinomial regression estimated adjusted associations of DTBZ binding with group membership. We hypothesized that DTBZ binding was highest for those who maintained gait speed without additional PFC activation when switching from single- to dual-task (PFC-/gait+; ie, highest gait automaticity).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In bivariate analyses, the PFC-/gait+ group had the highest DTBZ binding in the sensorimotor striatum (p = 0.05); binding in the associative striatum was similar across groups (p = 0.1). Results were similar in adjusted regression analyses; DTBZ binding in sensorimotor striatum was associated with lower likelihood to be in the PFC-/gait- (OR = 0.28; 95% CI: 0.08, 0.94) or the PFC+/gait + (OR = 0.29; 95% CI: 0.10, 0.84) groups compared to PFC-/gait+ reference group.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results provide support for dopaminergic involvement in sustaining gait automaticity at older ages.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144644494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Virtual Humans in Geriatric Care: An Integrative Review.","authors":"Michael Joseph S Dino, Kenneth W Dion, Peter M Abadir, Chakra Budhathoki, Chien-Ming Huang, Joseph Carlo Vital, Jenica Ana Rivero, Ma Kristina Malacas, Rommel Hernandez, Patrick Tracy Balbin, Ladda Thiamwong, Cheryl R Dennison Himmelfarb, Patricia M Davidson","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf145","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glaf145","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions have introduced new and innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence and virtual humanoids (VH), that offer promising solutions to health challenges among older adults. This project aims to provide an integrative review of VH concepts in geriatric care.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Scientific articles from reputable research databases (e.g., Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed) were extracted using relevant keywords and uploaded to the Covidence application for screening, full-text analysis, and extraction. A total of 36 articles were generated in the final stage of screening.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The 36 articles showcased various findings and insights on VH for geriatric care. More than half of the articles (66.67%) originated from the European region and were published in technology-related journals (55.56%). Most VH in the studies are used for social health interventions (33.3%), specifically for companionship purposes (25%). Furthermore, a great number of VH have average human likeness (55.56%) with the capacity to communicate with the end-user using pre-programmed responses (33.33%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The use of VH in geriatric care has shifted from providing companionship (social) to delivering relevant instructions (educational) for health and well-being. Researchers from developing countries are providing increasing attention to VH studies involving multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams. The use of AI in VH development is limited, but it has the potential to transform geriatric care and the field of gerotechnology.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identifying Motor Resilience Proteins Associated with Motor Decline in Older Adults.","authors":"Aron S Buchman, Tianhao Wang, Katia de Paiva Lopes, Andrea R Zammit, Shahram Oveisgharan, Nicholas Seyfried, Yanling Wang, Sukriti Nag, Shinya Tasaki, Lei Yu, David A Bennett","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaf144","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study will identify cortical proteins that may provide motor resilience, the capacity to maintain motor function despite underlying ADRD pathologies.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We studied 850 decedents with postmortem indices of ten ADRD pathologies and proteome from dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex. Annual parkinsonian signs were assessed using a modified Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale. First, we adjusted linear models for ADRD pathologies to isolate resilience proteins, unrelated to ADRD pathologies, but that were related to linear motor decline. Next, functional mixed-effects (FME) models were used to determine if resilience proteins were related to non-linear motor decline. Exploratory functional enrichment was then used to assess pathways underlying motor resilience proteins.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Mean age at death was 90 years (SD = 6.4), 69% female and 7 years follow-up. Adjusting linear models for age, sex and ADRD pathologies, we isolated thirteen proteins that may provide motor resilience (Bonferroni correction p < 5x10-6). FME models showed, that on average, progression of parkinsonian signs was non-linear from 25 years to 12 years before death, followed by accelerated linear decline until death. Five of thirteen resilience proteins were also related to non-linear decline. Motor resilience may be supported by a coordinated network of proteins that help to preserve neuronal structure, cellular transport, and synaptic integrity, functions critical for diverse aging phenotypes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Cortical proteins may provide motor resilience for both linear and non-linear motor decline. Further drug discovery targeting resilience proteins may yield therapies that can reduce motor impairment even in the absence of treatments for ADRD pathologies.