Abstract INTRODUCTION People with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and cognitive impairment, no dementia (CIND) have higher risks of dementia. This study investigated whether fixel‐based and free‐water (FW) metrics, which examine the white matter (WM) structure, differ in SCD and CIND and their relationships with cognition. METHODS We analyzed cross‐sectional data from 247 participants (median age = 63), separated into three groups: healthy controls (HC), SCD, and CIND. RESULTS HC had lower fiber bundle cross‐section (FbC) in the splenium than SCD. HC had higher FbC in the left cerebellum and higher fiber density in the corpus callosum than CIND, and SCD had higher FbC in the right cerebellum than CIND. CIND had higher FW in the temporal lobe and basal ganglia than HC and exhibited less extensive FW differences with SCD. Fixel‐based and FW metrics associated positively and negatively with cognition, respectively. DISCUSSION Fixel‐based metrics have potential to detect WM changes associated with SCD.

Barrel aging has garnered increasing attention in craft beer production due to its capacity to impart distinctive flavor profiles. Understanding the chemical transformations induced by barrel aging is critical for quality optimization and targeted flavor modulation of aged beers. This study employed HS-SPME-GC-MS, derivatization-GC-MS, and UPLC-MS/MS combined with chemometric analysis to systematically characterize volatile (VOCs), semi-volatile (semi-VOCs), and non-volatile (non-VOCs) compound profiles in lager beer before and after barrel maturation. A total of 73 VOCs, 29 semi-VOCs, and 76 non-VOCs were identified as significantly altered components (VIP > 1, p < 0.05), demonstrating the profound chemical reorganization induced by barrel aging during beer production. The aging process significantly enhanced key aroma-active volatiles such as fatty acid esters, aromatic compounds, and heterocyclic compounds, primarily through chemical esterification, autoxidation, and solvent extraction processes. Concurrent increases in semi-VOCs and non-VOCs-including amino acids, medium-/long-chain carboxylic acids, phenolic compounds, and carbohydrates-were attributed to three principal mechanisms: microbial autolysis, wood-derived compound extraction, and hemicellulose hydrolysis. Notably, a significant interaction between low-volatility compounds and aroma-active volatiles was established during the aging process. This comprehensive analysis provides critical insights into the chemical evolution of lager beer during barrel aging and informs processing strategies for achieving desired quality attributes in barrel-aged beer products.

Beer is a prominent fermented food product and is regarded as the one of most widely consumed beverage globally. There is a dearth of studies examining the impact of different types of beer with intricate components as a comprehensive intervention on human health and immune status. This study used a 14-day continuous drinking intervention consisting of 5 beers, namely white beer, India pale ale (IPA), Pilsner, non-alcoholic beer, and premium lager beer. Surprisingly, our findings indicate that consuming white beer has little impact on the gut microbiota and physiological condition of mice, whereas consuming other types of beer leads to an increase in Lactobacillus and a decrease in Lachnospiraceae. In addition, we devised an extended feeding experiment to investigate the comparative safety and health benefits of consuming white beer. The research showed that when mice drank excessive quantities of white beer over 42 days, the intestines of the mice had more Prevotellaceae and the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio (F/B ratio) had a decline from 1.29 to 0.38. The levels of acetic acid, propionic acid, and isobutyric acid increased from 1.0, 0.27, and 0.015 mg/g to 1.28, 0.38, and 0.037 mg/g, respectively (P < 0.05). There were no significant changes observed in the levels of most measured cytokines in the colon tissue of mice that consumed beer, however, there was an increase in the concentration of the inflammatory factor tumor nesrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) from 135.86 pg/mL in the control group to 189.78 pg/mL in the white beer group (P < 0.01). These results give us real-world proof that we can use to study how different beers affect the host's health and satisfaction in future research.

