Objective This study explores the therapeutic efficacy and mechanisms of panaxadiol (PD), a ginseng-derived sapogenin, in a mouse model of vascular cognitive impairment-induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH). Methods CCH was induced in C57BL/6 mice by bilateral common carotid artery stenosis (BCAS). Mice were assigned to Sham + normal saline (NS), Sham + PD, BCAS + NS or BCAS + PD groups. PD (50 mg/kg/d) or NS was administered orally for 30 days after surgery. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured by laser speckle imaging at 1 h and 7, 14 and 30 d after BCAS. Cognitive function was assessed by behavioral tests, hippocampal angiogenesis by immunofluorescence staining and angiogenesis-related cytokines by protein array. Results PD restored CBF in BCAS mice by day 30 (p < .05 vs BCAS + NS), mitigated cognitive impairment, and increased hippocampal vascular density (p < .01) and new vessel formation (p < .0001). Neovascularisation showed significant or near-significant correlations with cognitive performance. PD decreased interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 (TIMP-2) levels and increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) levels (all p < .05). In exploratory correlation analyses, newly formed vessel counts were negatively associated with IFN-gamma and TIMP-2 and positively associated with VEGF and TNF-alpha. Conclusion PD alleviated CCH-induced cognitive deficits and promoted hippocampal angiogenesis, accompanied by a shift toward a pro-angiogenic neurovascular microenvironment. These findings suggest that PD may support cognitive recovery in CCH by facilitating cerebrovascular repair and remodeling, although the precise mechanisms require further investigation.
BACKGROUND:Social relationship factors have been linked with cardiovascular health in older adulthood, and epidemiological studies indicate that the association may vary for different constructs of social relationships. This study aims to investigate associations between three social relationship measurements including loneliness, social isolation, and social support and psychophysiological stress response among older adults, with a focus on gender differences. METHODS:Ninety older adults (34 males, mean age ± SD = 66.31 ± 5.43) completed measures of social relationships and two stress-inducing tasks including mirror tracing and Stroop-color naming. Heart rate (HR) was monitored throughout the laboratory session. RESULTS:For male participants, social support was significantly associated with a lower stress HR response (β = -0.181, t = -2.44, p = .022), and this association remained significant (β = -0.174, t = -2.33, p = .029) even after all the other covariates including loneliness and social isolation were taken into account. For female participants, no significant association was found between the three social relationship constructs and stress HR response. No significant result was found for psychological stress response for either male or female participants. CONCLUSIONS:These findings suggest gender differences in the association between specific social relationship constructs and physiological stress response in older adults.
BACKGROUND:Pragmatic ability, which encompasses language and other expressive means, is associated with multiple cognitive processes and may be sensitive to subtle cognitive changes in healthy aging. This study investigated its relationship with cognitive vulnerability in older adults without diagnosed neurocognitive disorders. METHODS:38 community-dwelling older adults were divided into a group scoring below the MoCA cutoff (CIbM) and a control group within the normal range (CTRL). Pragmatic performance and cognitive functions, including language, attention, memory, and executive functions, were assessed. RESULTS:CIbM participants showed significantly poorer pragmatic performance, particularly in linguistic and contextual domains. Regression and ROC analyses indicated that multimodal pragmatic scores distinguished the groups and predicted MoCA status more effectively than traditional cognitive measures. CONCLUSIONS:Pragmatic ability may represent a complementary, ecologically valid marker of cognitive vulnerability in healthy aging. Since pragmatic processing involves multiple cognitive and neural systems, subtle difficulties may emerge even when impairment in traditional cognitive domains is less evident. Assessing pragmatic performance alongside conventional measures could therefore provide a broader characterization of cognitive functioning and help identify early vulnerability. These findings support including pragmatic assessment in evaluations of cognitive health and inform individualized monitoring of aging trajectories.
BACKGROUND:A variety of factors influence a person's language abilities. We investigated possible relationships between age, musicianship, and spoken word recognition. METHODS:Participants heard words and nonwords in the presence of background noise and made lexical decision responses. Participants were categorized as either a musician or a nonmusician. RESULTS:Results indicate that both younger and older adult musicians had more efficient responses than nonmusicians. Participants were more efficient at responding to easy than hard words. Interestingly, older adults had significantly more accurate responses than younger adults. CONCLUSIONS:The results further our understanding of the connections between age, musicianship, and spoken word recognition.
