A new study from Rice University and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz finds that older adults with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can judge the arrival time of approaching vehicles more accurately than expected—despite impaired central vision. Using a first-of-its-kind virtual reality system with realistic vehicle sounds, researchers examined whether adults with AMD rely more on hearing when estimating when a car will reach them. Instead, participants with vision loss continued to use their remaining visual information and performed similarly to adults with normal vision, although they showed slightly greater reliance on less accurate visual and auditory cues. The findings offer new insight into how people with central vision loss make split-second mobility decisions, such as crossing a street, and may help inform future rehabilitation, safety training and assistive technologies for individuals with visual impairments.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of nearly 10,000 long-lasting chemical compounds that stay in the environment and have been linked to adverse health effects on humans, including pregnant women and their unborn children. Although the placenta plays an important role as a protective barrier for the foetus, previous studies have not adequately assessed the true extent of foetal exposure to PFAS during early pregnancy. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), in cooperation with the Dessau Municipal Hospital, have now further developed a 3D placenta model so that it can be used to better analyse the risks of PFAS exposure during pregnancy. Their findings, which have been published in Environmental Research, show that PFAS disrupt the functioning of the placenta – especially in the early phase of pregnancy, which is critical for the baby’s development.

Higher nighttime temperatures are linked to shorter sleep times and lower sleep quality, especially for people with chronic health conditions, lower socioeconomic status, or those living on the West Coast, according to a new USC study. Researchers estimate that by 2099, people could lose up to 24 hours of sleep each year due to heat, highlighting the potential impact of climate change on sleep health. The researchers obtained data from 14,232 U.S. adults in the All of Us Research Program that was collected between 2010 and 2022. In total, the researchers analyzed more than 12 million nights of sleep, looking at how long people slept and how easily they fell asleep. They also examined 8 million nights of data on sleep stages and how often sleep was interrupted. Finally, they used location and meteorological data to find out whether sleep patterns were linked to changing temperatures. They found that a 10-degree Celsius increase in daytime temperature was associated with 2.19 minutes of lost sleep, while a 10-degree nighttime temperature increase was associated with a loss of 2.63 minutes. The effects were greater among females, people of Hispanic ethnicity, people with chronic diseases, and those with a lower socioeconomic status. In addition to shorter sleep times, rising temperatures were also associated with more disrupted sleep throughout the night and more time spent awake in bed.

a new study from the University of California San Diego finds that adults in California and Louisiana who experienced intimate partner violence in the past year — either as victims or perpetrators — are significantly more likely to own firearms and to have purchased a firearm in the past year.

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) has selected new editors to lead three of its peer-reviewed journal titles, effective January 1. They are Jason D. (Jace) Flatt, PhD, MPH, as the editor-in-chief of the Social Sciences section of The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences; Karen Kopera-Frye, PhD, FAGHE, FGSA, as the editor-in-chief of Gerontology & Geriatrics Education; and Joyce Siette, B Psych (Hons), PhD, as the editor-in-chief of the Medical Sciences section of The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.

Staying connected through the internet can help older adults who care for their family or friends feel less lonely and cope better with the stress of caregiving, according to a new study led by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and published in the journal JMIR Aging.