Aging

Question 1

What can exercise improve in older adults?

Answer 1

• Cardiovascular health and aerobic power
• Muscle strength and physical function
• Flexibility
• Weight control
• Mental function

Question 2

What changes occur to the connective tissue due to aging?

Answer 2

• Altered ability to maintain and repair
• Decreased water concentration
• Collagen and elastin becomes more brittle
• Decreased load and energy absorption

Question 3

What changes occur to cartilage due to aging?

Answer 3

• Calcification
• Decreased water content
• Intervertebral discs shrink and crack
• Decreased load and energy absorption

Question 4

What changes occur to skeletal muscle due to aging?

Answer 4

• Sarcopenia: loss of muscle strength and functional quality
• Decrease in number and diameter of muscle fibers
• Muscle fibers infiltrated by fat or collagen

Question 5

What changes occur to bone due to aging?

Answer 5

• Decrease in subchondral bone
• Osteopenia: increased osteoclast activity and decreased osteoblast activity

Question 6

What are the functional implications of the musculoskeletal changes that occur with aging?

Answer 6

• Loss of ROM
• Pain
• Postural malalignment
• Decreased load tolerance and absorption
• Decreased strength and force production

Question 7

What postural alignment changes occur with aging?

Answer 7

• Forward head posture
• Thoracic kyphosis

Question 8

What cardiopulmonary changes occur due to aging?

Answer 8

• Reduced contractility
• Valve dysfunction
• Fibrosis
• Decreased maximum heart rate
• Stiff thorax
• Increased kyphosis that limits mobility of the rib cage
• Diminished elastic recoil of the lungs –> decreased lung volume –> less oxygen reaching limbs

Question 9

What cardiovascular changes occur due to aging?

Answer 9

• Decreased maximal heart rate and decreased stroke volume leads to decreased cardiac output
• Less oxygen saturation and delivery
• Decreased aerobic capacity

Question 10

What sensory changes occur due to aging?

Answer 10

• Decline in somatic senses due to loss of receptors
• Dizziness/vertigo due to loss of hair and nerve cells
• Vision/hearing declines rapidly between 60-80 yrs
• Decrease in taste and smell after 60 yrs

Question 11

What neurological changes occur due to aging?

Answer 11

• Loss of myelin slows nerve conduction velocity
• Axonal loss decrease muscle activity and reduces sensory perception
• Waste products accumulate between inside neurons causing cognitive decline
• Decline in brain weight/volume

Question 12

What are the implications of weight loss in the brain?

Answer 12

• Neuronal atrophy leading to loss of gray matter
• Axonal loss and decrease myelination leading to loss of white matter
• Prefrontal cortex, striatum, temporal lobe, cerebellum, and hippocampus most impacted

Question 13

What information processing and attention changes occur due to aging?

Answer 13

• Decreased sensory input reduces processing speed
• Slower reaction time (accuracy remains intact)
• Decreased attentional capacity
• Decreased ability to divide attention
• Increased risk during dual tasks

Question 14

What memory changes occur due to aging?

Answer 14

• Working memory is reduced to shorter chunks of information
• Retrieval of episodic memory from the hippocampus declines

Question 15

How does steady state postural control change as you age?

Answer 15

• Increased sway
• Reduced limits of stability

Question 16

How does anticipatory postural control change as you age?

Answer 16

• Slower activation of both postural muscles and mover muscles
• Decreased ability to stabilize the body in advance of voluntary movements

Question 17

How does reactive postural control change as you age?

Answer 17

• Impaired timing of muscle
• Choose hip strategy over ankle strategy
• Take more than one step (steps are shorter and slower)
• More likely to laterally step than cross over to prevent limb collisions

Question 18

What are falls associated with in older adults?

Answer 18

• Morbidity and mortality
• Loss of independence
• Social isolation
• Fear
• Activity restriction

Question 19

What are risk factors for falls?

Answer 19

• Muscle weakness
• Sensory impairments
• Slower nerve conduction
• Postural alignment
• Slower/less effective anticipatory/reactive postural control
• Slower processing and response

Question 20

What are the psychosocial aspects of aging?

Answer 20

• Adjustment to retirement
• Loss of lifetime roles
• Isolation
• Loss of others close to them
• Loss of independence
• Depression

Question 21

How does part vs whole practice impact older adults?

Answer 21

• Part: reduces processing demands
• Whole: may produce better movement quality

Question 22

How does random practice impact older adults?

Answer 22

Decreases performance but enhances retention

Question 23

How does distributed practice impact older adults?

Answer 23

May decrease performance but enhances retention and reduces the risk of injury

Question 24

How do older adults respond to feedback?

Answer 24

• Rely on visual feedback
• Implicit feedback may be better than explicit feedback
• Knowledge of results is better and improves learning

Question 25

Describe an active and healthy older adult

Answer 25

• Body systems do not degrade as much
• Reaction time is similar to young adults
• Brain volume is better