Konstantinos Prokopidis, Colleen S Deane, Zoubayda Baoubbou, Charlotte Beaudart
{"title":"Circulating biomarkers in older adults with and without sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Konstantinos Prokopidis, Colleen S Deane, Zoubayda Baoubbou, Charlotte Beaudart","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag140","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, poses a significant health and economic burden. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates circulating biomarkers (activin A, follistatin, growth differentiation factor (GDF-15), myostatin, growth hormone, insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1), free and total testosterone) that may be associated with sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from inception to June 2025. Studies included adults without major comorbidities aged >60 years with sarcopenia defined by established consensus. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed via I2 and meta-regressions, while Egger's test was employed for publication bias.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>From 3488 records, 26 observational studies were included (n = 1345 adults with sarcopenia, 48.3% females, mean age 67.9-88.1 years). Adults with sarcopenia showed elevated GDF-15 (k = 5, SMD: 0.26, 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.03 to 0.50, I2 = 64%, p = .03) and reduced IGF-1 (k = 11, SMD: -0.40, 95% CI, -0.54 to -0.27, I2 = 36%, p < .01) compared to controls without sarcopenia. No significant differences were found between groups for the other circulating biomarkers.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Elevated circulating IGF-1 and, to a lesser extent, GDF-15, may be promising biomarkers for sarcopenia. Larger, longitudinal studies are needed to address heterogeneity and causality.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13283486/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148045123","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":"Multidomain functional dispersion and disability-free survival among community-dwelling older adults: an exploratory study.","authors":"Masanori Morikawa, Kenji Harada, Chiharu Nishijima, Kazuya Fujii, Daisuke Kakita, Takuto Okuya, Kazuki Soma, Hiroyuki Shimada","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag147","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag147","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Physical, cognitive, and psychological functions contribute to disability risk and are interrelated. This study explored the association between multidomain functional dispersion and disability-free survival in community-dwelling older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cohort study used NCGG-SGS data. Functional dispersion was the within-person SD across standardized physical, cognitive, and psychological domain scores; higher values indicated greater between-domain differences. Disability-free survival was time to first certification under the Japanese Long-Term Care Insurance system. Adjusted cause-specific Cox models with restricted cubic splines examined dispersion and incident disability, including mean functional score. Robustness was assessed using bootstrap, Fine-Gray, and log-transformed sensitivity analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 13 746 participants (baseline 2011-2017), 2135 developed a disability during 5 years (15.5%). Dispersion was nonlinearly associated with disability risk (p for nonlinearity < .0001). Using the cohort median dispersion as the reference, adjusted hazard ratios were 0.94 (95% CI, 0.90-0.98) at the 25th percentile and 1.11 (95% CI, 1.03-1.20) at the 75th percentile. Below the median, hazard ratios decreased as dispersion declined but rose again at the extreme lower tail. Above the median, risk rose modestly and then declined at higher dispersion. Bootstrap and Fine-Gray analyses supported these patterns.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Multidomain functional dispersion showed a nonlinear association with disability risk. Multidomain functional dispersion may be useful as an exploratory indicator of heterogeneity in disability risk beyond overall functional level.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148159576","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}
Hajin Jang, Carolyn J Crandall, Shweta Gore, Chen Hu, Andrea Z LaCroix, Michael J LaMonte, Longjian Liu, Kerri S Freeland, Jane A Cauley, Marcia L Stefanick, Benjamin T Schumacher, Elsa S Strotmeyer
{"title":"Associations of obesity phenotypes with incident fall rates: results from the objective physical activity and cardiovascular disease health in older women study.","authors":"Hajin Jang, Carolyn J Crandall, Shweta Gore, Chen Hu, Andrea Z LaCroix, Michael J LaMonte, Longjian Liu, Kerri S Freeland, Jane A Cauley, Marcia L Stefanick, Benjamin T Schumacher, Elsa S Strotmeyer","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag152","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag152","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Obesity and sarcopenia may influence fall risk through different mechanisms, but how different phenotypes affect fall rates is unclear, especially among older women. This study examined associations of whole-body obesity, abdominal obesity, and sarcopenic obesity with incident fall rates among community-dwelling older women in the United States.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed data from 4654 ambulatory women aged ≥63 years in the Objective Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health study, an ancillary study of the Women's Health Initiative. Whole-body overweight and obesity were defined as body mass index (BMI) 25 to <30 kg/m2 and ≥30 kg/m2, respectively; abdominal obesity as waist circumference >88 cm; and sarcopenia as grip strength <20 kg. Sarcopenic obesity was defined as the coexistence of obesity (either whole-body or abdominal) and sarcopenia. Falls were recorded using daily calendars over 13 months. Negative binomial regression models estimated associations between obesity phenotypes and monthly fall rates, adjusting for demographic, behavioral, and health-related covariates.