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AbstractExecutive functions (EF), either conceptualized as skills involved in regulation of cognition and emotion in service of goal‐oriented behavior, or reductively as working memory, flexibility and inhibitory control, are commonly invoked constructs in developmental science. Two main traditions on EFs measurement prevail, one consisting of ratings obtained through questionnaires that inquire on behavior in common situations, the other based on performance in laboratory tasks. Whether both types of assessment actually refer to the same constructs is not consensual. Further, the role of school context in the degree of correspondence between both types of measures remains largely unexplored. Here, we show in a sample of over 220 children (age M = 5.6, SD = 0.4 years), by means of multilevel models, that whether EF tasks can predict BRIEF‐P ratings and vice‐versa, depends on the process considered and on the school SES. Inhibitory control, planning, and global executive functioning are associated with BRIEF‐P ratings in all schools. In contrast, we found no association among measures of flexibility independently of school SES. For working memory, we found that questionnaire rating predicts span only in high SES schools, but span predicts behaviors across schools. Our findings contribute to a growing body of literature that proposes constructs assessed by questionnaires and tasks only partially overlap and suggests that school SES may be a relevant factor to consider when questionnaires are answered by teachers.

BackgroundAnticholinergic drugs block muscarinic receptors in the body. They are commonly prescribed for a variety of indications and their use has previously been associated with dementia and cognitive decline.
MethodsIn UK Biobank participants with linked health-care records (n=171,266, aged 40-71 at baseline), we calculated total anticholinergic drug burden according to 15 different anticholinergic scales and due to different classes of drugs. We then used linear regression to explore the associations between anticholinergic burden and various measures of cognition and structural MRI, including general intelligence, 9 separate cognitive domains, total brain volume, volumes of 68 cortical and 16 subcortical areas, and fractional anisotropy and median diffusivity of 25 white-matter tracts.
ResultsAnticholinergic burden was modestly associated with poorer cognition across most anticholinergic scales and cognitive tests (6/9 FDR-adjusted significant associations, std. betas range: -0.033, -0.006). The association was mostly driven by antibiotics (std. beta=-0.029, 95% p<0.001) and drugs to treat disorders of the nervous system (std. beta=-0.017, p<0.001). Anticholinergic burden due to the pharmacological subclass of glucose-lowering drugs (beta=-0.038, p<0.001) and the anatomical class of respiratory drugs (beta=0.016, p=0.03) was associated with total brain volume. However, anticholinergic burden was not associated with any other measure of brain macro- or microstructure (p>0.07).
DiscussionAnticholinergic burden is mildly associated with poorer cognition, but there is little evidence for an effect for measures of brain structure. Future studies might focus more broadly on polypharmacy or more narrowly on distinct drug classes, instead of using purported anticholinergic action to study the effects of drugs on cognitive ability.

Funding: Brain Health Scotland, who are overseeing the development of Brain Health Services within NHS Scotland, are funded through a grant from the Scottish Government. Brain Health Scotland is hosted legally within Alzheimer Scotland who received this grant ; Peer reviewed ; Publisher PDF

Background: The rapid growth of the size of the older population is having a substantial effect on health and social care services in many societies across the world. Maintaining health and functioning in older age is a key public health issue but few studies have examined factors associated with inequalities in trajectories of health and functioning across countries. The aim of this study was to investigate trajectories of healthy ageing in older men and women (aged ≥45 years) and the effect of education and wealth on these trajectories. Methods: This population-based study is based on eight longitudinal cohorts from Australia, the USA, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Europe harmonised by the EU Ageing Trajectories of Health: Longitudinal Opportunities and Synergies (ATHLOS) consortium. We selected these studies from the repository of 17 ageing studies in the ATHLOS consortium because they reported at least three waves of collected data. We used multilevel modelling to investigate the effect of education and wealth on trajectories of healthy ageing scores, which incorporated 41 items of physical and cognitive functioning with a range between 0 (poor) and 100 (good), after adjustment for age, sex, and cohort study. Findings: We used data from 141 214 participants, with a mean age of 62·9 years (SD 10·1) and an age range of 45–106 years, of whom 76 484 (54·2%) were women. The earliest year of baseline data was 1992 and the most recent last follow-up year was 2015. Education and wealth affected baseline scores of healthy ageing but had little effect on the rate of decrease in healthy ageing score thereafter. Compared with those with primary education or less, participants with tertiary education had higher baseline scores (adjusted difference in score of 10·54 points, 95% CI 10·31–10·77). The adjusted difference in healthy ageing score between lowest and highest quintiles of wealth was 8·98 points (95% CI 8·74–9·22). Among the eight cohorts, the strongest inequality gradient for both education and wealth was found in the Health Retirement Study from the USA. Interpretation: The apparent difference in baseline healthy ageing scores between those with high versus low education levels and wealth suggests that cumulative disadvantage due to low education and wealth might have largely deteriorated health conditions in early life stages, leading to persistent differences throughout older age, but no further increase in ageing disparity after age 70 years. Future research should adopt a lifecourse approach to investigate mechanisms of health inequalities across education and wealth in different societies. Funding: European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. ; The ATHLOS project was funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant number 635316). This study was supported by the 5-year ATHLOS project

Across Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs), the fight against dementia faces pressing challenges, such as heterogeneity, diversity, political instability, and socioeconomic disparities. These can be addressed more effectively in a collaborative setting that fosters open exchange of knowledge. In this work, the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium on Dementia (LAC-CD) proposes an agenda for integration to deliver a Knowledge to Action Framework (KtAF). First, we summarize evidence-based strategies (epidemiology, genetics, biomarkers, clinical trials, nonpharmacological interventions, networking, and translational research) and align them to current global strategies to translate regional knowledge into transformative actions. Then we characterize key sources of complexity (genetic isolates, admixture in populations, environmental factors, and barriers to effective interventions), map them to the above challenges, and provide the basic mosaics of knowledge toward a KtAF. Finally, we describe strategies supporting the knowledge creation stage that underpins the translational impact of KtAF.