Melanoidins are brown macromolecular products of Maillard reaction formed through thermal processing, which provide unique flavor and bioactive function of food. This study aims to reveal the changes of structure and bioactive characteristics in beer melanoidin-rich fraction (BM) during different chemical treatments and in vitro digestion and fermentation. The results showed that BM had colloidal properties with 24.21-99.28 nm and negative charge, which mainly contained carbohydrates. In addition, microscopic morphology showed surface cracks after acid treatment, blocky particles after alkali treatment, and some porous small particles after salt treatment. These might be caused by the disruption of polysaccharide, protein, and the skeleton structure through spectra. Moreover, during simulated in vitro digestion stage, Mw of BM was slightly decreased, which might be due to the breakage of glycosidic bonds. Microscopic morphology presented a relatively complete block structure. However, the contents of total phenolics and flavonoids and the production of short-chain fatty acids were significantly increased during colonic fermentation process. Phloroglucinol was the main phenolic compound and its content also increased during colonic fermentation. Collectively, the results indicated that BM had relative stability during the digestion stage, and released bioactive compounds during colonic fermentation. These findings suggest that BM, as a novel colloidal prebiotic, possesses potential role in intestinal health.

Oak barrel aging induces complex, time-dependent transformations in beer flavor. This study systematically characterized these changes through a 300-day aging experiment integrating quantitative sensory analysis, physicochemical monitoring, and HS-SPME-GC-MS-based volatile metabolomics. Barrel aging introduced distinct coconut and vanillin notes, with extended aging further intensifying woody, sweet, and caramel characteristics, while wine-like notes remained stable. Volatile profiling identified 162 significantly differential metabolites across 12 chemical classes, including esters, aromatic compounds, ketones, and heterocyclic compounds. Mantel correlation analysis revealed that three wood-derived volatiles-(Z)-oak-lactone, ethyl 2-furoate, and (2,2-diethoxyethyl) benzene-were strongly correlated with aging time (|r| > 0.8) and served as potential biomarkers. Notably, (Z)-oak-lactone was quantitatively linked to both "woody" and "sweet" odor notes (r > 0.89). These findings establish a predictive chemical-sensory framework for understanding flavor development during barrel aging.

ABSTRACT Mental rotation (MR), a core spatial ability, is linked to arithmetic performance, with meta‐analytic findings suggesting shared parietal and frontal neural correlates. While intrinsic functional connectivity has been shown to predict math ability in children, its predictive value for MR remains unclear. Baseline resting‐state functional connectivity (rsFC) of nine‐year‐olds ( n = 1037) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, concurrent and prospective (baseline, and 2‐ and 4‐year follow‐up) MR ability, and prospective (3‐year follow‐up) arithmetic ability were analyzed using ridge regression predictive modeling. RsFC predicted prospective arithmetic performance most robustly, whereas predictions of MR were weaker and varied across time points. Despite these differences, predictive features for MR remained relatively stable over 4 years. Notably, networks predictive of MR diverge from those predictive of arithmetic, suggesting partially distinct neural substrates, offering limited support for a shared neural processing account. Overall, rsFC appears to be a less reliable biomarker for MR than for arithmetic.

BACKGROUND:Mindfulness practice has been associated with a range of benefits in the literature. However, intervention effects show substantial person-to-person variability, and the individual differences underlying this variability remain underexamined. Identifying the psychosocial predictors of the practice can increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the benefits of mindfulness practice and inform strategies to increase both engagement and efficacy of it. METHODOLOGY:66 university students in Singapore were recruited if they had completed a course where mindfulness practice was conducted during the lecture. Participants were aged between 18-39 years old (Mage = 22.2 years). They completed an online survey measuring trait mindfulness, personality traits, attachment and conflict styles, intrinsic motivation, grit, and attention control. Outcome variables of engagement and efficacy were self-reported. Multiple linear regression for each independent variable controlled for different course taken and prior mindfulness experience using a multiple comparison corrected confidence interval of 99.8%. RESULTS:Intrinsic motivation was positively associated with both engagement in mindfulness practice and its usefulness. The observing facet of trait mindfulness, total trait mindfulness and conscientious personality were negatively associated with how difficult participants felt the mindfulness practice was. DISCUSSION:The significant psychosocial and cognitive variables associated with both engagement and efficacy of mindfulness practice from this exploratory study add to our understanding of the type of participants that might be more suited for mindfulness practice in the classroom.