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Whole-body overweight and obesity were associated with lower fall rates compared to normal BMI (overweight incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.73, 0.92; obesity IRR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.66, 0.87). Abdominal obesity showed a modest association with reduced fall rates (IRR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.78, 0.96). In contrast, sarcopenia alone (IRR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.24, 1.68), and sarcopenic obesity (IRR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.39) were associated with significantly higher fall rates.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings underscore the critical role of muscle strength loss, rather than excess adiposity, in fall risk among older women. Future interventions to reduce sarcopenia may reduce fall rates.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13318492/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148221437","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}
Daniel Callow, Jill A Rabinowitz, Xinkai Zhou, Xiaowen Chen, Ryan Dougherty, Ciprian Crainiceanu, Lacey Etzkorn, Amal A Wanigatunga, Sarah K Wanigatunga, Adam P Spira, Jennifer A Schrack, Vadim Zipunnikov
{"title":"Associations of accelerometry-derived time in major activity intensities with cognitive outcomes: a compositional data analysis approach.","authors":"Daniel Callow, Jill A Rabinowitz, Xinkai Zhou, Xiaowen Chen, Ryan Dougherty, Ciprian Crainiceanu, Lacey Etzkorn, Amal A Wanigatunga, Sarah K Wanigatunga, Adam P Spira, Jennifer A Schrack, Vadim Zipunnikov","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag143","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag143","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep are modifiable lifestyle factors linked to cognitive health. Prior research has largely relied on self-report to measure these constructs or ignored the compositional nature of these data. We applied compositional data analysis (CoDA) to quantify the association between accelerometry-derived measures of time in major activity domains and cognitive outcomes among older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants were 927 older adults (Mage = 82.71 years, SD = 3.99, range = 76-95) from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study who wore wrist-worn accelerometers and completed cognitive assessments. Major activity domains were time in bed and time out of bed, which were divided into 4 categories: SB, low-light (low-LIPA), high-light (high-LIPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Cognitive outcomes included global cognition, memory, executive function, and language performance.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Across all cognitive domains, greater time spent in MVPA relative to other activity domains, including out-of-bed time, SB, and low-LIPA, was associated with better cognitive performance. In contrast, greater time spent in low-LIPA relative to other activity domains was consistently associated with poorer performance across all cognitive domains, and these associations were attenuated, but remained statistically significant, after adjustment for gait speed. Sedentary behavior was negatively associated with executive function only.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The trade-off between time spent in MVPA and in low-LIPA is the objectively measured PA that was most strongly associated with cognitive abilities. Time spent in low-LIPA may be an important biomarker of physical health and cognitive impairment.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13316422/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148221467","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":"Untargeted metabolomics reveals effects of calorie restriction on skeletal muscle in older female and male rats.","authors":"Haiyan Wang, Jiwei Hao, Gregory D Cartee","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag144","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag144","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study used untargeted metabolomics to investigate how calorie restriction (CR) affects skeletal muscle in older female and male rats. Fischer-344 Brown Norway rats of both sexes (22-23-month-old) were randomly assigned to an ad libitum-fed (AL) group or a CR group, which received 65% of the daily food intake of their sex-matched AL counterparts for eight weeks. Epitrochlearis muscles were collected and analyzed using untargeted metabolomics and immunoblotting. CR altered the abundance of 554 out of the 999 detected muscle metabolites. Additionally, 521 metabolites differed between females and males. CR raised the levels of metabolites related to bile acids, with significantly greater CR-induced elevation of secondary bile acids in females, suggesting possible sex-dependent interactions involving the gut, liver, and muscle. Furthermore, CR increased the levels of five glycolytic metabolites. These changes occurred without increases in the abundance of phosphofructokinase (a rate-limiting glycolytic enzyme) or in key allosteric activators (AMP and ADP). There was no evidence for a CR-induced increase in NAD+/NADH ratio: NAD+ levels decreased and NADH levels increased for CR versus AL rats. Approximately 78% of dipeptides were lower in CR rats compared to AL rats, and 38% of dipeptides were greater for females versus males. Levels for 5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine (a methylated DNA breakdown product and potential marker for changes in DNA remodeling) were significantly reduced by CR only in females. Together, these findings offer important insights for understanding both the shared and sex-specific mechanisms through which CR influences muscle metabolism, health, and function.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13287989/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148145794","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}
