A Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry-led study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry detailed a program of neuroplasticity-based brain exercises designed to improve cognitive deficits and address geriatric depression, which the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating, reports WINK News . The double-blind study included 36 participants aged 60 to 89 with major depressive disorder, who did not realize remission after at least eight weeks of treatment with anti-depressives. Participants were randomized into either a neuroplasticity-based brain exercise intervention cohort or an active control cohort engaged in computerized education with equivalent time demands and support. "The exercises are attentionally demanding and filled with novelty and rewards in an effort to stimulate the production of acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and dopamine, which help with brain plasticity, learning, and mood," said Posit Science CEO Henry Mahncke. Fifty-eight percent of treatment-resistant subjects in the brain exercise group exhibited remission in depression versus 8 percent in the control group. "These study results seem particularly relevant at a time when a record number of seniors are being asked to maintain social distance, which we know is not good for mood, nor for cognitive performance," said Mahncke.

A study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes suggests that even low levels of physical activity (PA) have a beneficial effect in the primary prevention of cancer in older adults, reports Hospital Healthcare Europe . The researchers recruited 1,542 participants, with an average age of 73, who were initially free of cancer and followed them for nine years on average. A total of 254 new cancers were observed over the nine-year follow-up, with leisure-time PA inversely related to cancer incidence, with adjusted hazard ratios of 0.66 and 0.59 for the insufficiently active and sufficiently active groups versus the inactive cohort. The implication is that even subjects designated not sufficiently active still had a reduced risk of cancer compared to those who were inactive. This finding emphasizes the value of PA as individuals age.

Four Shorewood senior-living communities in Minnesota are using the WellnessVR virtual reality (VR) platform to offer residents interesting and relaxing experiences, reports the Sun Sailor . The Visual local media and technology company that designed the platform partnered with Oppidan Investment to make the technology available. "Seniors can choose from a wide range of 360-degree nature, travel, and cultural scenes that we've filmed around Minnesota and the world," said Visual CEO Chuck Olsen. His company performed a study with a test cohort of senior-living community residents who used WellnessVR twice a week for four weeks. The platform helped them feel more positive, relaxed, and social, while also relieving anxiety or stress. Following the study, 97 percent of the participants felt more relaxed, 94 percent felt less worried, and all enjoyed their experience. Residents at the Pillars of Shorewood Landing have used the product since last July, and Pillars Executive Director Griffin Myslivecek said "we've been leaning on using WellnessVR more than usual throughout the pandemic."

A study in Alzheimer's & Dementia associated repetitive negative thinking in later life to cognitive decline and greater accumulation of harmful proteins responsible for Alzheimer's disease, reports CNN . Negative thinking behaviors such as rumination about the past and anxiety about the future were quantified in more 350 people older than 55 over two years, and about one third underwent a positron emission tomography brain scan to measure tau and beta amyloid deposits. Subjects who spent more time thinking negatively had more tau and beta amyloid accrual, worse memory, and more extensive cognitive decline over a four-year period than non-pessimists. Greater cognitive decline also was observed in depressed and anxious people, although tau and amyloid deposits did not increase in those subjects. "This is the first study showing a biological relationship between repetitive negative thinking and Alzheimer's pathology, and gives physicians a more precise way to assess risk and offer more personally-tailored interventions," said Richard Isaacson at New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical Center. The researchers suggest that meditation and other mental training exercises might help promote positive thinking while reducing negative thoughts, and they plan future studies to test this theory.

A study by the Georgetown University Medical Center published in Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition suggests that children, especially girls, with longer education are better armed against memory problems when they are older, reports Tech Explorist . The study evaluated declarative memory in 704 adults 58 to 98 years old. Declarative memory concerns the ability to recall events, facts, and words. Participants were displayed drawings of objects, and a few minutes later were tested on their memory of those objects. Although memory performance became progressively worse with aging, persons with more years of early-life education compensated for these losses — particularly in women. Memory gains in men associated with each year of education were twice the size of losses experienced during each year of aging, but were five times larger in women. "Evidence suggests that girls often have better declarative memory than boys so that education may lead to greater knowledge gains in girls," said Georgetown University Professor Michael Ullman. "Education may thus particularly benefit memory abilities in women, even years later in old age."

