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Cognitive reserve (CR) is known to reduce or even protect against the negative effects of aging on cognitive functioning. Nonetheless, little is known about how CR influences the relationship between different cognitive abilities and age in the old–old. The goal of the present study was, therefore, to test the hypothesis whether, in the old–old, CR still modifies the relationship between age and cognitive functioning. Eighty-three adults (aged 71–94) without mild cognitive impairment or dementia residing in residential care facilities completed a detailed neuropsychological test battery. CR was estimated using a combination of educational attainment and an estimation of verbal intelligence. Moderation analyses revealed a significant effect for fluency and a trend for flexibility, showing that the negative relationship between age and cognitive performance is reduced as the level of CR increases. These results demonstrate that CR still influences the relationship between age and executive functions in adults of advanced age.

Motor imagery and action-based rehearsal were compared during motor sequence-learning by young adults (M= 25 yr., SD= 3) and aged adults (M= 63 yr., SD= 7). General accuracy of aged adults was lower than that of young adults (F1,28= 7.37, p= .01) even though working-memory capacity was equivalent in the two groups. Motor imagery and rehearsal by action increased accuracy in both age groups, compared with minimization of opportunity for rehearsal (F1,28= 30.95, p< .001), but no interaction was found with age group, which suggests that young and aged adults were equally capable of motor imagery and action-based rehearsal. It was assumed that differences in performance between young and aged participants related to the formation of mental representations of sequences and integration of new elements into these representations rather than the capacity for motor imagery or rehearsal by action per se. The current study was exploratory and involved a relatively small sample of 15 participants per age group. Caution must be taken when considering the results.

In previous studies, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been applied to patients with either Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or incipient dementia, resulting in an enhancement in memory and verbal fluency. Moreover, affective behavior was shown to improve. Based on the positive effects of TENS in AD, it was hypothesized that TENS would improve self-efficacy in nondemented elderly with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who live in a residential home. Four outcome measures, that is, a Dutch translation of the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Algemene Competentie Schaal), the Groninger Activity Restriction Scale, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, and the Geriatric Depression Scale, were administered. Overall, the results suggest that the experimental group showed a mild improvement in self-efficacy and mood. In contrast, the placebo group showed a considerable reduction in self-efficacy and an increase in depression. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed.