5.1 - Normal Aging and Cognition Flashcards
Number of Adults >60 years old will _______ between 2000-2050.
Double
Life expectancy in the US increased to ______ years in 2012.
78.8
Life expectancy for females is ______ years; ______ for males.
- 2
76. 4
Is biological aging tied to chronological aging?
Not absolutely
What 4 factors play into normal aging?
Genetics
Neurotransmitters
Hormones
Experience
Brain volume and/or weight declines ___% per decade after age ______.
5%
40
Shrinkage of grey matter is due to __________,
changes in __________, or loss of ___________.
Neuronal cell death
Dendrite synapses
Synaptic plasticity
__________ may decline with age, the __________ deteriorating after age 40.
White matter
Myelin sheath
Vasculature aging + increases in BP = ???
Increase risk of stroke
What can cause the Vascular Changes seen in Dementias?
3
White matter lesions increase with age and are frequently asymptomatic
Strokes
Small Vessel Disease
Dopamine levels decline around ___% per decade from early adulthood.
[Neurotransmitter Changes]
10%
Changes in __________ play an important role in aging related cognitive decline.
[Neurotransmitter Changes]
Dopaminergic neurotransmission
Serotonin and brain derived neurotrophic factor levels ______ with age and are implicated in regulation of ___________ and ________.
[Neurotransmitter Changes]
Decrease
Synaptic plasticity
Neurogenesis
Reduction in __________ decline w/age particularly in women in menopause
[Neurotransmitter Changes]
Sex hormones
What 3 things does Efficient Cognitive Functioning depend on?
The degree of myelination and integrity of white matter
Density and richness synaptic connections
Specificity of synaptic pruning caused by interactions with the environment
What are 6 Protective Factors against Dementia?
Education
Occupational Attainment
Healthy Diet
Antioxidant Supplements
Moderate Alcohol Intake
Regular Exercise
What are 6 theories on Theories of Cognitive Aging?
General Slowing
Inhibition Deficit
Region-Specific Neural Aging
Transmission Deficit
Working Memory
Resource Theory
What is the Cognitive Aging Theory of General Slowing?
2
Speed of executing cognitive operations decreases with aging
Happens regardless of cognitive task
What is the Cognitive Aging Theory of Inhibition Deficit?
3
Aging weakens inhibitory processes that regulate memory and attention impacting other cognitive processes
Older adults activate more irrelevant information than young adults
Older adults suppress less irrelevant information once it is activated, regardless of the type or structure of the irrelevant information
What is the Cognitive Aging Theory of Region-Specific Neural Aging?
The amount of age-related neurobiological change in specific areas of the brain is linked to patterns of spared and impaired cognitive functions
What is the Cognitive Aging Theory of Transmission Deficit?
Cognitive functioning depends on how fast and how much priming can be transmitted across the connections linking representational units (nodes) in the language memory system
(Used to explain tip of the tongue phenomenon)
What is the Cognitive Aging Theory of Working Memory?
Reductions in working memory translate into storage and processing problems that impact comprehension during the aging process
What is the Cognitive Aging Theory of Resource Theory?
2
The human capacity for information processing is limited because of finite pool of resources that are shared simultaneously by other cognitive processes.
Limited resources result in declinations in skills during the aging process
What are 2 Frontal lobe Theories of Aging?
Age related changes in cognition are due to vulnerability of frontal lobes to structural and neurochemical changes
Frontal lobe changes with age; i.e. progressive loss of activity in frontal regions thought to play a role in inhibiting the influence of irrelevant material or responses
Cognitive functions are variable __________.
Across the lifespan
Middle age adults perform more like __________ and those over the age of 60 or 65 are characterized with __________.
Younger adults
Lower scores
What is Memory?
“Retention of something over an interval extending beyond its physical
presence”
What is memory established through?
2
Effortful means (Episodic, declarative)
Little effort (Semantic, procedural)
What question should we ask about memory?
Is it a storage problem or a retrieval problem?
What 2 areas should we target in memory?
Short Term memory
Major life events
What are the 4 types of memory affected by dementia?
Episodic
Semantic
Working
Long term