Theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to understand mental states, is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Previous research has documented marked advances in ToM in preschoolers, and declines in ToM in older-aged adults. In the present study, younger (n=37), middle-aged (n=20), and older (n=37) adults completed a continuous false belief task measuring ToM. Middle-aged and older adults exhibited more false belief bias than did younger adults, irrespective of language ability, executive function, processing speed, and memory. The authors conclude that ToM declines from younger to older adulthood, independent of age-related changes to domain-general cognitive functioning.

We compared aspects of verbal memory and executive functioning in 51 community-dwelling persons with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and 55 healthy controls matched on age and education. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and illness variables included glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and hemoglobin. Findings indicate that persons with CKD exhibited poorer performance on measures of memory (CVLT-II) and executive functioning (DKEFS Trailmaking Test B and Color-Word Interference Tests) in comparison with healthy controls. Furthermore, performance decrements were magnified in older CKD participants on measures of verbal memory and inhibition. Nearly half of CKD participants aged 61 and older exhibited significant impairments in verbal memory and inhibition in comparison to matched controls. Cognitive performance in CKD was not associated with measures of illness severity. The differences observed were not accounted for by depressive symptoms, which were only weakly associated with cognitive performance, and negatively associated with age. Findings highlight the need for further exploration of the etiologies and functional consequences of the neuropsychological presentation of CKD.

Outcome knowledge influences recall of earlier predictions of an event. Compared to younger adults, older adults are more susceptible to the two underlying bias processes that contribute to this hindsight bias (HB) phenomenon, recollection bias and reconstruction bias. However, the role of cognitive abilities in these processes remains unclear. In Experiment 1, we extended the multinomial processing tree model for HB by incorporating individual variation in cognitive abilities into parameter estimation in a sample of 60 older (M = 72.50, range = 65 to 87) and 62 younger (M = 20.10, range = 18 to 25) adults. In older adults, our findings revealed that (1) higher episodic memory was associated with higher recollection ability in the absence of outcome knowledge, (2) higher episodic memory, inhibitory control, and working memory capacity were associated with higher recollection ability in the presence of outcome knowledge, and (3) higher inhibitory control was associated with less reconstruction bias. Although the pattern of effects was similar in younger adults, the cognitive covariates did not significantly predict the underlying processes in this age group.In Experiment 2, we collected memory judgment HB data on an additional 80 older adults (M = 71.40, range = 65 to 87) to assess whether a) experimentally increasing inhibition demands via outcome rehearsal during the HB task impacts the underlying HB processes, and b) the effects of this cognitive load manipulation on the underlying HB processes vary with an individuals' inherent cognitive abilities. Our findings revealed that cognitive load increased recollection bias independently of individuals' cognitive abilities. I would like to give a special thank you to Brant for his inspiration and statistical assistance, and his endless love and confidence in me.vi

BackgroundThere is a high prevalence of non-adherence to immunosuppressants in kidney transplant recipients. Although limited health literacy is common in kidney recipients and is linked to adverse outcomes in other medical populations, its effect on medication adherence in kidney transplant recipients remains poorly understood. The objective was to investigate the effect of lower health literacy on immunosuppressant adherence.MethodsKidney recipients who were at least 6 months post-transplant and outpatients of Vancouver General Hospital in B.C., Canada were recruited through invitation letters. A total of 96 recipients completed the Health Literacy Questionnaire, which provides a multifactorial profile of self-reported health literacy and the Transplant Effects Questionnaire-Adherence subscale measuring self-reported immunosuppressant adherence. Hierarchical linear regression was used to analyze the association between health literacy and adherence after controlling for identified risk factors of non-adherence.ResultsOur sample was on average 53 years old, 56% male and 9 years post-transplant. Kidney recipients reported low levels of health literacy on scales measuring active health management and critical appraisal of information and 75% reported non-perfect adherence. Worse adherence was associated with poorer overall health literacy (ΔR2 = 0.08, P = 0.004) and lower scores on six of nine of the health literacy factors.ConclusionsPoorer health literacy is associated with lower immunosuppressant adherence in adult kidney transplant recipients suggesting the importance of considering a recipient's level of health literacy in research and clinical contexts. Medication adherence interventions can target the six factors of health literacy identified as being risk factors for lower medication adherence.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent state of public emergency have significantly affected older adults in Canada and worldwide. It is imperative that the gerontological response be efficient and effective. In this statement, the board members of the Canadian Association on Gerontology/L’Association canadienne de gérontologie (CAG/ACG) and the Canadian Journal on Aging/La revue canadienne du vieillissement (CJA/RCV) acknowledge the contributions of CAG/ACG members and CJA/RCV readers. We also profile the complex ways that COVID-19 is affecting older adults, from individual to population levels, and advocate for the adoption of multidisciplinary collaborative teams to bring together different perspectives, areas of expertise, and methods of evaluation in the COVID-19 response.