Cognitive Aging Pt. 1 (Age-Related Changes) Flashcards
what does cognitive aging have
variability but there is a general decline in cognitive performance
what are the two factors that impact cognitive aging
genes and environment
what is a result of cognitive aging
decrease in cognitive function and an increase in dementia risk
what did the Alzheimer’s disease neuroimaging initiative study measure
memory and executive function
what is crystallized intelligence
skills, ability, knowledge that is overlearned, well-practiced and familiar
what is an example of crystallized intelligence
vocabulary
what remains stable and can even improve with age into 70s or 80s
crystallized intelligence
what is fluid intelligence
learning, processing, integrating new info; attending to and manipulating your enrivonment
what are exmples of fluid intelliegnce
executive functioning, processing speed, memory, psychomotor ability and problem sovling
what age does fluid intelligence peak at and them gradually decline
25-30 years old
what are the domains of cognitive ability
- processing speed
- attention
- memory
- language
- visuospatial abilities
- executive functioning
what is processing speed
speed that cognitive abilities are performed, as well as speed of motor responses
when does processing speed start to decline
gradual decline in 3rd decade of life and continues through lifespan
what is attention
the ability to concetrate and focus on a specific stimulus or task
what does sustained attention do with age
may improve
what is selective attention
the ability to focus on specific into while ignoring irrelevant info
what is divided attention
ability to focus on multiple tasks at the same time
what affects complex task performance
aging
what is one of the most common cognitive complaints among older adults
memory changes
what are the two types of memory changes
declarative (explicit) and non-declarative (implicit)
what is declarative (explicit) memory changes
conscious recollection of facts and events
what are the different types of declarative memory changes
semantic and episodic
what is semantic memory change
common knowledge, acquired facts that decline minorly only in late life
what is episodic memory change
memory for personally experienced events like specific place and time
what is episodic memory changes measured by
memory of personal stories, word lists that is a lifelong gradual decline
what is non-declarative (implicit) memory change
outside awareness
what is procedural
memory for motor and cognitive skills
what is acquisition and how does it decline
the ability to encode new information into memory and declines with age
what is preserved as cognitively healthy
retention of information that is successfully learned
what is retrieval and how does it decline
the ability to access learned information and declines with age
what is language
a complex cognitive domain composed of both crystallized and fluid cognitive abilities
how does language change with age
it remains stable and can even improve
what is visual confrontation naming
the ability to see a common object and name it
when does visual confrontation naming decline
stable until 70 YO and then declines
what is verbal fluency
ability to perform a word search and generate words for a certain category
when does verbal fluency decline
steady decline with aging after 3rd decade
what is visuospatial abilities
ability to understand, interpret and manipulate objects in 2D and 3D
what are examples of visuospatial abilities
object perception, ability to recognize familar obejcts or faces, perception of physical locations of objects
when does visuospatial abilities decline
remains intact with aging but noticebale decline for more complex tasks
what is executive functioning
higher order functioning
what are examples of executive functioning
self-monitor, planning, organization, reasoning, mentally flexible, and problem solving
when does executive functioning exhibit decline
with age especially after 70 YO
what are the different tests of executive functioning
the stroop test and the wisconsin card-sorting test
what is the mini-mental state exam (MMSE)
a test of cognition that povides objective evidence to identify and diagnose congitive impairment
what occurs to the brain during normal aging
loss of gray matter and white matter causing decreased total volume
what occurs to the number of neurons during normal brain aging
the number doesn’t change
what does slow atrophy of neurons in the brain result in with normal brain aging
results in a loss of synapses up to 1% per year
what occurs to the signal transmission along axon in normal aging
it remains intact
what parts of the brain shrink with aging
- flattened gyri
- increased subarachoid space
- enalrged ventricles
- widened gulia
what occur to neurons with age
no significant loss of neurons with age
what occurs to the neuron size with aging
fewer larger neurons and more smaller neurons
