Research published in Neuropsychologia uncovered a pattern in brain dysfunction related to a rare language disorder, Primary Progressive Aphasia, according to Arizona Public Media . University of Arizona (UA) scientists studied relevant brain regions while subjects performed language tasks, and found their magnetic resonance imaging scans appeared structurally normal. "But then, during the language task, we can only see that on the functional scan that it was abnormal," said UA's Aneta Kielar. This suggested the degeneration of other areas in the language network. The findings imply that the relationship between structure and function could aid in early detection of dementia.

A study published in Pain indicated that chronic pain causes brains to age faster, raising the risk of Alzheimer's and other neurological age-related problems, reports Pain News Network . Over three years, the researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the volume of gray and white matter in the brains of 47 older adults, 60 to 83. The subjects had no neurological disorders and were in generally good health, although 33 experienced some form of chronic pain. Participants who did not have chronic pain had brains that appeared four years younger than their actual age, while the brains of chronic pain sufferers appeared an average two years older. The latter subjects also were more likely to have greater pain intensity, as well as a "less agreeable personality" and less emotional stability. Volunteers who reported getting pain treatment in the last three months had younger-seeming brains, as did pain sufferers who had a more positive outlook. "Our findings . . . suggest that both pain treatments and psychological traits may significantly mitigate the effect of pain on the aging brain and could further decrease the risk of age-related deterioration and death," said the University of Florida Institute on Aging's Yenisel Cruz-Almeida.

Argentum Chief Operating Officer Maribeth Bersani today praised the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which among other things would raise the minimum age at which people would be required to withdraw funds from their retirement accounts, from 70 ½ to 72, giving older adults more money to pay for long-term services. "The average age in assisted living is 85," said Bersani. "We don't know how much people have in their IRAs, but whatever you have, it will continue to grow from 70 1/2 to 72. And then it just gives you that much more money that you can have when you need it for your long-term services and supports." Argentum has been working to educate members of Congress and others about changing lifestyles and retirement security for years, Bersani added, noting that the legislation "really demonstrates that Congress is thinking about how Americans are aging differently. They are finally recognizing that people are living longer, they're working longer, and they're probably going to incur greater costs for long-term services and supports." The fact that the legislation was introduced by Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and has bipartisan support, suggests that it "has legs," Bersani told McKnight's Senior Living , pointing out that two similar bills in the Senate and an executive order from the president from September also call for raising the minimum distribution age from 70.

The Wall Street Journal observes that a national backlash is building against employers that use noncompete agreements to bar exiting employees from taking jobs with industry competitors for certain periods of time. This is good news for workers, because eliminating barriers to job-hopping could help stir the sort of wage growth workers haven't seen since prior to the last recession. Employers have long used such accords to safeguard company secrets, applying them mainly to such high-earning individuals as business executives and attorneys. But noncompete provisions have been creeping into contracts for more workers, even lower-wage staffers like janitors and hairdressers, with businesses saying those workers have access to proprietary information and customer bases. In Washington, state lawmakers in April passed a law making noncompetes unenforceable for employees earning less than $100,000 a year. Earlier in 2019, New Hampshire's Senate passed legislation banning noncompete agreements for low-wage workers, and lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Vermont may soon follow suit.

Researchers have developed a video game called Cognitive Training for Car Driving (CTCD) to help make senior motorists safer when they drive, reports the New York Post . Tests involving 60 retirees aged 65 to 80 determined CTCD players drove better after six weeks of training. The at-home game measured their reaction times, attention spans, and memories as they played for 20 minutes a day, five days a week. CTCD presents players with two signs with two numbers on a TV, with participants asked to choose the one with the larger number as quickly as possible. In attention exercises, participants must perform two tasks at the same time — one entails pink musical notes moving along a circle as participants are asked to push a button when it is concealed behind an orange object with a yellow star. The other task gets players to identify an approaching target and press if it is human. A speed prediction exercise has a target moving behind a wall from left to right on the screen, and participants have to push the button when it emerges. "These results extended our previous findings that regular use of a simple cognitive training game can benefit older adults who drive cars," notes Tohoku University's Rui Nouchi.

