Video of the Day - Brain Study: "Use It or Lose It"

New research is changing the understanding of the relationship between getting older and keeping the mind healthy. The key - according to scientists - is exercise. Mental exercise.

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Interactive Report Maps Landscape of Technology for the Aging

The Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) today released an interactive version of their "State of Technology in Aging Services Report" that lays out the categories of technologies that exist and are under development to meet the needs of aging consumers and highlights what companies are doing to serve this growing market segment.

This version, which can be found online at http://www.agingtech.org/, builds on the March 2008 publication, "The State of Technology in Aging Services," and includes links to the numerous corporations, universities and aging-services providers who are advancing technologies that can help older people stay healthy and independent longer.

The types of technology include:

Sensors which can detect and notify a caregiver if a person is potentially unsafe (e.g. have fallen, did not get out of his chair or turn off the stove).

Health technologies that monitor blood pressure, respiration and other conditions in real time while the person is at home. This reduces the need for doctor's visits and notifying caregivers immediately of significant changes.

Medication dispensers that provide the appropriate medicines at the appropriate time and remind a person to take them.

Computer games that provide social networking, promote brain stimulation and even use diagnostic games to monitor a person's cognitive abilities.

The report also includes interviews with expert researchers, who conclude that factors ranging from interconnectivity between different systems to usability, affordability and the availability of technical support and training will determine how widespread these technologies will become.

"Older consumers are becoming increasingly more interested in technology and small and large corporations are working to meet this demand," says Majd Alwan, director of CAST. "Our study shows that we can create a network of technology-driven services to help people stay at home and achieve better outcomes at the same time.

"Aging-services providers are partnering with technology companies to provide comprehensive service packages," Alwan adds. "Consumers should be as aware of these options as they are aware of their cell phone plans or cable television offerings."

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Researchers Find Older Folks Don't Get The Joke

It's no laughing matter that older adults have a tougher time understanding basic jokes than do younger adults.

It's partially due to a cognitive decline associated with age, according to Washington University in St. Louis researchers Wingyun Mak, a graduate student in psychology in Arts & Sciences, and Brian Carpenter, Washington University associate professor of psychology.

Humor comprehension in older adults functions in a different fashion than humor comprehension in younger adults. The researchers studied older adults from a university subject pool as well as undergraduate students. The subjects participated in tests that indicated their ability to complete jokes accurately as well as tests that indicated their cognitive capabilities in areas of abstract reasoning, short-term memory, and cognitive flexibility. Overall, older adults demonstrated lower performance on both tests of cognitive ability as well as tests of humor comprehension than did younger adults.

"However, just because you're an older adult does not mean that you can't understand humor. All hope is not lost," says Mak. "This is just the first step in understanding how humor comprehension functions in older adults." There are likely a multitude of factors, like previous experiences, preferences, and personality that also contribute to how well someone understands different types of humor.

The hope would be that this study and future research would allow researchers to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between cognition and humor comprehension. Perhaps down the line, this knowledge may inform the way humor is integrated into programs targeted at improving the quality of life for older adults.

The paper, published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, was based on the theory that humor comprehension is a result of resolving incongruities—resolving the conflict between the expected and the actual, which requires a combination of cognitive skills. As older adults age, they experience cognitive declines that the researchers indicate affect their ability to comprehend humor.

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