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To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the page ; There is little evidence on the long-term association between physical activity (PA) and depressive symptoms in old age. We examined the association of midlife PA and depressive symptoms in late life. ; A large community-based population residing in Reykjavik, Iceland, participated in a longitudinal study with an average of 25 years of follow up. Midlife PA was categorized as active and inactive groups (n = 4,140, Active = 1,292, Inactive = 2,848, mean age 52±7 years). The main outcome had six or higher depressive symptoms assessed by the 15-item Geriatric Depression scale. Participants who had a history of depression (n = 226), and were diagnosed with dementia (n = 393), and had incomplete cognitive data (n = 595) and incomplete analytical data (n = 422) were excluded. Level of weekly PA was ascertained by a questionnaire at midlife. Depressive symptoms were assessed on average 25 (±4) years later. ; After controlling for demographic and health-related risk factors, those who were active at midlife were less likely to have high level of depressive symptomatology (6 or higher Geriatric Depression scale scores, odds ratio = 0.58, 95% confidence interval: 0.41-0.83, p < .005) compared with those who were inactive in midlife. After full adjustment of three domains of late-life cognitive function the results remained significant (odds ratio = 0.61, 95% confidence interval: 0.43-0.86, p = .005). ; Our study shows that midlife PA is associated with lower depressive symptoms 25 years later. Participating in regular PA in midlife may improve mental health in late life. ; National Institutes of Health/N01-AG-12100 National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program Icelandic Heart Association Landspitali University Hospital Icelandic Parliament

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access. ; The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between loss of a life partner and the development of dementia and decline in cognitive function in later life. We used an Icelandic cohort of 4,370 participants in the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study who were living as married in 1978 (born in 1907-1935) and were either still married (unexposed cohort) or widowed (exposed cohort) at follow-up (in 2002-2006). We ascertained history of marital status and spouse's death by record linkage to the Registry of the Total Population, Statistics Iceland. The outcome measures were as follows: 1) dementia and mild cognitive impairment; and 2) memory, speed of processing, and executive function. During the observation period, 3,007 individuals remained married and 1,363 lost a spouse through death. We did not find any significant associations between loss of a spouse and our outcome variables, except that widowed women had poorer executive function (mean = -0.08) during the first 2 years after their husbands' deaths compared with still-married women (mean = 0.09). Our findings do not support the notion that the risk of dementia is increased following the loss of a spouse, yet women demonstrate a seemingly temporary decline in executive function following the death of a partner. ; University of Iceland Research Fund for Graduate Students Icelandic Research Fund for Graduate Students (Rannis) Memorial Fund of Helga Jonsdottir and Sigurlidi Kristjansson Research Fund of Oldrunarrad Islands Icelandic Gerontological Society Research Fund Fund of Gudmundur Andresson Swedish Society for Medical Research National Institute on Aging N01-AG-1-2100 National Institute on Aging Icelandic Parliament Icelandic Heart Association