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A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology looked at coexperienced positive emotions and cortisol secretion in the daily lives of older couples. Previous research has shown that positive emotions, such as happiness, joy, love, and excitement, are good for health. They’ve even been linked to longer lives. However, most of this research considers people’s emotions as if they happen in isolation. “In real life, though,” study author Tomiko Yoneda explained to us, “our most powerful positive emotions often happen when we’re connecting with someone else." [More]

A new study published in Jama Network Open looked at education levels and poststroke cognitive trajectories. “Having a stroke can sometimes affect a person’s thinking,” study author Mellanie V. Springer told us. “Researchers have not yet identified all of the factors that put people at risk for developing problems with their thinking after stroke. We did this study to determine whether a person’s education level before stroke influences their risk of having problems with their thinking after stroke.” [More]

A new study by the American Heart Association analyzed initial excess supply and longitudinal trends in benzodiazepine use in Ischemic stroke survivors. “Our research at the Center for Value-Based Healthcare and Sciences at Massachusetts General Brigham focuses on ensuring people living with dementia and stroke receive high quality care,” study author Julianne D. Brooks told us. “We have an amazing team of clinicians, statisticians, and scientists dedicated to improving healthcare quality. Our study investigates the use of benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium, and others) after stroke in the population over 65. We are hoping to understand trends in the use of these medications.” [More]

Middle aged and older adults believe that older age starts later than their peers believed decades ago. Research published in the journal Psychology and Aging found compared with people born earlier, those born later have a perceived later onset of old age. [More]

Middle aged Americans are experiencing significantly higher levels of loneliness than their European peers. Research published in American Psychologist found that baby boomers in particular are experiencing high levels of loneliness. [More]

A new study published in JAMA Neurology looked at the characteristics of emergency department visits among older adults with dementia. “This study provides the first estimates of how often older adults with dementia utilize emergency services and the main reasons that drive such care,” study author Lauren Gerlach told us. “We anticipated that patients with dementia would utilize emergency services frequently but were unaware of what the main drivers of care were.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Rural Sociology looked at the built environmental and social and emotional support among rural older adults and whether there is a case for social infrastructure and attention to ethnoracial differences. “In this study, we were interested in determining if and how older adult social and emotional health is associated with social infrastructure availability in rural contexts,” study author Danielle Rhubart told us. [More]

A new study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology looked at physical and mental activity, disease susceptibility, and risk of dementia. “In the present study, we aimed to assess the associations between physical and mental activity and the subsequent risk of dementia,” study author Huan Song told us. “We further hoped to explore whether such associations would differ for individuals with different susceptibility to dementia.” [More]

A new study published in Science Direct looked at bereavement and mental health and the generational consequences of a grandparent's death. “We were interested in examining whether adolescents who experience the death of a grandparent between the ages of nine and 15 showed evidence of lasting mental health challenges that might predict subsequent difficulties in schooling,” study author Dr. Ashton M Verdery told us. [More]

A new study published in JAMA looked at longitudinal associations of mental disorders with dementia, a 30-year analysis of 1.7 million New Zealand citizens. “This study is about links between mental health and dementia,” study author Barry J. Milne told us. “We wanted to investigate whether there are associations between a range of mental health disorders and subsequent dementia, and whether associations are apparent for both early- and late-onset dementia.” [More]