Late life worry and anxiety are found to be the most frequent class of psychiatric disorders in elderlies. All cause of dementia are found to be both disabling and associated with increased mortality rates, beyond major depression co-morbidity. Generalized anxiety disorders is the most frequent form of anxiety (around 3.6% in 60+ years-old) and its subsyndromal anxiety characterized by increased worry and ruminations is found between 15 up to 52% in community dwelling older-adults. Also, anxiety, as a symptom, has also been associated with increased risk for subsequent cognitive decline and onset of dementia.
While causality between anxiety and dementia is difficult to establish, anxiety might be a target to reduce risk-factors of dementia and eventually reduce dementia incidence.
While some recent results suggest altered resting-state functional connectivity within the limbic system, the biological bases of anxiety and worry are still under examination. Also, it is still unclear whether personality traits trajectory during adulthood can convert into excessive anxiety and worry, perhaps due to either late life-events and/or minor cognitive impairments. Novel digital and/or ecological tools would also be beneficial for on-line assessment of anxiety and worry related symptoms but only few studies have assessed their reliability and operability in this age-range population. From a therapeutic perspective, serotoninergic anti-depressants are useful to treat excessive anxiety. However, elderlies can show adverse effects and cognitive behavioural therapies can be hard to use with cognitive impairments. Therefore, solid evidence-based psychotherapeutic approaches that can be easily used in routine care with patients with minor cognitive impairments are lacking.
We welcome Original Research articles and Review articles addressing the above aims.
We specifically encourage submissions addressing the following topics:
• Longitudinal examination of psychosocial stressors, negative life events, personality traits during adulthood and their interaction with excessive anxiety and worry in late life.
• Biological (brain imaging, molecular, genetic) indices of late-life anxiety and worry.
• Biological mechanisms that might explain the association between anxiety and subsequent cognitive decline.
• Digital phenotyping of ecological assessment of anxiety, its feasibility and robustness.
• Novel therapeutic (including psychotherapeutic and cerebral modulation) strategies for anxiety disorders and subsyndromal anxiety
• The most frequent comorbidities of old age anxiety and therapeutic consequences
• Miscellaneous
Late life worry and anxiety are found to be the most frequent class of psychiatric disorders in elderlies. All cause of dementia are found to be both disabling and associated with increased mortality rates, beyond major depression co-morbidity. Generalized anxiety disorders is the most frequent form of anxiety (around 3.6% in 60+ years-old) and its subsyndromal anxiety characterized by increased worry and ruminations is found between 15 up to 52% in community dwelling older-adults. Also, anxiety, as a symptom, has also been associated with increased risk for subsequent cognitive decline and onset of dementia.
While causality between anxiety and dementia is difficult to establish, anxiety might be a target to reduce risk-factors of dementia and eventually reduce dementia incidence.
While some recent results suggest altered resting-state functional connectivity within the limbic system, the biological bases of anxiety and worry are still under examination. Also, it is still unclear whether personality traits trajectory during adulthood can convert into excessive anxiety and worry, perhaps due to either late life-events and/or minor cognitive impairments. Novel digital and/or ecological tools would also be beneficial for on-line assessment of anxiety and worry related symptoms but only few studies have assessed their reliability and operability in this age-range population. From a therapeutic perspective, serotoninergic anti-depressants are useful to treat excessive anxiety. However, elderlies can show adverse effects and cognitive behavioural therapies can be hard to use with cognitive impairments. Therefore, solid evidence-based psychotherapeutic approaches that can be easily used in routine care with patients with minor cognitive impairments are lacking.
We welcome Original Research articles and Review articles addressing the above aims.
We specifically encourage submissions addressing the following topics:
• Longitudinal examination of psychosocial stressors, negative life events, personality traits during adulthood and their interaction with excessive anxiety and worry in late life.
• Biological (brain imaging, molecular, genetic) indices of late-life anxiety and worry.
• Biological mechanisms that might explain the association between anxiety and subsequent cognitive decline.
• Digital phenotyping of ecological assessment of anxiety, its feasibility and robustness.
• Novel therapeutic (including psychotherapeutic and cerebral modulation) strategies for anxiety disorders and subsyndromal anxiety
• The most frequent comorbidities of old age anxiety and therapeutic consequences
• Miscellaneous