Cellular metabolic state and its heterogeneity are pivotal features that determine fermentation productivity, yet label-free monitoring has generally been difficult. Employing beer fermentation by Saccharomyces pastorianusas a model, we demonstrated that temporal sampling of ramanomes, the collection of spontaneous Single-Cell Raman Spectra (SCRS) from an isogenic population, provides rich insights into the profiles and inter-conversion of both intra- and extra-cellular metabolites. Among 43 extracellular metabolic phenotypes, ramanomes successfully modeled 19 of them, including the extracellular levels of four alcohols, four esters, four amino acids, two acids, and four mono- and di-saccharide substrates, plus the alcohol-to-ester ratio. Moreover, Intra-Ramanome Correlation Analysis (IRCA) revealed potential metabolic interactions in pairs of intracellular metabolites, extracellular metabolites, and medium substrates. Specifically, carbohydrates were the most active intracellular metabolites, while proteins significantly influenced alcohol and ester synthesis on Day 1 of fermentation. Additionally, both alcohols and esters showed negative correlations with extracellular amino acids and acids. The global-IRCN average degree, reflecting metabolic network complexity, increased over time and was positively correlated with extracellular levels of key products such as n-propanol and various esters, while negatively correlated with acetic acid and certain sugars. Therefore, by enabling non-destructive, label-free, and rapid modeling of both intra- and extracellular metabolite levels, ramanomics can find wide applications in process monitoring and control.

BACKGROUND:Considerable research has mapped the human brain networks implicated in anxiety. Yet, less is known about the intrinsic features of the brain implicated in adolescent anxiety and their generalizability to affective and behavioral problems. To this end, we investigated the intrinsic functional connectomes associated with anxiety, their associations with behavioral phenotypes of clinical interest, and the cross-syndrome overlap between the anxiety network and other affective syndromes in an adolescent sample. METHODS:We used the Boston Adolescent Neuroimaging of Depression and Anxiety (BANDA) dataset which comprises 203 clinical and healthy adolescents aged 14-17. Participants underwent a resting-state magnetic resonance imaging scan and completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Behavioral Inhibition/Activation System scale. Using network-based statistics, we identified functional networks associated with anxiety and other behavioral syndromes. The anxiety network strengths were then correlated with behavioral measures. RESULTS:A significant resting-state functional network associated with anxiety was identified, largely characterized by hyperconnectivity between the somatomotor and both the default mode network and subcortical regions. Network strengths derived from the anxiety network were significantly correlated to various behavioral syndromes, including internalizing and externalizing tendencies. Cross-syndrome overlapping edges were also observed in networks of internalizing disorders, more prominently post-traumatic stress syndromes. CONCLUSIONS:Our results revealed the functional connectomes characteristic of anxiety in adolescents. This resting-state functional network was also predictive of and shared similar features with behavioral syndromes typically associated with anxiety-related disorders, providing evidence that the high comorbidity of anxiety with other clinical conditions may have a neurobiological basis.

Many aging cohort studies have collected data on participants’ job titles, yet these job titles were seldom analyzed within the cognitive aging context despite their relevance to neurocognition, due to difficulties in analyzing these job titles quantitatively. While it is possible to rate these jobs’ occupational complexity (OC) using job classification systems, this can be somewhat labor-intensive and prone to human errors. To this end, we demonstrate a novel and simple method to extract OC ratings from job titles using ChatGPT. Then, we showcased the utility of these ratings in predicting cognitive and structural brain outcomes, especially compared to other socioeconomic status (SES) indicators. Community-dwelling older adults (N = 238, agemean = 70) completed cognitive assessments and underwent MRI scans. Regression models were fitted to predict 14 different cognitive outcomes, vertex-wise cortical thickness (CT), and subcortical gray matter volumes, using OC scores and/or SES predictors (e.g., education, housing type, and income levels), controlling for demographical covariates. OC scores outperformed SES indicators in predicting clusters of CT increases and most cognitive outcomes, including diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment. Furthermore, OC scores significantly predicted clusters of CT increases and various cognitive outcomes, even after controlling for SES. Meta-analytic decoding suggests these clusters of CT increases occurred in regions typically associated with sensorimotor and memory processing. These results highlight the significant and unique contribution of ChatGPT-derived OC scores in predicting cognitive and brain aging outcomes. These scores are easy to derive and can be helpful in fine-tuning predictions of cognitive and brain aging outcomes.

Two decades of task-based fMRI studies have revealed atypical task-related activation and hypoactivation patterns in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), implicating the impaired cognitive processing observed in these neurocognitive disorders. The current coordinate-based meta-analysis provides an updated picture of the pathophysiological neurocognitive mechanisms implicated in MCI and AD, which better controls for false positive findings. To pool and summarise these findings, we conducted activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses on 90 eligible studies (Ntotal = 2824) with cluster-level family-wise error correction to compare AD/MCI and healthy controls (HC) on fMRI activity during cognitive tasks across four different domains. ALE assesses whether there is a spatial convergence of activation among experiments. We then conducted meta-analytic functional decoding on the ALE meta-analysis results to infer the functional relevance of the significant clusters. Significant activation clusters, mostly overlapping with the dorsal attention and frontoparietal networks, were observed in MCI and HC when comparing them across memory tasks and all tasks, regardless of cognitive domain. Functional decoding analyses suggest these clusters are linked to spatial and phonological processing. Significant activation converged in the superior temporal gyrus in AD and overlapped with the somatomotor network. Functional decoding indicates it is related to auditory functions. Our findings illustrated the spatial convergence of aberrant task-related activation and hypoactivation in AD and MCI, highlighting the atypical neurocognitive processing across a broad range of tasks.

The process of aging is a multifaceted physiological phenomenon that entails the gradual deterioration of physical health. In recent years, fermented foods have garnered significant attention for their potential anti-aging benefits; however, the effects of moderate consumption of beer on aging-related metabolic disorders remain unexplored. Original beer, India Pale Ale (IPA), and Stout are widely consumed alcoholic beverages on a global scale. The objective of this study is to investigate and compare the effect of moderate consumption of these beers on aging-related metabolic disorders in mice induced by D-galactose (D-gal), encompassing inflammation, organ impairment, oxidative stress, and dyslipidemia. Furthermore, potential mechanisms were elucidated through analysis of gut microbiota. Compared to the Original beer, oral administration of IPA and Stout effectively improved liver and kidney health in mice. All beers mitigated serum oxidative damage induced by D-gal, with Stout exhibiting a more significant effect. Additionally, the Original beer was more effective at restoring intestinal microbiota diversity. Moreover, the tested beers elicited modifications in the composition of intestinal microbiota, including a decline in Firmicutes abundance and an elevation in Bacteroidota levels, accompanied by a decrease in harmful bacteria like Deferribacterota and an increase in beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus and Roseburia. The research findings suggest that moderate consumption of Original beer, IPA, and Stout possesses the potential to mitigate D-gal-induced metabolic disorders through modulation of gut microbiota dysbiosis. Consequently, these results provide valuable insights into the favorable impacts associated with moderate beer consumption on human aging and health.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00461.].

