Executive functions (EF) are associated to frontal lobes and cognitive decline (CD) with worse results on EF tests.

Analyze if the Frontal Assessment Battery/FAB assessing EF discriminates elders with CD (vs. with no CD; Montreal Cognitive Assessment/MoCA), and if the results obtained with the Rey Osterreith Complex Figure Test/ROCF (copy's quality, immediate, and delayed memory) are associated with the CD presence/absence. Moreover, we wanted to assess if copy's quality and 3 minutes memory test are associated with FAB results, since these two tests are supposedly associated with EF and with frontal lobes assessed by the FAB, contrarily to the 20 minutes memory (supposedly related to the temporal area).

556 institutionalized elders (age: M ± SD =80.2 ± 5.23; range=60-100) filled in voluntarily a sociodemographic questionnaire, ROCF, MoCA and FAB.

FAB and all ROCF tests were associated with the absence/presence of CD. Regarding variables stratified by age and education, FAB was associated with immediate memory but not with copy's quality nor with delayed memory. With no stratified ROCF and FAB, correlations confirmed the previous associations, but also between FAB and copy's quality.

Results follow the literature regarding the association between immediate memory and EF (associated to frontal lobes), in contrast to the long-term memory which is associated with the temporal area and that was not associated with FAB. Results concerning copy's quality (ROCF) are not consensual.

Depression is very common among institutionalized elders. Because of the increased risk of cognitive impairment/dementia, and mortality we want to describe the evolution of depression and analyze predictive factors.

In the Aging Trajectories Study (Instituto Superior Miguel Torga - Coimbra), we followed up a sample of 83 nondemented persons (M ± SD baseline age = 79.51 ± 6.58; men: 17; women: 66). In a 2-year prospective cohort analysis (2010-2011, and 2013), we assessed depression using the Geriatric Depressive Scale/GDS as screening tool and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview to diagnose depression. We also used the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory/GAI, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale/PANAS. Sociodemographics, and health were control variables. We performed a multinomial logistic regression to identify predicitive factors.

Fifty participants had depression at baseline, nine developed, 49 maintained, nine remitted, and 16 maintained without depression.

Having depression was associated with worse scores in UCLA, GAI, and PANAS. Not having depression was correlated with higher positive affect.

Baseline higher GAI and UCLA, and lower positive affect and satisfaction predicted recurrent depression.

Improvement in GDS, GAI, and positive affect predicted depression remission.

Results show that depression is a concern issue for professionals working with institutionalized elderly. Anxiety, loneliness, low positive affect and satisfaction constitute a risk factor for maintaing depression in institutionalized elderly and low anxiety and depressive symptoms are a protective factors for depression. These results could be used in depression prevention programs.

Cognitive rehabilitation techniques, reminiscence therapy, and reality orientation therapy, have shown an impact on cognition, life satisfaction, mood, and on the progression of cognitive decline in elderly.

To test the effectiveness of a NRGP on the cognitive and emotional functioning of institutionalized elderly.

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single blind randomized controlled study with paired groups.

Coimbra institutionalized elderly, aged between 64-92 (N = 88) with cognitive impairment no dementia, mostly women (75.0%).

randomization of participants to the rehabilitation group/RG (n = 41) and to the comparison/waiting-list group/CG (n = 23). NRGP involved groups of five elders, and took 90 min. per day, once a week, for 10 weeks.

Mini-Mental State Examination/MMSE, Frontal Evaluation Battery/FAB, Geriatric Depression Scale/GDS.

We used general linear model with repeated measures analysis of variance.

RG improved significantly on cognitive, and executive function (p < 0.001), and CG worsened on cognitive, executive function, and mood (p < 0.01). There was a significant effect on the MMSE, FAB, and GDS scores, after excluding pre-rehabilitation scores as covariates [F (1, 81) = 43.98, p < 0.001; η2 = 0.35; F(1, 80) = 28.37, p < 0.001; η2 = 0.26; F(1, 79) = 19.66, p < 0.001; η2 = 0.20].

A NRGP including cognitive rehabilitation, reminiscence therapy, and reality orientation proved to be effective on cognitive and executive functioning, and on depressive symptoms of institutionalized elders with cognitive impairment no dementia.

When cognitive decline (CD) is present, attention is one of the impaired mental functions. CD is also associated with anxious/depressive symptoms and with some demographic variables, particularly, age.

Investigate the associations between selective attention (Stroop Test: Stroop_Word, Stroop_Color, Difference between Stroop_Word and Stroop_Color, Stroop Ratio_Word, Stroop Ratio_Color and Difference between Stroop Ratio_Word and Stroop Ratio_ Color) and CD (Montreal Cognitive Assessment/MoCA) in institutionalized elders; explore the predictive value of Stroop variables for CD, controlling anxious/depressive symptoms and sociodemographic variables.

140 institutionalized elders (mean age, M = 78.4, SD = 7.48, range = 60-97) voluntarily answered to sociodemographic questions, the MoCA, the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory/GAI, the Geriatric Depression Scale/GDS and Stroop test.

73 elders (52, 1%) had CD. Dichotomized MoCA was associated with Stroop_Word, Stroop_Color, Stroop Ratio_Word, Stroop Ratio_Color, GDS and the sociodemographic variable schooling × profession. Age and education were not tested, since MoCA was stratified according to those variables. GDS, Stroop Ratio_Word and Stroop Ratio_Color showed to predict CD.

There was an association between Stroop_Word, Stroop_Color, Stroop Ratio_Word and Stroop Ratio_Color and CD, confirming that selective attention is smaller when the elderly reveal CD. GDS and CD were, also, associated. However, there was no association between MoCA dichotomized and differences between the correct answers (Stroop_Word and Stroop_Color) and Ratios (Stroop Ratio_Word and Stroop Ratio_Color). Selective attention and depressive symptoms predicted CD. It would be important to intervene through cognitive rehabilitation with the elders to improve their attention.