Aging Brain Flashcards
What are the functional changes in the brain as we age? (4)
What are 4 common tests that can assess cognitive function?
Fluid intelligence test (pattern recognition)
Sentence completion test
Mini mental state exam (what we do in CAS)
Stroop test
- Describe the fluid intelligence test.
- What areas of the brain are most used to complete this test?
What is the stroop test?
Intact functioning of what areas of the brain is needed to complete this task?
- Ask the patient to say the color that the text is in, not the word that is actually written
- Anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex
What are the structural changes that occur in the brain with aging? (2)
- Loss of neurons is location dependent
- Brain volume decreases with age
What are the red arrows indicating?
Lacunar strokes of the internal capsule
What pathologies are seen most frequently with the aging population?
- Dementia
- Alzheimers
- Cardiovascular disease
- TIAs (small strokes)
- White matter signal hyperintensity
*
What is shown in this image?
How is weight related to neurological disease as we age?
What is the impact of neuroinflammation on the brain as we age?
How does sleep change as we age?
We sleep less
We spend less time in REM sleep
[…] make neurons more susceptible to neural insults and impair the ability of neurons to generate ATP and energy.
Glucocorticoids
What does PTSD do to the hippocampus?
Leads to atrophy
The single best predictor of having elevated glucocorticoids in the brain is […]
social isolation
What is cognitive reserve?
Having significant brain power / strength to resist neuropathology