A study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience sought to identify more accurate "changepoints" in the evolution of Alzheimer's biomarkers, reports Medical News Today . The researchers reviewed the medical records of 290 individuals who were at least 40 years old, including cerebrospinal fluid samples and magnetic resonance imaging brain scans. All participants were designated "cognitively normal," but 81 had developed Alzheimer's by the study's conclusion. Signs of cognitive impairment were found 11 to 15 years before symptom onset in those subjects, while levels of a modified version of the tau protein rose 13 years before visible symptoms manifested. Algorithmic tracking of brain changes determined the rate at which the medial temporal lobe changed differed slightly in participants with Alzheimer's. "Our study suggests it may be possible to use brain imaging and spinal fluid analysis to assess risk of Alzheimer's disease at least 10 years or more before the most common symptoms, such as mild cognitive impairment, occur," said Johns Hopkins University Professor Laurent Younes.

The "How do I?" smartphone application to be funded by a leading British charity is designed to help persons with dementia perform everyday tasks, reports iNews . The app flashes videos to phones, prompting users to perform daily routines, as well as remind them of forgotten memories. The funding announcement coincided with published estimates from Alzheimer's Society for Dementia Action Week, calculating that 120,000 people currently living alone with dementia will double in the next two decades. "Technology and innovation has the power to transform lives, and we want to harness this power for the 850,000 people living with dementia across the U.K.," said Alzheimer's Society Chief Executive Jeremy Hughes. "While we work tirelessly to find a cure for this devastating disease, technologies like 'How do I?' . . . can help improve care and lives for everyone living with dementia today. Through assistive technology we can transform our understanding of how to best manage dementia."

A survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that about 5 percent of adults 65 and up are not taking their medication as prescribed due to inflated drug costs, according to U.S. News & World Report . Moreover, almost one in five seniors has asked a doctor to switch them to a more affordable medication. "It could be they skipped medication they couldn't afford, they took less medication than prescribed, or they delayed filling a prescription," said the CDC's Robin Cohen. The researchers learned that 86 percent of seniors 65 and older had been prescribed medication within the past 12 months, and about one in every 20 could not afford to take their drug as prescribed. Younger seniors 65 to 74 were found to be more likely to struggle with drug costs than older people, and twice as likely not to take their medication as prescribed than those 75 or older. The CDC further discovered that the type of health insurance seniors carried had a major impact on their ability to afford their medications. Approximately 8 percent of individuals covered by Medicare alone said they did not take medication as prescribed to save money, versus 5 percent of people with either Medicare Advantage or Medicare and Medicaid and 3 percent of those enrolled in private insurance plans.

Officials of approximately 350 public bodies, ranging from states to towns, have committed to enhancing life for seniors in terms of housing, outdoor spaces, recreation, transportation, social participation, and other needs as part of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities, reports the Wall Street Journal . The effort has partial support from the World Health Organization. Cities also are beginning to understand that the benefits of age-friendly planning are not restricted to seniors. One approach, which the District of Columbia and other localities have implemented, is housing for grandparents and their grandchildren who live on fixed incomes. Another option enacted in Oklahoma and Kansas involves preschoolers attending public school in classrooms inside senior care communities. Meanwhile, cities in Ohio and elsewhere are designing parks for seniors, while Denver is developing a senior-oriented online trip planner to make public transit more flexible.

Research found hip fractures elevate the risk of death among seniors, with one in three adults 50 and older dying within a year of a hip fracture, reports The Science Times . Older adults are at a fivefold to eightfold higher risk of death within the first three months of a hip fracture, versus seniors without a fracture. This greater risk persists for nearly a decade. Occurrence of hip fractures is more probable in those 65 or older, and although they result from a fall or when the hip hits a solid object, in some cases the injury occurs with little trauma, such as when standing up. Dementia is one of the most frequent factors that increase falling risk, while poor vision, frailty, trip hazards in the home, and combined medications also can increase the likelihood of falls. Persons with existing health conditions are at an even greater risk of death following hip fracture, and additional complications of the injury — such as internal bleeding, infections, stroke, or heart failure — can contribute as well. Individuals should undergo functional training and therapeutic rehabilitation for the best chance of regaining mobility following hip fracture, even if they opt to not have surgery.