Social and Neural Underpinnings of Octogenarian Wellbeing

描述（由申请人提供）：随着越来越多的人活到第9和第10个几十年，对健康老龄化的决定因素的研究是一个紧迫的优先事项。社会关系与人们在身体和认知上的衰老反复联系在一起，国家老龄化研究所已经确定需要了解社会因素如何促进健康老龄化。与许多随着年龄增长而下降的能力不同，最大化积极情绪体验从而增强幸福感的能力实际上可能会随着年龄的增长而提高。拟议的研究将使用一种独一无二的纵向研究来检查整个成年期的社会功能，作为老年人倾向于优先关注和回忆情感积极信息的预测因素（积极效应）;以及成年社会功能作为晚年认知，身体和情感健康的预测因素。此外，我们将研究这个老年人样本中积极效应的神经基础。成人发展研究（Vaillant，2002年）目前已进入第七个十年，是有史以来对成人生活进行的时间最长的纵向研究之一。来自社会光谱两端的参与者--内城学校的男孩和哈佛学院的学生--最初是在1939-1945年进行研究的。在接下来的68年里，研究人员反复评估了社会功能，身体健康和心理健康的措施。现在他们80多岁了，256名男性仍然活着并参与了这项研究。拟议的4年应用程序将利用这一独特的样本和数据库来解决两个具体目标。目的1是研究早期和中期的社会功能是否可以预测（1）老年人积极效应的变化，以及（2）晚年的认知，身体和情感幸福感。目的2是检查是否在这些老年人的积极性效应的幅度反映在脑结构和功能的功能磁共振成像（fMRI），结构MRI和扩散张量成像评估。此外，目标2将研究积极性偏见与同时发生的身体健康、认知功能和情绪健康的联系程度。将近70年的前瞻性纵向数据与新收集的神经影像学指标以及对晚年认知和健康的全面评估相结合是前所未有的。这项研究的最终目标是确定老年健康老龄化的前因和标志物，这些标志物可以为干预措施的设计提供信息，以促进全国快速增长的老年人口的身体，认知和情感健康。 公共卫生相关性：美国活到80多岁和90多岁的成年人口继续迅速增加。了解社会因素如何影响老龄化过程将使我们能够设计更好的社会计划，以防止衰退，并促进生命的第9和第10个十年的健康。我们提出的研究旨在了解成年期的社会关系和社会联系如何影响大脑功能，并促进晚年的认知，身体和情感健康。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research on the determinants of healthy aging is an urgent priority as more people live into the 9th and 10th decades of life. Social relationships have been linked repeatedly with how people age both physically and cognitively, and the National Institute on Aging has identified as a priority the need to understand how social factors promote healthy aging. Unlike many capacities that decline with age, the ability to maximize positive emotional experience and thereby enhance wellbeing may actually improve with age. The proposed research will use a one-of-a-kind longitudinal study to examine social functioning throughout adulthood as a predictor of octogenarians' tendency to preferentially attend to and recall emotionally positive information (the positivity effect); and adult social functioning as a predictor of late-life cognitive, physical, and emotional well-being. In addition, we will examine the neural underpinnings of the positivity effect in this elderly sample. Currently in its 7th decade, the Study of Adult Development (Vaillant, 2002) is one of the longest-running longitudinal studies of adult life ever conducted. Participants from two ends of the social spectrum - Inner City school boys and Harvard College sophomores - were originally studied in 1939-1945. Over the following 68 years, study members have been assessed repeatedly with measures of social functioning, physical health, and psychological well-being. Now in their 80s, 256 men are still alive and participating in the Study. The proposed 4-year application will capitalize on this unique sample and database to address two specific aims. Aim 1 is to examine whether early and mid-adult social functioning is predictive of (1) variation in the positivity effect among octogenarians, and (2) late life cognitive, physical, and emotional well-being. Aim 2 is to examine whether the magnitude of the positivity effect in these octogenarians is reflected in brain structure and function as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), structural MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging. In addition, Aim 2 will examine the extent to which the positivity bias is linked with concurrent physical health, cognitive functioning, and emotional wellbeing. The combination of nearly 7 decades of prospective longitudinal data with newly-gathered state-of-the-neuroimaging measures and thorough assessments of late- life cognition and health is unprecedented. The ultimate goal of this research is to identify antecedents and markers of healthy aging in late life that may inform the design of interventions to promote physical, cognitive, and emotional health among the nation's rapidly growing elderly population. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The population of adults in the United States who live into their 80s and 90s continues to increase rapidly. Understanding how social factors influence the aging process will allow us to design better social programs to forestall decline and promote health in the 9th and 10th decades of life. Our proposed study aims to understand how social relationships and social connections during adulthood can affect brain functioning and promote cognitive, physical, and emotional wellbeing in late life.