Jennifer C Davis, Ryan S Falck, Chun Liang Hsu, Karim Khan, Patrick Chan, Cheyenne Ghag, Patrizio Jacova, Kenneth Madden, Larry Dian, Jordyn Rice, Naaz Parmar, Craig Mitton, Teresa Liu-Ambrose
{"title":"Using case-mixes to understand health resource utilization trajectories among older adults at high risk of falls who received baseline geriatrician-based Falls Prevention Clinic care.","authors":"Jennifer C Davis, Ryan S Falck, Chun Liang Hsu, Karim Khan, Patrick Chan, Cheyenne Ghag, Patrizio Jacova, Kenneth Madden, Larry Dian, Jordyn Rice, Naaz Parmar, Craig Mitton, Teresa Liu-Ambrose","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag146","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag146","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>We identified case-mixes among older adults at high risk of future falls, determined by longitudinal health resource utilization (HRU) cost trajectories, and examined baseline characteristics associated with these trajectories.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This descriptive secondary cohort analysis included 343 community-dwelling older adults at high risk of falls who participated in a randomized controlled trial. All participants received evidence-based falls prevention care at the Falls Prevention Clinic. The primary outcome was total healthcare resource utilization costs collected prospectively over 12 months using self-report questionnaires and monthly cost diaries. Case-mixes were identified using 12-month trajectories and latent class growth modeling. Baseline characteristics examined included intervention group, age, biological sex, cognitive function, and physical function.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified 2 case-mixes. The \"low-cost, stable\" case-mix was characterized by low baseline HRU (∼$500 CAD) that remained stable over 12 months. The \"low-cost, decreasing\" case-mix had the lowest baseline HRU (<$500 CAD) and decreased over 12 months. Biological sex modified the trajectories. Specifically, males in the \"low-cost, stable\" case-mix demonstrated decreased HRU over 12 months, whereas female HRU remained unchanged. In the \"low-cost, decreasing\" case-mix, female HRU decreased at a greater rate than male HRU.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Older adults at high risk of falls receiving Falls Prevention Clinic care demonstrated relatively low HRU characterized by stable and decreasing case-mixes. These findings provide descriptive insight into healthcare utilization patterns and may inform future evaluations of Falls Prevention Clinic models of care. These findings may assist future risk stratification and healthcare planning for older adults at elevated falls risk internationally.The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01029171; NCT00323596).</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13290473/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148145929","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}
Yiting Wu, Hao Xiang, Yu Huang, Yuanyuan Zhang, Ziliang Ye, Yanjun Zhang, Sisi Yang, Xiaoqin Gan, Yiwei Zhang, Dan Chen, Xianglian Cai, Xiaolong Liang, Sheng Nie, Fan Fan Hou, Xianhui Qin
{"title":"Association and predictive value of biological aging for chronic kidney disease risk in diabetes: cross-cohort validation across the United Kingdom and China.","authors":"Yiting Wu, Hao Xiang, Yu Huang, Yuanyuan Zhang, Ziliang Ye, Yanjun Zhang, Sisi Yang, Xiaoqin Gan, Yiwei Zhang, Dan Chen, Xianglian Cai, Xiaolong Liang, Sheng Nie, Fan Fan Hou, Xianhui Qin","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag120","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag120","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biological aging (BA) may influence chronic kidney disease (CKD) development. We evaluated the association of accelerated BA-quantified using Klemera-Doubal method biological age (KDM-BA) and phenotypic age (PhenoAge)-with incident CKD, and assessed its predictive value beyond conventional risk factors (CKD Prediction Consortium [CKD-PC] model) in participants with diabetes. This two-country cohort study included 14 274 participants with diabetes from the UK Biobank and 7900 from the China Renal Data System (CRDS). KDM-BA and PhenoAge were calculated from clinical biomarkers, and their acceleration (deviation from chronological age) was evaluated. Cox regression assessed associations with incident CKD, while C-index, net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) evaluated predictive performance. Over median follow-ups of 13.3 (UK Biobank) and 3.3 (CRDS) years, 1676 and 709 incident CKD cases were documented. Each standard deviation increase in KDM-BA acceleration was associated with 31% (95% CI: 23%-39%) (UK) and 68% (95% CI: 58%-80%) (China) higher CKD hazard. PhenoAge acceleration similarly increased CKD risk (29% and 28%, respectively). In the UK Biobank, adding KDM-BA or PhenoAge acceleration to the CKD-PC model (C-index = 0.770) led to modest but statistically significant improvements in prediction (C-index increase = 0.004 [95% CI: 0.002-0.006] and 0.003 [0.001-0.005], respectively), while leukocyte telomere length (LTL) provided no benefit (0.0001 [-0.0004, 0.0005]). Both BA measures enhanced reclassification (NRI: 0.034-0.076; IDI: 0.002-0.003). CRDS analyses yielded consistent results. Accelerated BA is consistently associated with higher CKD hazard in diabetes across European and Asian populations. KDM-BA and PhenoAge offer practical tools for refining CKD risk stratification.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147857972","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}
