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<b><i>Background:</i></b> Benzodiazepines are widely used in the treatment of anxiety disorders and sleep disturbances, but negative cognitive side effects have been reported after long-term use. Studies on the cognitive effects of long-term benzodiazepine use to date have typically included small samples and limited cognitive assessments. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> This study examined cognitive performance on four cognitive domains in long-term benzodiazepine users, compared to normative data. Furthermore, it was examined whether sex, age, benzodiazepine dose, and state and trait anxiety moderated cognitive functioning in long-term benzodiazepine users. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Neuropsychological tests targeting different cognitive domains were administered to 92 patients with long-term benzodiazepine use who were accepted for enrolment into a benzodiazepine discontinuation programme in an academic hospital. Test scores were compared to a large normative data sample. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Of the long-term benzodiazepine users, 20.7% could be classified as cognitively impaired across all domains, with the largest effects found in the domains processing speed and sustained attention, and an overall worse performance in women, an effect which appears to be moderated by state anxiety. No effects of age or benzodiazepine dose were found. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> These results extend those of earlier studies on benzodiazepine effects on specific cognitive domains. This study implies an overall detrimental cognitive effect in long-term benzodiazepine users rather than specific effects. Therefore, long-term benzodiazepine use should be avoided, and once present, tailored interventions aimed at tapering benzodiazepines are warranted.

Questions about cognitive aging are inherent questions about why individuals of different ages or from different subpopulations differ from each other and how these differences change over time. One of the main goals of cognitive gerontology is to describe how cognitive abilities change over time and to link these changes with brain aging. When we talk about the cognitive deterioration in the elderly, we have to consider great individual differences in cognitive functioning, that are greater than in the earlier period of life. In neurophysiology, significant progress has been made in mapping the brain areas responsible for changes in cognitive functioning; whether biological weakening will manifest in our behavior is greatly determined by life experiences and habits. Emotional stability, openness to experience, higher level of education, higher socioeconomic status, enjoyment in intellectual activities through the lifespan, and better physical and mental health are positively correlated with preserved cognitive abilities among older adults.

The present research tested the prediction that mixed-sex interactions may temporarily impair cognitive functioning. Two studies, in which participants interacted either with a same-sex or opposite-sex other, demonstrated that men's (but not women's) cognitive performance declined following a mixed-sex encounter. In line with our theoretical reasoning, this effect occurred more strongly to the extent that the opposite-sex other was perceived as more attractive (Study 1), and to the extent that participants reported higher levels of impression management motivation (Study 2). Implications for the general role of interpersonal processes in cognitive functioning, and some practical implications, are discussed.

Abstract  Recently, more attention is being given to identifying aging‐related and dementia‐related pathological changes in performance and cognition among persons with intellectual disabilities (ID). This literature review examines age‐related differences in specific aspects of cognitive functioning and cognitive performance of people with ID and Alzheimer's disease (AD), as well as what maybe be protective and risk factors. Training interventions designed to enhance cognitive performance are also reviewed. The authors note that greater efforts are urgently needed with respect to delineating the function and deficits in cognitive domains within aging adults. Methodological issues that merit further attention includes utilizing appropriate age ranges and assessment of intra‐individual variability in statistical analysis of cognitive performance. While, consideration should be given to the continued development of specific cognitive tasks and tests that have been developed, validated, and normed for this population, there is still a critical need for more longitudinal data with multiple time points, to assess and track trajectories of change over time, especially as cohort effects of residential living, and educational and vocational opportunities have varied so widely over the last 30 years, and are likely to be a substantial confounding factor. Furthermore, efforts need to ensure that instruments continue to be developed with specificity and sensitivity to detect pathological deficits in AD‐related performance. Lastly, greater research attention is warranted to describe and meet the needs of the burgeoning aging population of people with ID. This will ultimately guide policy makers to develop better practice protocols to maximize cognitive function in normative and pathological aging.

To the extent that adult age differences in measures of cognitive performance have implications for functioning outside the psychological laboratory, the question of the role of experience as a potential moderator of these differences becomes extremely important. Three categories of research relevant to this issue are reviewed, and methodological limitations of each type of research are discussed. Although it is frequently asserted that experience minimizes cognitive differences associated with aging, the evidence currently available does not appear consistent with a strong experiential moderation of age-related effects in cognitive performance. However, the paucity of relevant studies and the methodological weaknesses of those that do exist preclude a definitive conclusion at the present time. Additional research with improved methodology is necessary before strong conclusions can be reached concerning effects of experience on age differences in cognition.

Beyond the many choices and challenges humans face during the pandemic lies a constant cognitive trade-off: Those who excessively absorb news against uncertainty run the risk of impaired cognitive functions.