While stressful life events are inevitable, we can apply emotion regulation (ER) strategies to alter how these events impact our cognition and well-being. Although cognitive reappraisal strategies have been shown to effectively modulate emotion, their downstream impacts on memory are less clear. Here, we investigated how distancing and reinterpretation applied to negative images and immersion applied to positive images during memory encoding impact self-reported emotion and subsequent memory. We utilized a memory task that measures general and detailed memory to determine whether ER differentially impacts distinct aspects of memory. Participants were instructed to engage in distancing and immersion or reinterpretation and immersion during memory encoding of emotional images. A third group of participants received no instruction to regulate their emotions and viewed the images as they normally would. As expected, distancing and reinterpretation reduced negative affect toward negative images, whereas immersion increased positive affect toward positive images. Across ER groups, images encoded during ER-cued trials were generally better remembered than images viewed passively, with enhanced performance observed for both general and detailed memory. However, detailed memory showed additional strategy- and valence-dependent effects. Immersion was associated with enhanced detailed memory for positive images, distancing was associated with reduced detailed memory for negative images, and reinterpretation did not significantly alter detailed memory for negative images. These findings suggest that engaging ER during encoding may broadly enhance subsequent memory, while specific strategies selectively shape the fidelity of emotional memories, highlighting the importance of considering downstream cognitive consequences when selecting strategies to promote emotional well-being.

OBJECTIVE:Nearly half of all informal (unpaid) family caregivers for patients with Alzheimer disease or related dementias (ADRD) are employed. We test competing hypotheses on the role of employment for ADRD spousal caregivers, as some evidence suggests that stress from work and caregiving will have an additive effect. Other evidence suggests that psychological resources generated at work may buffer stress at home. Psychological stress is associated with immune dysregulation; we examined the role of employment status on proinflammatory cytokine production. METHODS:We tested competing hypotheses cross-sectionally in a sample of 113 ADRD spousal caregivers, including 26 employed caregivers (working full-time or part-time) and 87 retired caregivers. We examined the effect of employment status on a composite of monocyte-stimulated interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-1 beta in unadjusted models and in models adjusting for covariates. RESULTS:Employed ADRD spousal caregivers had lower composite proinflammatory cytokine production than retired ADRD spousal caregivers. In exploratory follow-up analyses, neither caregiver depressive symptoms, anticipatory grief, nor negative affect explained the impact of employment status on proinflammatory cytokine production. CONCLUSIONS:Employed ADRD caregivers had lower proinflammatory cytokine production than retired ADRD caregivers. There may be many reasons for this finding; employed ADRD caregivers have another domain to fulfill their psychological needs, may benefit financially, and may exhibit better coping than their retired counterparts. Future investigations should examine psychological mechanisms for protecting caregivers' health through positive work experiences to employ such experiences in retired caregivers.

Hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are widely used, yet their effects on emotional and cognitive processes remain poorly understood. This study examined how HC use may influence emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and emotional memory. Female participants (N = 179), either using HCs (N = 87) or naturally cycling (NC; N = 92), were randomly assigned to one of three groups: no emotion regulation (control), distancing and immersion, or reinterpretation and immersion. The emotion regulation groups completed emotion regulation training in which they viewed emotional images while applying different emotion regulation strategies, followed by a surprise memory test. Overall, HC users showed greater emotional reactivity to emotional images compared to NC participants. Both HC and NC groups successfully applied emotion regulation strategies as measured by changes in emotional affect; however, distancing led to a greater reduction in negative emotions compared to reinterpretation, particularly among HC users. Both HC and NC groups showed better memory for positive images after applying immersion. For negative images, HC users showed reduced memory performance when applying either distancing or reinterpretation, an effect not observed in NC participants. These findings suggest that HC use may influence specific aspects of emotional processing and memory, highlighting the need for more nuanced research on the cognitive and emotional effects of hormonal contraceptives.

Dementia spousal caregivers are at a disproportionate risk for adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Loneliness is associated with depressive symptoms and proinflammatory cytokine production among caregivers. Additionally, childhood trauma, anticipatory grief, and poor sleep quality are all associated with enhanced stress reactivity. This study used a cross-sectional design to investigate whether loneliness is associated with proinflammatory cytokine production and depressive symptoms in caregivers, and whether these relationships are strongest among caregivers who report high levels of childhood trauma, high amounts of anticipatory grief, or poor sleep quality. A sample of 111 dementia spousal caregivers provided blood samples and completed self-report measures of loneliness, childhood trauma, anticipatory grief, depression, and subjective sleep quality. We measured the ex vivo immune cell proinflammatory cytokine response to whole-blood LPS stimulation. Caregivers who reported greater loneliness exhibited elevated LPS-stimulated proinflammatory cytokine production and more depressive symptoms. The relationship between loneliness and proinflammatory cytokine production was stronger at higher levels of childhood trauma and higher levels of anticipatory grief. The association between loneliness and depressive symptoms was stronger at higher levels of childhood trauma and higher levels of anticipatory grief. These results suggest that loneliness could have more robust effects on adverse health outcomes for caregivers who have experienced more childhood trauma and anticipatory grief. This research contributes to the existing literature investigating the mechanisms that underlie individual differences in health outcomes among dementia spousal caregivers.

