Chapter 15: Physical and cognitive dev in Late adulthood Flashcards
life span vs life expectancy
life span: upper boundary of life, max amount of years an ind can live (120 to 125)
Life expectancy: nbr of years that the avergae person born in a particular year will live
Why can women expect to live longer than men
Social factors such as health attitudes, habits, lifestyles, and occupation are imp
Why do men live less
Do to lifestyle
What is the sex diff in longetivity influenced by
Biological factors: in virutally all species, females outlive males.
What is the latino health paradox
Why do latinos live 1.2 years longer than non-latino whites despite having lower educational attainment and income levels.
Factors that could explain the latino health paradox
- migration patterns
- strong connections with extended family (less lonely)
- lower rates of smoking
What is compression to morbidity
means living a long, healthy life and experiencing illness or disability only for a short time at the very end of life. The goal is to delay diseases as much as possible, so people spend most of their life in good health.
What are the biological theories of aging
- evolutionary
- cellular clock
- free-radical
- hormonal stress
Whats the evolutionary theory of aging
It points out that natural selection has not eliminated harmful conditions and nonadaptive characteristics in older adults.
Why? because natural selection is linked to reproductive fitness, which is present only in earlier part of adulthood
What is the cellular clock theory
Leonard Hayflick’s theory that cells can divide maximum of about 75 to 80 times. And that as we age our cells become less able to divide.
bcs every time a cell divides, the telomeres in the dna sequence get shorter and eventually and dramatically shorter and the cell can no longer reproduce.
Why don’t we inject the enxyme telomerase into humans
Because although it does extend nromal cell life, its also present in approximately 90 percent of cancerous cells
What’s the free radical theory
States that people age because cells metabolize energy, and the by-products include unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals.
Free radicals ricochet around the cells, damaging dna and other cellular structures
Whats the mitochondrial theory
Emphasizes the decay of mitochondria 9supplies energy for…) that is primarily due to oxidative damage and loss of critical miconutrients supplies by the cell.
Energy sensing and apoptosis (programmed cell death) are also key aspects of the theory.
Whats the Sirtuin Theory
Sirtuins are a family of proteins that have been linked to longevity, regulation of mitochondria functioning, stress resistance, etc..
What four sirtuins are involved in DNA repair and grater longevity
SIRT 1, 4, 6, 7
What is the mTOR pathway Theory
mTOR pathway is a cellular pathway that involves the regulation of growth and metabolism, central role in life of cells, cellular router for growth
TOR= Target or Rapamycin
What is rapamycin
its a naturally derived antibiotic and immune system supressant/modulator that was discovered.
Commonly used for preventing rejection of transplanted organs and bone marrow.
Whats the hormonal stress theory
Argues that aging in the bodys hormonal system can lower resistance to stress and increase the likelihood of disease.
Normally when ppl experience stressors, their body responds by releasing hormones.
As people age, the hormones stimulated by stress remain at elevated levels longer than when ppl r younger.
Prolonged elevation of stress related hormones is associated with incr risk for diseases.
When it comes to the brain and aging, what is discussed
- shrinking volume on brain structures and regions
- Changes in myelination and neural networks
demyelination occurs with aging
Where are the 2 brain regions where neurogenesis can happen
- hippocampus (memory)
- Olfactory bulb (smell)
What happens to dendritic growth with aging
In ppl in their nineties, dendritic growth no long occured
Lateralization and aging..
lateralization: specialization of function in one hemisph of the brain or the other.
Brain activity in the pfc is lateralized less in older adults than in younger when engaging in cog tasks
What is the nun study
directed by David Snowdon
678 nuns agreed to donate their brains for research when they die
What physical changes happen
- more wrinkles and age spots
- get shorter
- weight drops because we lose muscle
- move more slowly
What about sensory development
- vision decline becomes more pronounced, eyes take longer to adjust, area of visual field becomes smaller
- depth perception declines : difficulty ti know how close/far/high/low they are.
- Hearing loss, inability to hear sounds softer than 25db
- dual sensory loss –> significant cognitive decline
- most lose some of their sense of smell or taste or both (more in smell than taste) - and starts around 60
- impaired touch
- Chronic pain: back pain, peripheral neuropathic pain, chronic joint pain
What 3 disorders can impair the vision of older adults
- Cataracts: thickening of the lens of the eye = cloudy and distorted vision
- Glaucoma: damage to the optic nerve because of pressure created by buildup of fluid in eyes
- Macular degeneration: deterioration of the macula of the retina (Focal center of visual field). = unable to see whats right in front of them, better peripheral vision
what 2 tings stop sexuality
- disease
- belief that old people are or should be asexual
Whats the most common chronic disorder in late adulthood
Arthritis, followed by hypertension
what is arthritis
inflammation of the joints + pain stiffness and movement problems.
What is osteiporosis
Severe loss of bone tissue
CR
Calorie restriction.
can incr life span
How does attention change with aging
Selective attention decreases
Sustained attention is good and sometimes even better
Memory and aging
- decline in explicit memory (memory of facts and experiences)
- Implicit memory (memory without conscious recollection) - less affected than explicit