A study published in Neurology found that persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's disease (AD) were more likely to have reduced concentrations of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing triglycerides (PUTGs) than cognitively normal older adults, reports Neurology Today . Lower PUTG levels also tended to correspond with other known biomarkers for AD, including findings on magnetic resonance imaging brain scans. This association was very strong in participants exhibiting the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) gene, which is a strong risk factor for AD. These findings do not specify a cause and effect between triglycerides composition and MCI or AD risk, but they do suggest a new investigative channel for researchers trying to understand the underlying mechanisms of AD in order to develop new therapies. University of Southern California Professor Hussein Yassine said this research raises the question of whether people at risk for AD because of APOE4 status may benefit from boosting omega-3 levels in their blood. APOE4 carriers may in fact metabolize omega-3 fatty acids faster, which could account for the lower levels of PUTGs in their serum and elevate the risk of AD.

The University of Alabama's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is now offering seniors free online adult education courses in cybersecurity, reports InfoSecurity . To maintain safety during the current pandemic, the courses are now being taught on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. "OLLI is privileged to be in a position to provide educational and social opportunities online for its members and the community, some of whom are the most vulnerable to coronavirus and may be among the last of our citizens to emerge from their homes, even as social distancing guidelines are lifted in our community," said OLLI Director Jennifer Anderson. She added that adults older than 50 were just as much in need of social and intellectual stimulation as any other demographic. "OLLI students will not just 'view' their classes," Anderson explained. "They will participate because the classes are synchronous. Participants can speak in class and the instructors can have discussions in addition to the lectures provided."

A data brief from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics determined that the rate of emergency department (ED) visits increases with age among people 60 years and older, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers analyzed data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to characterize such visits. The rate was 43 visits per 100 persons aged 60 years and older in 2014 to 2017, increasing to 34 to 86 visits per 100 persons aged 60 to 69 years and 90 years and older, respectively. Roughly 7 percent of ED visits were made by nursing community residents, rising from 2 percent to 24 percent among persons 60 to 69 years and 90 years and older, respectively. Approximately 30 percent of those who visited the ED came by ambulance, which also increased with age. Moreover, the percentage of ED visits on account of unintentional falls increased with age. Twenty-three percent of visits resulted in hospitalization, with that rate rising with age as well. "As the U.S. population continues to grow older, monitoring use and provision of emergency department services among this population may help inform the ability of emergency departments to handle the unique needs of older patients," the authors concluded.

The American Geriatrics Society estimates that the supply of geriatricians cannot meet demand as baby boomers age, reports KBIA . The national number of specialists can only accommodate about one-sixth of demand, and the Midwest region is suffering the most from the shortfall. The Alzheimer's Association said the number of geriatricians in Missouri, for instance, must grow by a factor of eight by 2050 to meet demands. Curtis Schreiber at the Missouri Memory Center explained that a lack of geriatricians makes it difficult for other doctors to care for patients, as a key role is communicating with other specialists to ensure awareness of other conditions that could be causing problems. "Geriatricians are a great resource for helping manage patients with Alzheimer's disease, especially when they have other medical conditions that make management more complicated," he said. Also in short supply and high demand are gerentologists. People with dementia, in particular, need a team of highly trained caregivers. But a dearth of experts means nursing communities must hire workers without the same level of education and experience.

Medical City Children's Hospital intensive care unit (ICU) physician Dr. Sharon Sandell reports on National Public Radio that her parents, assisted-living community residents Larry and Anne Sandell, were forced to separate when they both received a COVID-19 diagnosis. They spent four weeks apart, an especially hard prospect for Anne, who was suffering cognitive decline. When they were released from their respective hospitalizations, Sandell notes that "my parents couldn't go back to their apartment in the assisted-living community; it was quarantined and my father was still positive for the virus. So my younger brother . . . and I rented them a furnished house." They were reunited on April 29 but had to wear masks in each other's company and sleep in separate rooms until May 8. "As an ICU doctor with 30 years of experience, I believe the moral to the story is this: In a world of pandemic virus, speed is of the essence," Sandell says. "Because of the daily temperature testing and assessment, my parents were sent to the hospital as soon as they developed a fever. I believe that may have saved their lives."