PUBLICATION

Advancing Mental Well-Being
Through Research

Our publications share research, clinical insights, and multidisciplinary perspectives that advance mental well-being, resilience, and healthy ageing across communities. Through evidence-based knowledge and collaboration, we aim to inspire learning, innovation, and meaningful community impact.

Our Publication

Sort By
Showing 98 results
  • Cognitive Decline
  • Aging,
  • 2021

Increased plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a potential biomarker for and compensatory mechanism in Mild cognitive impairment: A case-control study

  • Ng, T. K. S., Coughlan, C., Heyn, P. C., Tagawa, A., Carollo, J. J., Kua, E. H., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.18632/aging.203598
This study found that a brain-growth protein called BDNF was actually higher, not lower, in the blood of older adults with mild memory problems compared with healthy peers, and could reliably tell the two groups apart. The researchers suggest this rise may be the brain's way of compensating for early decline.
  • Cognitive Decline, Cohort Studies, Dementia, Mindfulness
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
  • 2021

Mindfulness Awareness Practice (MAP) to Prevent Dementia in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial and Implementation Outcomes

  • Ng, T. K. S., Feng, L., Fam, J., Rawtaer, I., Kumar, A.P., Rane, G., Cheah, I. K. M., Mahendran, R., . . . Lee, L. G., Kua, E. H
  • DOI: 10.3390/ijerph181910205
This study protocol describes a trial testing whether mindfulness training can help prevent dementia in older adults with mild memory problems, tracking effects on thinking skills as well as a range of blood and brain markers linked to ageing.
  • Cognitive Decline
  • JPAD-Journal of Prevention of Alzheimers Disease,
  • 2021

Effects of Novel Cognitive Stimulating Activities (CSAs) on Cognitive Decline and Depressive Symptom: A Naturalistic Study

  • Ng, T. K. S., Feng, L., Chua, R. Y., Goh, L. G., Kua, E. H., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-915114/v1
This study followed community-dwelling older Singaporeans over several years to see whether taking part in activities like art, music, or gardening was linked to slower memory decline and fewer depressive symptoms.
  • Cognitive Decline
  • Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology,
  • 2021

Regression-Based Norms and Validation of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery among Community-Living Older Adults in Singapore

  • Siew, S. K. H., Han, M. F. Y., Mahendran, R., & Yu, J
  • DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acab073
This study created local Singapore benchmarks for a set of computerized memory and thinking tests, using data from 210 older adults, and checked how well these newer tests matched up with traditional pen-and-paper tests.
  • Elderly Mental Health
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,
  • 2021

“Where-There-Is-No-Psychiatrist Integrated Personal Therapy” among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Randomized Pilot Study

  • Shorey, S., Kua, E. H., Tam, W., Chan, V., Goh, Y. S., Lim, H. M., Lim, L. H. K., Tian, C. S., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18189514
This pilot study tested a simple, volunteer-delivered talk therapy combining mindfulness and problem-solving skills for older Singaporeans with mild depression or anxiety. It found no clear difference from a comparison group, though participants themselves reported feeling it helped, in interviews.
  • Nature-Based Interventions
  • Social Science & Medicine,
  • 2021

Social connectedness as a mediator for horticultural therapy’s biological effect on community-dwelling older adults: Secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial

  • Ng, T. K. S., Gan, D. R. Y., Mahendran, R., Kua, E. H., & Ho, R. C M
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114191
This follow-up analysis of a gardening trial found that feeling more socially connected after three months helped explain why the gardening programme reduced inflammation in the body by six months, pointing to social connection as one reason gardening benefits health.
  • Cognitive Decline, Elderly Mental Health
  • Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry,
  • 2021

The functional and structural connectomes associated with geriatric depression and anxiety symptoms in mild cognitive impairment: Cross-syndrome overlap and generalization

  • Yu, J., Rawtaer, I., Feng, L., Kua, E. H., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110329
This brain-scan study looked at how depression and anxiety symptoms relate to brain connectivity patterns in older adults with mild memory problems, finding some overlapping but also some distinct brain networks linked to each type of symptom.
  • Elderly Mental Health
  • Scientific Reports,
  • 2021

COVID-19 lockdown has altered the dynamics between affective symptoms and social isolation among older adults: results from a longitudinal network analysis

  • Yu, J., & Mahendran, R
  • DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94301-6
This study found that depression, anxiety, and loneliness all increased among older Singaporeans during the COVID-19 lockdown, and that loneliness became more closely tied to low mood during this period than it was before the pandemic.
  • Diet & Nutrition
  • Current Developments in Nutrition,
  • 2021

Impact of Dietary Counselling on Cardiometabolic Health Outcomes and Dietary Quality in Singapore Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

  • Low, J., Kim, J. E., Kua, E. H., & Fam, J
  • DOI: 10.1093/cdn/nzab038_040
In a small trial, a 12-week dietary counselling programme improved diet quality and lowered bad cholesterol in older Singaporean women, compared with women who received no counselling, showing that simple nutrition advice can improve heart health in later life.
  • Elderly Mental Health, Resilience
  • Translational Behavioral Medicine,
  • 2021

The interplay between anxiety, fear, protective behaviors, compassion and resilience among older adults during a COVID-19 lockdown: a structural equation modelling study

  • Lim, X. Y., Yap, A. C., Mahendran, R., & Yu, J
  • DOI: 10.1093/tbm/ibaa143
This study found that older Singaporeans who were more compassionate were more likely to follow safety measures during the pandemic lockdown, and that following these measures and having greater resilience were both linked to lower anxiety.
Scroll to Top