Minding Memory

In this episode we discuss what’s known about the association between personality type and cognitive function. Further, the idea of resilience—or what protects the cognition of individuals with a high level of neuropathology associated with cognitive decline—might have important implications for dementia prevention. Our guests are Dr. Eileen Graham and Dr. Dan Mroczek. Drs. Graham and Mroczek are both faculty at Northwestern University with interests in how personality factors influence physical and cognitive health over the life course. 

Eileen Graham Faculty Profile  

Dan Mroczek Faculty Profile  

Article References in Podcast: 

Graham EK, James BD, Jackson KL, et al. Associations Between Personality Traits and Cognitive Resilience in Older Adults. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2021;76(1):6-19. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbaa135 

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/ 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Health data analysts are an elusive bunch in the wild. While we see their names periodically show up as middle authors on manuscripts or in the Acknowledgement section they work largely behind the scenes; yet they play a vital role in conducting research that use large data. In this episode we speak with several health data analysts to better understand the role they play in research and, for all the researchers out there, discuss how to make the process as smooth as possible when working with an analyst. 

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/ 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we feature a recent study by Katherine Ornstein and colleagues that was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Dr. Ornstein studies family caregiving and the home-based clinical care. The study used Medicare claims linked to the National Health and Aging Trends Study to estimate the degree to which people living with dementia use health services from home. We’ll discuss what exactly home-based health services are (and how they are typically categorized) and discuss the role these services are expected to play for people living with dementia. 

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Dr. Ornstein Faculty Profile: https://nursing.jhu.edu/faculty_research/faculty/faculty-directory/katherine-ornstein 

Article Referenced in Podcast: 

Ornstein KA, Ankuda CK, Leff B, et al. Medicare-funded home-based clinical care for community-dwelling persons with dementia: An essential healthcare delivery mechanism. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2022;70(4):1127-1135. doi:10.1111/jgs.17621 

CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/ 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For older adults living with dementia, cognitive impairment can lead to susceptibility to fraudulent activities. In this episode we’ll discuss with Dr. Duke Han from the Keck School of Medicine at USC what’s known about the intersection of aging, cognition, and susceptibility to scams.

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Duke Han PhD Faculty Profile: https://profiles.sc-ctsi.org/duke.han 

Additional Information:

The susceptibility to scams scale developed by James, Boyle, & Bennett (2014)* is a 5-item self-report measure in which participants rated their agreement using a 7-point Likert scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree) for the following statements:

• I answer the phone whenever it rings, even if I do not know who is calling.
• I have difficulty ending a phone call, even if the caller is a telemarketer, someone I do not know, or someone I did not wish to call me.
• If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
• Persons over the age of 65 are often targeted by con-artists.
• If a telemarketer calls me, I usually listen to what they have to say.

Resources for older adults (and non-older adults) to report fraud:  

U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging: Fraud Hotline | Senate Committee On Aging

Hotline: 1-855-303-9470 (open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time)

Internet Crime Compliant Center (IC3): https://Ic3.gov/

Federal Trade Commission: Reportfraud.ftc.gov/

*James BD, Boyle PA, Bennett DA. Correlates of susceptibility to scams in older adults without dementia. J Elder Abuse Negl. 2014;26(2):107-122. doi:10.1080/08946566.2013.821809

CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/ 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Causes of death were reclassified by the CDC to include contributing factors such as dementia. These changes resulted in dementia jumping up from the 8th cause of death in 2000 to the 6th cause of death in 2018 (and the 5th cause of death among older adults). In this episode we’ll talk with Dr. Bryan James from Rush University about dementia as a cause of death (versus contributing factor).

DISCLAIMER: In this episode we are going to be talking about research on dementia and mortality. Because research transcribes human experiences into cold numbers it tends to objectify real human conditions such as death. This can come off as insensitive if it hits close to home. Therefore, if you or someone you care for is a person living with Alzheimer’s disease you may not want to listen to this episode.  

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Additional Information:  

Bryan James, PhD Faculty Profiles: https://www.rushu.rush.edu/faculty/bryan-d-james-phd

Epidemiology Counts Podcast (Co-Hosted by Bryan James): https://serepidemiologycounts.blubrry.net/

Article referenced in episode:   

James BD, Leurgans SE, Hebert LE, Scherr PA, Yaffe K, Bennett DA. Contribution of Alzheimer disease to mortality in the United States. Neurology. 2014;82(12):1045-1050. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000000240 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24598707/

• Rush Aging & Memory Project: https://www.rushu.rush.edu/research/departmental-research/memory-and-aging-project
• Rush Religious Orders Study: https://www.rushu.rush.edu/research/departmental-research/religious-orders-study

• CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/ 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’re new to dementia research, you’ll soon come to find that most research papers on dementia start off something like this: “In the United States there are 5.8 million individuals living with dementia and this is expected to increase to 13 million by 2015. . . .” In this episode we discuss the study on dementia prevalence that has been cited thousands of times with one of the authors. Dr. Jennifer Weuve from Boston University joins us today. We also talk more broadly about what makes a research paper highly citable in general.

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Related Links: 

• CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/ 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our last episode we talked about caregivers for individuals living with dementia. In this second part of our series on caregivers we’ll get to know someone with lived experience. We’re joined in this episode by Peggy Arden whose husband has Alzheimer’s disease. Peggy has graciously agreed to offer us a behind the scenes look at the ups and downs of being a dementia caregiver.

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Related Links: 

• CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/ 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Individuals living with dementia require care that is often delivered by family and friends. This episode is devoted to discussing some of the unique aspects of dementia caregiving. Our guest today is Dr. Amanda Leggett. Dr. Leggett is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry here at the University of Michigan. Her research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is focused on issues related to dementia caregiving. She has interviewed over a hundred patients with dementia and their caregivers.

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Related Links:  

• CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/
• Michigan Center on the Demography of Aging: https://micda.isr.umich.edu/
• The 36 Hour Day (Book): https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/36-hour-day

Resources for Caregivers:

• U-M Turner Center (in Ann Arbor): https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/geriatrics-center/community-programs/turner-senior-resource-center
• Alzheimer Associations: https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the richest data sources available to study cognition and aging is the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). This nationally representative survey includes questions to help assess cognition, but many researchers may use this data without actually knowing the questions behind the variables—don’t be That Guy! (or Gal!) Listen to Dr. Lindsay Ryan, an HRS team member, coach Matt as he administers the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) to Donovan, who is surprisingly good at recalling types of birds.

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Related Links:   

• CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/  
• Health and Retirement Study (HRS): https://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/ 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While there are some FDA-approved medications for dementia, more individuals living with dementia are actually prescribed psychotropic medications. In this episode, Donovan introduces Matt to the concept of the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, which are just as much part of dementia as the memory loss—and are probably a big reason for all this other prescribing. 

The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Related Links:  

• CAPRA Website: http://capra.med.umich.edu/  
• Article discussed in this episode: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7435346/ Maust DT, Strominger J, Bynum JPW, et al. Prevalence of Psychotropic and Opioid Prescription Fills Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Dementia in the US. JAMA. 2020;324(7):706–708. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.8519 

You can subscribe to Minding Memory on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.