Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-223). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)-- State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Economics, 2009.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-223). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-223). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2009. / Thesis advisor: Philip P. Halloran. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mathematics." Includes bibliographical references (leaves [19]). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Deteriorations in cognitive functioning and sleep are the inevitable parts of the ageing process, and they are two very common complaints among the elderly population. Given their high relevance and great impact on daily functioning, many studies have attempted to address the associations of sleep problems and cognitive functioning with ageing, yet the direction of associations remained unclear. Several recent studies suggested that caffeine, a common psychostimulant present in coffee and tea, might have a beneficial effect on agerelated decline in cognitive functioning. Nonetheless, the dose-dependent effect of caffeine intake on specific domains of cognitive functioning, and the potential cost of compromised nocturnal sleep at high dose of caffeine remained to be investigated. In view of the lack of study on identifying the correlation and interaction between sleep, cognitive functioning, caffeine consumption habit, and age, this thesis reported two studies that clarified these relationships in the elderly population. Furthermore, the studies explored the possibility to utilize sleep and caffeine as a regimen to improve daytime cognitive functioning in the older population. Study 1 was a retrospective study that aimed to examine the relationship between sleep, habitual caffeine consumption, cognitive functioning, and mood in the two different age groups, the young adult and the elderly. Eighty-nine healthy elderly and forty-three healthy young adults participated in this study and completed a battery of neuropsychological assessment and a set of questionnaires. Findings revealed changes in multiple domains of sleep and cognitive functioning upon ageing. The age-related differences in sleep and cognitive functioning were correlated. Moreover, result suggested that regular caffeine consumption has a dose-dependent beneficial effect on cognitive functioning, but the effect was only observed in female. Study 2 was built on the relationship between sleep, cognitive functioning, and caffeine as found in Study 1. It aimed to investigate the effect of caffeine and daytime nap on the cognitive functioning in the healthy elderly adopting a repeated measure, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Twenty-four healthy elderly were recruited for this study, and each of them were required to attend four experimental sessions with a one-week intersession interval. In each session, participants were required to take a rest or take a nap with or without a certain dosage of caffeine in the afternoon. Comparisons on their cognitive performance before and after the rest/ nap revealed an effect of nap and caffeine on improving subjective feeling of sleepiness and fatigue. Behavioural measurements revealed no effect on daytime nap on cognitive functioning, yet specific sleep stage and certain sleep oscillations were associated with post-nap changes in cognitive functioning. In summary, the present studies demonstrated the associations of sleep and caffeine consumption with cognitive functioning in the elderly. Habitual caffeine consumption was associated with a female-specific beneficial effect on cognitive functioning. Furthermore, daytime nap combined with the use of acute dose of caffeine might not enhance cognitive functioning, but could improve mood and well-being in the elderly. Findings from present studies suggested that further research could explore ways to maximise the benefit of napping in the elderly. / published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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Den esoteriska teosofin har fått betydelse för det moderna sekulariserade samhället  framför allt genom New Age-rörelsen under 1900-talets senare del och den gav redan under seklets första årtionden upphov till nya andliga rörelser i Europa och  USA. Man har ofta glömt dess förankring i det sena 1800-talet. Teosofin, kunskapen eller visheten om Gud, har visserligen en betydligt äldre historia men den rörelse som skapades i Amerika på 1870-talet av Helena Blavatsky och hennes sympatisörer kom att överleva och kom att mer än hundra år senare vara aktuell i den moderna andliga rörelse vi kallar New Age. Det Teosofiska Samfundet, bildat i USA 1875, gav även upphov till flera vitala sidogrenar som till exempel Antroposofiska Sällskapet, Temple of the People, the Arcane School, the ” I AM” Religious Activity, the Church Universal and Triumphant och Liberala Katolska kyrkan vilka idag fortfarande bedriver aktiv verksamhet. De böcker och tidskrifter som 1800-talets esoteriska teosofer gav ut var ingen lättfattlig eller enkel litteratur och lästes företrädesvis av människor med den tidens bildning. De utgjorde en begränsad grupp och strävade inte efter att bli en folkrörelse. Varför blev då den esoteriska teosofin en rörelse som spred sig över Europa, USA  och de dåvarande engelska kolonierna Indien och Australien?  På vad sätt har Teosofiska Samfundet påverkat New Age? Detta är de två frågeställningar uppsatsen skall försöka belysa. Framställningen har begränsats till utvecklingen av den teosofi som spreds av Teosofiska Samfundet och jag ha avstått från att närmare belysa i vilken mån de sidogrenar som uppstod kom att påverka dagens samhälle. En sådan riktning var till exempel  den  antroposofiska  rörelsen som tidigt bröt sig ur Teosofiska Samfundet och som vuxit sig mycket stark, och det finns också andra grenar  som omtalas i texten men som inte närmare studerats.  En annan begränsning är att studien av den teosofi som utgick från Helena Blavatsky omfattar tiden från 1875 och fram till omkring 1929 och jag har således inte studerat den inverkan teosoferna senare fick i Indien och dess självständighetsrörelse och inte heller berört  Teosofiska Samfundets teosofiska riktning  i dagens samhälle. I New Age-rörelsen har jag främst valt ut några riktningar som har nära anknytning till den esoteriska  teosofin men avstått från att närmare studera  andra som till exempel  tarotkort, kristaller och stenar, astrologi, healing och dess olika riktningar, paganism och shamanism. New Age-rörelsens syn på världsbild och gudsbild, occultism och spiritism, reinkarnation och UFO har drag som man återfinner i den teosofiska rörelse som uppstod i slutet av 1800-talet.

The studies in this dissertation asses age differences in the experience of pain in humans and animals and the appropriateness of pain assessment tools across the adult life-span. Chapter I reviews age differences in experimental, acute and chronic pain in humans. Chapter 2 reviews age differences in the outcome of psychological treatments for chronic pain. It is concluded do there are age differences in each type of pain and that the elderly appear to benefit from psychological treatments as much as younger groups. Several experiments were conducted to examine the concepts that the elderly believe that pain is an inevitable part of aging and are not distressed by it, and that they experience less interim pain than younger patients. However, Chapter 3 presents two studies which find no age differences in pain beliefs. Furthermore, the studies described in Chapters 4 and 5 suggest that there may be age differences in the perceived qualities of chronic pain, measured with the short and full form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), but no age differences in pain intensity measured with single-item scales The data from Chapters 3, 4 and 5 suggest that the affective and cognitive components of chronic pain do not differ among age groups. Analysis of the psychometric properties of the pain measures suggests that verbal descriptor scales of pain intensity and both forms of the MPQ may be appropriate for use across the adult life-span. However, visual analog scales may not be appropriate for use with the elderly. To further elucidate the effects of aging on pain, Chapter 6 reviews age differences in nociceptive responsivity and pain behaviours in the rat. This review suggests that reflexive responses to nociceptive stimuli may not be age dependent although sensitivity on tests of more highly organized behaviours may decrease with age. Chapter 7 presents studies of age differences in the formalin test, a model of tonic pain, which suggest a curvilinear relationship be

No description available.