Social interaction has been shown to prolong lifespan and healthspan. For older adults living alone, social interaction largely comes from formal social participation, and thus depends on the sociability of the individual. This study aims to understand the effect of age on sociability, and the possible mechanisms behind the change. 196 German participants aged 20-77 (Mage = 37.9) completed a series of questionnaires as part of the Leipzig Study for Mind-Body-Emotion Interactions. Sociability was measured by a subscale of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (Short Form), and network-based statistics were performed on resting-state functional connectivity data to identify networks positively and negatively correlated with age. Mediation analysis was carried out between age and sociability, with both sets of edges as mediators. Overall, age correlated negatively with sociability. The brain network correlating positively with age correlated negatively with sociability, and vice versa for the network correlating negatively with. Both networks independently and completely mediated the age-sociability relationship. The limbic-insular and ventral attention-somatomotor connectivity featured prominently in the age-positive network, while the age-negative network is largely represented by subcortical-parietal and frontoparietal-default mode connections. Networks associated with brain aging can explain the negative relationship between age and sociability. Per Dunbar's social brain hypothesis, age-related disruption in intrinsic functional connectivity may impair socio-cognitive functions necessary for forming and maintaining relationships, thus causing a decrease in sociability. Psychoeducation of these changes that occur with natural aging could prove useful in the promotion of successful aging.

The Attentional Control Theory postulates that anxiety impairs processing efficiency (and often performance effectiveness) on tasks involving the shifting function due to deficient recruitment of attentional control resources. Furthermore, recent studies have suggested that the association between self-reported attentional control (as measured by the Attentional Control Scale; ACS) and anxiety may be driven by biased self-perceptions of one’s attentional control ability. The present study investigated the relationships among anxiety (measured via the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale), subjective attentional control (measured via the ACS), and affective task-switching performance (measured via a word-based paradigm) in 181 adults from the Max Planck Institute-Leipzig Mind-Brain-Body dataset. At the behavioral level, we found no statistically significant association between anxiety and switch-cost measures after correction for multiple comparisons. However, a pattern emerged suggesting that higher anxiety was linked to faster disengagement from negative-valenced stimuli. This pattern was partially mediated by subjective attentional control. The whole-brain vertex-wise analysis revealed a negative association between ACS scores and cortical thickness in the right rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC)—a region typically associated with emotional regulation. However, no significant associations were found between ACS scores and resting-state functional connectivity, and no significant mediating effect was identified for the right rACC thickness on the link between anxiety and affective task-switching performance. Overall, these findings suggest that anxiety may facilitate strategic avoidance of aversive information under certain conditions, and that ACS scores may primarily reflect biased beliefs about attentional control abilities rather than objective cognitive control abilities.

Melanoidins are complex Maillard reaction products synthesized during dark beer production. In this study, the molecular weight of melanoidins from dark beer was about 4.8 kDa. Carbohydrates were the main chemical composition with 61.07 ± 2.36 % w/w. Total phenol and flavonoid contents of melanoidins from dark beer were 2.31 ± 0.36 % w/w and 0.86 ± 0.26 % w/w. It exhibited broad spectrum UV absorption from melanoidins skeleton, proteins, and phenolic acids. Additionally, acid hydrolysis released the most phenolics (2.461 ± 0.089 mg/mL) by cleaving glycosidic bonds. The bound phenolics were clearly distinguished by PCA analysis. Phloroglucinol was an important phenol mainly linked with melanoidins by ester, which contributed antioxidant capacity and unique flavor of beer. Elemental analysis indicated the disrupted hydrogen bonds, peptide bonds, and glycosidic bonds after different treatments. Collectively, these findings suggest melanoidins from dark beer as a reservoir of phenolic compounds have potential health benefit.