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Systematic identification of exercise-induced anti-aging processes involving intron retention.","authors":"Hayata Kodama, Hirotaka Ijima, Yusuke Matsui","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf146","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaf146","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Exercise is one of the most promising anti-aging interventions for maintaining skeletal muscle health in older adults. Nine \"Aging Hallmarks\", proposed by López-Otín, offer insights into the aging process; however, the link between these hallmarks and exercise is not fully elucidated. In this study, we conducted a systematic multi-omics analysis of skeletal muscles, focusing on aging and exercise, based on gene signatures for aging hallmarks. It is posited that mRNA splicing activity, linked to genomic instability, constitutes a fundamental hallmark of aging, and exhibits divergent expression patterns in response to aging and exercise. Additionally, we analyzed splicing events and discovered that intron retention (IR) is significantly impacted by aging, exhibiting contrasting changes to those induced by resistance training in the older cohort. The isoforms characterized by IR are notably enriched in mitochondrial functions. Conclusively, our results underscore the significance of splicing mechanisms as a novel aspect of aging hallmarks in skeletal muscles and propose a new mechanism by which exercise exerts its anti-aging effects on skeletal muscles through IR.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cumulative loneliness and memory function among US older adults: the role of depressive symptoms.","authors":"Xuexin Yu, Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri, Tsai-Chin Cho, Laura B Zahodne, Alden L Gross, Belinda L Needham, Kenneth M Langa, Lindsay C Kobayashi","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaf143","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study aimed to investigate whether depressive symptoms mediate the association between cumulative loneliness and memory function during aging.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data were from 4,779 adults aged over 50 in the US Health and Retirement Study in two random sub-cohorts from 2006-2018 (Cohort A) and 2008-2020 (Cohort B). Participants were categorized as experiencing loneliness at 0, 1, 2, or 3 time points over an 8-year exposure period according to the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Episodic memory function was assessed at the follow-up by immediate and delayed word recall scores. Causal mediation analysis was performed in the pooled cohorts.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Mean baseline age (SD) was 65 (7.6), and 62% of the sample was female (2,941/4,779). Greater cumulative loneliness over the 8-year exposure period was associated with lower subsequent memory function in a dose-response relationship. Observed estimates for loneliness at each of 1, 2, and 3 time points were comparable in magnitude to an additional 0.26, 0.84, and 2.56 years of aging-related memory decline, respectively. The proportion of the association mediated by depressive symptoms decreased from 70% to 21% as the duration of loneliness increased.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Depressive symptoms may be a psychological mechanism through which cumulative loneliness negatively affects memory function among middle-aged and older adults in the United States.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mental exertion causes impairments in multi-finger force deficit during a hand grip strength task in older adults.","authors":"Narges Kazemi, Hamidreza Barzegarpoor, Hamid Rajabi, Brian C Clark, Rana Fayazmilani","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glaf141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaf141","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>There has been growing interest in the interrelationship between age-related reductions in cognitive and motor function. To advance the understanding of this interrelationship, we sought to determine whether a mentally fatiguing task differentially effects hand grip motor function in older versus younger adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Young (n = 10, 33 ± 3 years) and older adults (n = 15, 69 ± 3 years) free of overt neurological disease and who did not report chronic fatigue symptoms participated in two testing sessions. During both sessions, participants had their composite grip strength (GS) and their multi-finger force deficit (MFFD) measured. The MFFD assays the degree of neural inactivation observed during a composite grip strength test. During one session participants completed a series of psychomotor vigilance tasks (PVT) to induce mental fatigue. The other session served as a control condition.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Older adults exhibited an ∼18% reduction in composite GS associated with mental effort, which was significantly greater than that observed in young adults. Indirect neural activation, assessed via the MFFD, was reduced by approximately 22% in older adults during mental effort, which was significantly greater than the reduction observed in young adults.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>: These findings indicate that mental exertion/fatigue results in decreased composite GS and increasing impairments in neural activation in older adults. No effect on indices of neuromuscular performance were observed in young adults. These findings suggest that neural mechanisms are heavily involved in the regulation of composite grip strength, and that the relative contribution of neural and muscular mechanisms of handgrip strength are state dependent in older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144510192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}