The past decade has seen rapid growth in conversations around and progress towards fostering a more transparent, open, and cumulative science. Best practices are being codified and established across fields relevant to gerontology from cancer science to psychological science. Many of the areas currently under development are of particular relevance to gerontologists such as best practices in balancing open science with participant confidentiality or best practices for preregistering archival, longitudinal data analysis. The present panel showcases one of the particular strengths of the open science movement - the contribution that early career researchers are making to these ongoing conversations on best practices. Early career researchers have the opportunity to blend their expertise with technology, their knowledge of their disciplines, and their vision for the future in shaping these conversations. In this panel, three early career researchers share their insights. Pfund presents an introduction to preregistration and the value of preregistration from the perspective of “growing up” within the open science movement. Seaman discusses efforts in and tools for transparency and reproducibility in neuroimaging of aging research. Ludwig introduces the idea of registered reports as a particularly useful form of publication for researchers who use longitudinal methods and/or those who work with hard-to-access samples. The symposium will include time for the audience to engage the panel in questions and discussion about current efforts in and future directions for transparent, open, and cumulative science efforts in gerontology.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Much recent research points toward a strong link between the microorganisms living in the gut and human health. Changes in this microbial community as a person grows older are thought to stem from changes in lifestyle and wellbeing associated with modern society, but evidence to support this claim is lacking. To gain a better understanding of how age affects the gut microbial community under natural conditions, researchers looked toward wild macaques. Using gene sequencing techniques, they found that the gut bacterial composition of individual macaques exhibited a unique personal signature and that this signature became increasingly unstable with age. This instability was linked to an increase in the relative abundance of rare bacterial groups. The uniqueness of an individual’s gut microbiota also increased with age, potentially due in part to a decrease in social interaction..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Age brings with it many chronic conditions related to tissue decline and inflammation. The functions of our intestinal barrier, brain, and eyes can all be affected by changes in our gut microbiota which occur with ageing. However, we don’t yet know if age-related changes to the microbiome cause any of the observed changes in other tissues. To close this gap, researchers used fecal microbiota transfer (FMT) between mice of different ages. They found that transfer of gut microbiota from aged donor mice to young mice induced inflammation in the gut, brain and retina. Intestinal permeability was increased, and the brain showed microglial activation in these aged-to-young FMT recipients. The retinas of recipients also showed altered cytokine signalling and loss of a key protein important for normal vision, thus identifying a role for gut microbiota in regulating eye health..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Patients with osteoarthritis typically experience progressive cartilage degeneration, joint inflammation, and bony growth around the joints. Treatment of this painful condition remains difficult because the underlying mechanisms aren’t clear, but recent evidence suggests that an increase in aerobic glycolysis, a form of glucose metabolism, may play a role. Aerobic glycolysis is regulated in part by the enzyme hexokinase 2 (HK2), which is upregulated in the joint tissues of patients with osteoarthritis . In addition to participating in glycolysis, HK2 affects cell growth, proliferation, survival, organelle recycling, and death under the influences of various other osteoarthritis-related proteins and pathways. For example, HK2 activity is promoted by the PI3K/Akt pathway, which is activated in osteoarthritis cartilage and HK2 might activate the transcription factor NF-κB to encourage downstream inflammatory processes in joints..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Asia has 365 million elderly people, and this population is expected to reach 520 million by 2030 Asian countries also had the highest rates of dementia in the 2015 World Alzheimer Report Because the risks of dementia and hypertension - which are related - increase with age, Asia is facing a troubling trend in its aging population The HOPE Asia Network conducted a much-needed review of hypertension and dementia in Asia They found that Asians had low awareness of hypertension as a major risk factor for brain damage and compared to developed countries, Asian countries had poorer hypertension management The HOPE Network emphasized the importance of controlling blood pressure variability to preserve cognitive functions by reducing vascular dementia risk and global stroke burden and suggested that Asia must focus on detecting hypertension and lowering blood pressure in midlife to protect against later-life cognitive decline in its growing elderly population Turana et al..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.