Youngjoon Bae, Yuan Zhang, Jaydon Jun Yu Chin, Kamaryn T Tanner, Grace A Noppert, Rebecca C Stebbins, Daniel W Belsky, Allison E Aiello
{"title":"Widowhood, immune aging, and mortality in older Americans: evidence from the US Health and Retirement Study.","authors":"Youngjoon Bae, Yuan Zhang, Jaydon Jun Yu Chin, Kamaryn T Tanner, Grace A Noppert, Rebecca C Stebbins, Daniel W Belsky, Allison E Aiello","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag124","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag124","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Widowhood has been linked to increased mortality risk, particularly among men, but the biological mechanisms remain unknown. Given the impacts of stress on immune function, we hypothesized that widowhood leads to increased mortality by impacting immunity.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data from 8410 US adults aged 56 and older in the Health and Retirement Study, including flow cytometry of blood samples, survey data, and mortality, were analyzed. Associations between widowhood, immunosenescence (measured by the CD8+:CD4+ Ratio, EMRA CD4+:Naïve CD4+ Ratio, EMRA CD8+:Naïve CD8+ Ratio), and mortality were examined using linear regression and Cox proportional hazards models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Men and women who experienced widowhood and who showed signs of more advanced immune-system aging were at increased mortality risk. Widowed men consistently had more aged T-cells than married men across multiple measures. However, among widowed women, this association was observed only for the EMRA CD4+:Naïve CD4+ ratio. Elevated levels of aged T-cells partially mediated the relationship between widowhood and mortality, with a stronger mediating effect observed in men than in women.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings indicate that bereavement accelerates immunosenescence, contributing to the increased mortality risk observed in widowed men and revealing a biologically grounded pathway with potential for amelioration.</p>","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147877190","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}
Melike Kahya, On-Yee Lo, Junhong Zhou, Davide Cappon, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Lewis A Lipsitz, Brad Manor
{"title":"Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex increases gamma power and standing balance in older adults.","authors":"Melike Kahya, On-Yee Lo, Junhong Zhou, Davide Cappon, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Lewis A Lipsitz, Brad Manor","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag127","DOIUrl":"10.1093/gerona/glag127","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Standing is a complex task often performed concurrently with a cognitive task. This type of \"dual-tasking\" requires attentional processing and related patterns of brain activation, particularly in the gamma frequency band of electrographic electroencephalography (EEG) signals (30-50 Hz). In older adults, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) designed to facilitate the excitability of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC) improves attentional control and dual-task standing performance when tested just after stimulation. However, the effects of tDCS on underlying brain activity during single- and dual-task standing are unknown.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Thirty older adults completed three visits during which they received 20 min of tDCS targeting the L-DLPFC, the primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1, active control), or sham (inactive control) in randomized order. Before and immediately after each stimulation session, 32-channel EEG and body-worn motion sensors were used as participants completed trials of standing with and without verbalized serial subtractions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>tDCS targeting L-DLPFC, as compared to SM1 and sham stimulation, increased gamma power during single-task standing in the anterior left (p = .02) and anterior right regions (p = .03). A similar trend (p = .08) towards increased gamma power in these regions following tDCS targeting the L-DLPFC was also observed during dual-task standing. Participants who demonstrated a greater increase in gamma power after tDCS targeting L-DLPFC exhibited greater reduction (improvement) in postural sway during single-task standing (r = -0.53, p = .007) and dual-task standing (r = -0.51, p = .003).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results suggest that tDCS designed to facilitate L-DLPFC excitability modulates gamma power during single-task standing, which was in turn correlated with improved postural control, 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":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678470/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147978350","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":"Introduction to the special issue on the impact of climate change and air quality on human aging.","authors":"Steven N Austad, Zhen Cong","doi":"10.1093/gerona/glag150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glag150","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94243,"journal":{"name":"The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences","volume":"81 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148321405","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}