Functional MRI (fMRI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) help explore correlations between structural connectivity (SC) and functional connectivity (FC; SC-FC coupling). Studies on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) observed coupling disruptions, co-occurring with cognitive decline. Advanced "fixel-based" analyses improved DWI's accuracy in assessing microstructural and macrostructural features of white matter (WM), but previous aging coupling studies commonly defined SC via tensor-based tractography and streamline counts, thereby missing fiber-specific information. We investigated different types of fixel-FC coupling and their relation to cognition in 392 participants (Agemean = 73; 207 females) from the ADNI. Two hundred twenty-five controls, 142 MCI, and 25 AD with diffusion-weighted and resting-state fMRI scans were analyzed. Structural connectomes were constructed using average fixel metrics (fiber density (FD), fiber-bundle cross-section log, and combined [FDC]) as edges. SC-FC coupling for each SC metric was calculated at overall network, edge, and node levels. Overall DMN, node- and edge-specific coupling differences were found across SC measures and groups. DMN nodal coupling significantly predicted Mini-Mental Status Examination score and verbal memory. In conclusion, different types of fixel-based coupling alterations can be observed across the neurocognitive aging spectrum, in particular, FD-FC and FDC-FC coupling between DMN regions are associated with cognitive functioning.

Lacticaseibacillus paracasei is a typical food spoilage bacterium especially in beer. Due to the negative impact of L. paracasei on food preservation, a rapid detection method for L. paracasei based on polymerase spiral reaction (PSR) was established and its application was verified using different types of food samples in this study. Firstly, target digging was performed using bioinformatics techniques. A target gene pheS was selected and species-specific primers were designed. Secondly, the PSR assay was established with chromogenic reaction, which avoid false positive result due to open lid. The specificity of target and primers was tested, and the limit of detection (Kolodkin-Gal in Science 328:627–629, 2010) (5.2 × 104 fg/μL) was examined. Thirdly, the application of PSR assay in solid and liquid food samples were verified by artificial contamination model. The PSR assay was more efficiency in liquid food (LOD: 103 CFU/mL) than in solid food (LOD: 104 CFU/mL). Thus, L. paracasei screening in 3 types of beer (LOD: 103 CFU/mL) was further performed to verify to efficiency of PSR assay in screening of beer spoilage bacteria. In conclusion, pheS targeting PSR assay is useful as a rapid detection method for L. paracasei in solid and liquid food samples especially in beer.

Four different commercial beers in the Chinese market were compared and analyzed systematically, in order to provide more guidance for consumers. In this experimental study, various physicochemical parameters such as alcohol content, color, bitterness, total acidity, and carbohydrates were evaluated. The total phenolics content was determined using the Folin-ciocalteu method, while the total flavone and melanoidins were measured using colorimetric and spectrophotometric methods, respectively. The antioxidant capacity was determined by ORAC, DPPH and ABTS assays. Non-targeted metabolomics was used to analyze the composition and differences of volatile compounds in different beers. The results indicated significant physicochemical variations among the four different commercial beers. The higher the chroma of beer, the greater the content of active substances, and the corresponding antioxidant capacity in vitro was also stronger. The alcohol content of the four beers ranged from 4.23 to 7.54% (ABV), the color values of the four beers ranged from 4.8 to 141.5 EBC, and the bitterness ranged from 11.2 to 36.6 IBU. The total phenolics content varied between 159.10 mg/ L and 269.13 mg/ L, the total flavone content was in the range of 39.94 -144.59 mg/L, and the melanoidins content was in the range of 271.07-296.68 mg/L. The antioxidant activity ranged from 0.570 mmol TE/L to 0.873 mmol TE/L (ABTS), from 3.700 mmol TE/L to 26.73 mmol TE/L (ORAC), and from 26.12 to 86.72% (DPPH clearance rate). A total of 453 volatile compounds were detected in the four beers, primarily comprising terpenoids (21.24%), esters (19.47%), heterocyclic compound (14.16%), alcohol (9.96%) and hydrocarbons (9.96%), etc. Compared to Premium lager beer, the other three kinds of beers had unique and common metabolites, with only 9 common metabolites. The flavors of the differential metabolites were mainly green, floral, sweet, fruity, etc.