9 - Ageing and Physiology Flashcards
what are the variables of sensory, perceptual, & motor abilities?
- visual acuity
- hearing acuity
- balance
- walking and gait
- grip strength
- proprioception
what are the cognitive abilities that decline over age?
- working memory
- episodic memory
- fluid intelligence
- processing speed
what is the common cause hypothesis?
age-related decline in cognitive and sensorimotor function is due to deterioration of common neurological processes
sensorimotor ability indicates the biological integrity of the brain, thus a strong predictor of cognitive decline
how does sensorimotor functioning influence ageing?
sensorimotor function mediates the age-related variability in cognitive decline
when controlled for sensorimotor functioning the age-intelligence relation is null
how can social engagement mediate relation between sensorimotor function and cognition?
sensorimotor deficits (e.g. hearing loss so can’t follow convo) can lead to sensory deprivation due to social disengagement
this lack of social engagement can lead to cognitive decline
how does the correlation between cognition and sensorimotor function vary with age?
fluctuation of sensorimotor abilities increases with age, its correlation with cognition increases with age
no correlation for children and young adults
how can cognition effect sensorimotor abilities?
deficits in cognitive ability may adversely affect sensorimotor function
e.g. inhibitory deficit, easily distracted, harder to hear people speaking
what does the evidence say about relationship between sensorimotor and cognitive ability?
shows both direct and indirect effects of age on sensorimotor and cognitive ability
longitudinal studies show more modest associations between sensorimotor and cognitive declines
how does amount of sleep change as you age?
declines as you grow older
how does slow wave sleep (SWS) change with age?
diminishes as age increases, proportionally the type of sleep that declines the most
why is SWS important?
memory
during wakefulness: info is encoded in neocortical and hippocampal networks
during SWS: repeated activation of recently learned info within hippocampal networks. reactivations stimulate transfer of memory traces to neocortical site for long term storage
what is the impact of reduced SWS in OAs?
negative effects on hippocampo-neocortical dialogue so worsened memory
how does sleep benefit memory in older and younger people?
sleep benefits memory for YAs but not OAs
amount of time spent in SWS correlates with memory for YAs but not OAs
how and why does optimal time of day (TOD) differ in younger and older adults?
adults’ inhibition is sensitive to their optimal TOD, it is more effective to suppress irrelevant info during optimal TOD
older adults optimal in morning, younger adults optimal in evening
what methods are necessary to establish a causal role of physical exercise on health?
using interventions in a longitudinal study
can observe how people change over time in experimental and control group
