Update of doi: 10.1101/2022.10.25.513647.

Although late-life depression (LLD) is a serious health problem and more common than dementia in people over 60, it is underdiagnosed and undertreated. The cognitive-emotional etiology of LLD is particularly poorly understood. This is in contrast to the now extensive literature from psychology and cognitive neuroscience on the characteristics of emotionally healthy aging. This research consistently shows a change in emotional processing in older adults that is modulated by prefrontal regulation. Lifespan theories explain this change in terms of neurocognitive adaptation to limited opportunities and resources that typically occur in the second half of life. Epidemiological data on an increase in well-being after a low point around age 50 suggest that the majority of people seem quite capable of making this adaptation, even though empirical evidence for a causal modulation of this so called 'paradox of aging' and for the role of the midlife dip is still lacking. Intriguingly, LLD is associated with deficits in emotional, cognitive, and prefrontal functions similar to those shown to be crucial for healthy adaptation. Suspected causes of these deficits, such as white matter lesions or affective instability, become apparent as early as midlife when internal and external changes as well as daily challenges set in. Based on these findings, we propose that some individuals who develop depression at older ages may not have been able to successfully implement self-regulatory adaptation at midlife. Here, we review the current evidence and theories on successful aging, the neurobiology of LLD, and well-being across the lifespan. Drawing on recent advances in lifespan theories, emotion regulation research, and cognitive neuroscience, we propose a model of successful versus unsuccessful adaptation that emphasizes the increasing need for implicit habitual control and resource-based regulatory choice during midlife.

Author information: (1)Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States. (2)Infectious Diseases Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT and Harvard, Boston, United States. (3)Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States. (4)Center for Global Health, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, United States. (5)Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, United States. (6)Division of Lung Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Bethesda, United States. (7)Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York - Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, New York, United States. (8)Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States. (9)Department of Medicine, Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, University of Texas, San Antonio, United States. (10)NIH RECOVER Research Initiative: Patient representative, Bronx, United States. (11)Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, United States. (12)Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, United States. (13)National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States. (14)Seattle Children's Hospital, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, United States. (15)Public Health Research Institute and Department of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, United States. (16)Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Illinois, College of Medicine, Chicago, United States.

Author information: (1)Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States. (2)Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, United States. (3)Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States. (4)Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, United States. (5)Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, United States. (6)National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States. (7)Seattle Children's Hospital, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, United States. (8)Public Health Research Institute and Department of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, United States. (9)Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Illinois, College of Medicine, Chicago, United States. (10)Center for Global Health, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, United States. (11)Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States. (12)Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York - Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, New York, United States. (13)NIH RECOVER Research Initiative: Patient representative, Bethesda, United States. (14)Division of Lung Diseases, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, United States. (15)Infectious Disease Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, United States. (16)Department of Medicine, Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, University of Texas San Antonio, San Antonio, United States.

Authors rely on a range of devices and techniques to attract and maintain the interest of readers, and to convince them of the merits of the author's point of view. However, when writing a scientific article, authors must use these 'persuasive communication devices' carefully. In particular, they must be explicit about the limitations of their work, avoid obfuscation, and resist the temptation to oversell their results. Here we discuss a list of persuasive communication devices and we encourage authors, as well as reviewers and editors, to think carefully about their use.

Update of doi: 10.1101/2022.05.28.493845.

Between early challenges and lasting opportunities, a deaf virologist reflects on how the pandemic transformed his access to academic spaces.

Update of bioRxiv. 2023 Jan 27;: