Aging & Cognitive Abilities

Question 1

Aging & cognitive abilities

Answer 1

• Aging is a natural process and with it come changes in memory. Most people associate aging with declines in cognitive performance, but some abilities decline, some remain stable, and some improve.

Question 2

• Stable cognitive memories

Answer 2

• Stable –

1. implicit memory (aka procedural memories ex. riding a bike), and
2. recognition memory (being able to pick something out of a list)

Question 3

Improved Cognitive abilities with age

Answer 3

• Improve –

1. semantic memories improve till around age 60, so older adults have better verbal skills (they are great at crossword puzzles!).
2. Also crystallized IQ is improved (ability to use knowledge and experience. Typically tested by analogy tests and reading comprehension).
3. Also better at emotional reasoning.

Question 4

• Decline in cognitive memories with age

Answer 4

• Decline –

1. recall becomes more difficult (although recognition is stable),
2. Formation of new episodic memories impaired (forming new episodic memories is difficult, old memories stable),
3. processing speed (older people have a harder time outputting a response), and
4. divided attention (becomes harder to switch attention between task and become easily distracted).
5. prospective memory (remembering to do things in future) is decreased

Question 5

• Dementia

Answer 5

• Dementia is term for decline in memory and other cognitive functions to the point of interfering with normal daily life – results from excessive damage to brain tissue, ex. From strokes or other causes.
ex. most common type of dementia - AD

Question 6

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Answer 6

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Exact cause unknown & disease is terminal.
Anatomy:
-Neurons die off over time and as neurons die off, cerebral cortex shrinks in size.
- Buildup of amyloid plaques in brain.

 Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that affects different aspects of memory over time.

 Earliest symptoms: are memory loss, particularly difficulty to retrieve or decode recent memories (problems with working/short-term memory).
• In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, most patients have difficulty remembering the name of a person they just met.(loss of short term memory)
• In early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, most patients with Alzheimer’s can still have intact procedural memory (implicit memory on how to do things), episodic memory (explicit memory about events of childhood), semantic memory (explicit memory about words/facts learned previously)
 Long-term progression can result in symptoms such as difficulties with: attention, planning, semantic memory, and abstract thinking. As it progresses, more severe language difficulties appear and greater memory loss, such as inability to recognize close family and friends.
• They initially have trouble with short term memory, which eventually progresses into problems with long-term memory (like episodic, procedural, and semantic memory loss).
 Continual progression might lead to: emotional instability and loss of control over bodily functions.

Question 7

• Korsakoff’s Syndrome

Answer 7

• Korsakoff’s Syndrome – caused by lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine. Caused by malnutrition, eating disorders, and especially alcoholism. These groups don’t process or absorb all the nutrients they need.
o Most cases Not caused by brain injuries
o Thiamine is important because converts carbohydrates into glucose cells need for energy. Important for normal functioning of neurons.
o Wernicke’s encephalopathy: At first, damage to certain areas causes poor balance, abnormal eye movements, mild confusion, and/or memory loss. At this stage called Wernicke’s encephalopathy – precursor to Korsakoff’s syndrome. If Wernicke’s encephalopathy is diagnosed in time it can reverse the damage or at least prevent further damage. If untreated, will progress to Korsakoff’s Syndrome, which has a main symptom of severe memory loss, accompanied by CONFABULATION (patients make up stories, sometimes to fill in memories).
o Korsokoff’s syndrome is not progressive, unlike AD. If people are diagnosed and treated, they can better.
o Treatment typically includes thiamine injections, staying on a healthy diet, abstain from alcohol, take vitamins, and relearn things. Effectiveness depends on how well patient follows the treatment guidelines and how early it is diagnosed.
o Individuals with Korsakoff syndrome have problem forming new memories and recalling old memories.(anterograde and retrograde amnesia respectively)

Question 8

• Retrograde amnesia

Answer 8

• Retrograde amnesia is inability to recall info previously encoded,
refers to inability to remember experiences before a brain injury (Retro = before)

Question 9

anterograde amnesia

Answer 9

anterograde amnesia is inability to encode new

- refers to inability to form long-term memories after brain injurymemories.

Question 10

• Amnesia

Answer 10

• Amnesia - (from Greek, meaning “forgetfulness”; from ἀ- (a-), meaning “without”, and μνήσις(mnesis), meaning “memory”), also known as amnesic syndrome, is a deficit in memory caused bybrain damage, disease, or psychological trauma.[1] Amnesia can also be caused temporarily by the use of various sedatives and hypnotic drugs. Essentially, amnesia is loss of memory. The memory can be either wholly or partially lost due to the extent of damage that was caused.[
o Amnesia is referred to any instance in which memories stored in the long-term memory are completely or partially forgotten, usually due to brain injury
o Medialtemporal lobe injury