Spousal bereavement is a major life stressor that significantly increases the risk of dementia. However, it remains unclear how the bereavement experience accelerates cognitive aging. In the broader neurocognitive aging literature, depression and cognitive function are closely linked, such that depression is sometimes accompanied by cognitive impairments. Individual differences in depression-related cognitive function may depend on low-grade inflammation and cortical atrophy, two phenomena implicated in cognitive dysfunction and dementia risk. No study to date has examined how psychobiological health relates to cognition in early widowhood. Among recently bereaved spouses, we examined (1) whether depressive symptom severity accounted for variations in cognitive performance and (2) whether the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive function depended on one’s biological profile. In a sample of 68 bereaved spouses, depressive symptom severity, cortical thickness in 8 a priori regions, serum proinflammatory composite (IL-6, sIL-6R, TNF-⍺, sTNFRI, and sTNFRII), and a battery of cognitive tests were evaluated at 6 months post-loss. Using multiple linear regression to test hypotheses, we observed a significant negative association between depressive symptoms and performance on global cognitive function, cognitive inhibition, visuospatial processing, and working memory. The interaction between depressive symptoms and the cortical signature composite on global cognition was statistically significant: Depressive symptoms were negatively associated with global cognitive function, only for widow(er)s with average and less than average cortical gray matter. The interaction between depressive symptoms and low-grade inflammation on cognitive inhibition was also statistically significant: Depressive symptoms were negatively associated with cognitive inhibition only for those with average and higher than average levels of the serum inflammatory composite. This suggests that widow(er)s experiencing higher levels of depressive symptoms were more likely to have poorer cognitive function, especially if they presented with a more adverse biological profile (i.e., higher cytokine levels and less cortical gray matter than average); in contrast, for widow(er)s with less adverse biological profiles, there was no evidence for an association between depressive symptoms and cognitive function. This exploratory study identifies psychobiological correlates of cognitive function in early widowhood, offering insight into risk factors for abnormal cognitive aging after profound interpersonal loss.

BACKGROUND:Proinflammatory cytokine production may be related to poor emotional adjustment in dementia spousal caregivers. People who display attachment insecurity may be at increased risk for adverse caregiving experiences and poor psychosocial outcomes. OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to understand whether proinflammatory cytokine production was associated with anticipatory grief, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms and whether those relationships were stronger for caregivers higher on attachment anxiety or avoidance. METHOD:A sample of 103 dementia spousal caregivers provided self-report data on demographics, health information, and psychosocial outcomes. We also determined lipopolysaccharide-induced whole-blood interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-10 production and combined these cytokines into a composite score. RESULTS:Higher cytokine production was associated with increased anticipatory grief and depressive symptoms. Proinflammatory cytokine production was only associated with anticipatory grief, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms for those high on attachment anxiety or avoidance. DISCUSSION:Targeting individuals who display a proinflammatory phenotype and report attachment insecurity may be a key first step in preventing poor caregiving adjustment in dementia spousal caregivers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

IntroductionCognitive impairment that exceeds age-related cognitive decline is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. As the older adult population is notably increasing every year, significant efforts are being made to preserve cognitive function in older adulthood. Non-pharmaceutical approaches such as music interventions have noticeable benefits for cognition. Music engagement utilizes multiple brain regions dually involved in higher cognitive functions. Yet the neurobiology of music-induced cognitive change remains understudied. Complex human behavior and cognition likely depend on continuous communication across brain regions rather than localized activity in one region. Given that music creativity engages a wide range of mental processes, whole-brain network indices quantifying the brain’s tendency to create functional communities (modularity) and then dynamically reorganize these communities (flexibility) may be relevant for assessing music-related cognitive change. Using a semi-randomized clinical trial design (ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT04137913), we examined whether (1) music creativity altered whole-brain network indices (modularity, flexibility) and (2) whether music-related effects on cognition depended on whole-brain network indices.MethodsFifty-two older adults (Mean age = 75 years; 54% female; 84% White) were randomized to a 6-week music creativity intervention (n = 25) or a no-treatment control condition (n = 27) and completed resting-state fMRI scans and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment at baseline and follow-up (post-intervention).ResultsThe music creativity intervention did not alter network flexibility or modularity over time. However, the relationship between group assignment and change in global cognitive function depended on baseline flexibility: music creativity improved global cognition more than the control condition, only among individuals who had higher than average network flexibility.DiscussionFindings suggest that having a dynamic brain network, which has previously been linked to better executive functioning performance, may be necessary for music-related benefits on cognition. This pilot study is innovative as it is among the first to identify possible neural mechanisms underlying why music creativity interventions confer a more significant cognitive benefit for some older adults than others.