Exam 1 Flashcards
Working memory
- supports processing (manipulation)
- holds information transiently through rehearsal (maintenance)
Two components of memory
- working momory/short term memory
- long term memory
Components of working memory
- central executive (coordinates info and provides attentional control)
- visuospatial sketchpad (acts on visual and spatial info)
- phonological loop (operates on verbal info)
Long Term Memory
- supports knowledge
processes of LTM
- acquisition
- storage
- access
Types of Long Term memory
- episodic memory (audobiographical)
- semantic memory (knowledge, concepts)
- lexical memory (word knowledge)
- procedural memory (skills, how to do things)
- priming
- classical conditioning
- ## non associative learning
Priming
- exposed to stimulus -> changes response to it or to related stimulus
- priming results in subsequent responses that are:
1. faster
2. more accurate
3. biased in some way
classical conditioning
- neutral stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus that elicits a response.
- Types:
1. emotional (little Albert)
2. skeletal (Pavlov’s dogs)
Non Associative Learning
- does not require associating different stimuli
- Types:
- habituation- decrease in response with repeated exposure
- sensitization- increase in responsiveness due to repeated exposure or aversive stimulus.
- dishabituation- restoration of habituated response
Two Categories of LTM
- Declarative
- Nondeclarative
- declarative and nondeclarative operate in parallel
Declarative LTM
- models the external world
- is either true or false
- expressed via recollection
- detects and codes what is unique about a single event
Nondeclarative LTM
- neither true nor false
- expressed through performance
- acquired without conscious awareness
neural substrate of
a. working memory
b. short term memory
a. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
b. ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
neural substrate of LTM
- declarative - medial temporal lobe structures, diencephalon
- nondeclarative
a. skills and habits (procedural) - basal ganglia.
b. priming - neocortex
c. classical conditioning - 1.emotional-amygdala, 2.skeletal-cerebellum
d. nonassociative learning - reflex pathways
memory formation
- long term potentiation
- synapses are strengthened
- requires strong neural stimulation via repetition or salient events
Forgetting
- long term depression
- synapses are weakened
Executive functioning processes
- coordination and monitoring (working memory)
- inhibition (a. behavioral (self) control, b. interference control (stop distractions from own brain))
- cognitive flexibility (task switching and set switching)
Neural substrate for executive functioning
- prefrontal cortex
Executive functioning is trainable
- can be improved by..
- repeated practice
2. exercising/challenging the skills
Exec. Func. Assessments
- may not measure what the name implies
- may differ from real world skills
Attention
The ability to select some information for further processing or inhibit info from further processing
Types of attention
- selective -time, space
- divided - doing more than one thing at the same time
- alternating - going back and forth between tasks
- endogenous - inside your own head (internal)
- exogenous - outside of you (external)
Aging
- people differ in how they age
- genes play a role
- probably no singe cause for aging
- maximum life span potential has not changed (~120 years)
Average life expectancy has __________
increased
45 years in 1900
78 years in 2010
well documented way to increase average life span?
- Caloric restriction
- CRON
- Fasting (1 day/week, 1 week/month..)
Biological theories of aging
- free radical oxidation
- uneven # of electrons -> free radicals unstable, reactive
- to achieve stability, free radicals steal electron they need
- stealing the electron damages the cell
Free Radicals
- molecule of oxygen with an uneven # of electrons
- AKA reactive oxygen species
- we need some free radicals for normal immune system function and a variety of cellular functions.
Free radicals steal electrons from …?
- our DNA
- lipids in cell membranes
- our proteins
Antioxidants
- donate an electron, thus stabilizing the free radical
- are not harmed in the process
how are free radicals produced?
- they are produced when we consume oxygen (eg., breathing, exercising)
- through exposure to toxins (eg., radiation, cigarette smoke..)
oxidative stress
- imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants
Effects of Oxidative stress
- damages nerve cells (parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s)
- gene (DNA) mutations (cancer)
- damage to vascular cells (stroke, heart attack)
Biological theories of aging
- Genetic
- randomly occurring gene mutations progressively destroy DNA.
- DNA destruction affects cell reproduction
- alternate theory: mutations are NOT random, mutations are programmed and highly ordered.
Types of intelligence
- Crystalized
- fluid
Crystalized intelligence
- basic knowledge and skills
- accumulates over the life span
- “wisdom”
- tends to be preserved
fluid intelligence
- problem solving
- executive formation
- may decline
Orientation to…
- person (knowing who they are)
- place (where they are)
- time (date)
- situation
- older people should be alert and oriented to person, place and time (A&OX3) or person, place, time, and situation (A&OX4)
- may see time as an issue due to less structure as they age.
What type of attention may be a problem as we age?
Divided attention
Memory as we age
- depends on the kind
- working/short term memory may be a problem
- prospective and long term memory often good; may be superior to younger people
what type of memory may even be superior for older people than for younger people
- prospective and long term
Mild Cognitive Impairment
- NOT part of normal aging
- intermediate stage between normal function and dementia
Neuropathologic changes underlying aging
- neuritic plaques
- neurofibrillary tangles
- Lewy bodies
- These changes are found in individuals with dementias and with no dementia
Predictors of age-related cognitive loss
- difficulty identifying odors
- presence of diabetes
- level of education (more is better)
- size of one’s social network (more is better)
- history of depression
- cognitive reserve
cognitive reserve
- resilience to neuropahologic changes
- 2 types
- amount of cognitive reserve related to education, occupational attainment, leisure activities in later life
2 types of cognitive reserve
- cognitive - ways in which tasks are performed
- Brain - differences in brain structure
mini mental state assesses..?
- orientation
- short term memory
- lexical, visual, and phonological
- long term memory
- naming, semantic and lexical
- phonological working memory
- reading comprehension
- written expression
- visuospatial skills, alternating attention
- inhibition, auditory comprehension
- executive function
Tests for memory and attention
- mini mental state
- MOCA
- RIPA-2
MOCA assesses
- working memory
- long term memory
- orientation
- attention
Theories
- cognitive changes with age
- slowing in neural processing hypothesis
- disuse hypothesis
- cohort hypothesis
Slowing in neural processing hypothesis
- theory for cognitive changes with age
- loss of myelin slows conduction
- loss of dendritic branching causes fewer synapses
- decrease in transmitter synthesis
- decrease in post-synaptic receptors
Disuse Hypothesis
- theory for cognitive changes with age
- use the skill or lose it (long term depression - LTD)
Cohort hypothesis
- theory for cognitive changes with age
- cognitive effects of aging are affected by when you were born.
- our experiences may affect how we age
changes in sensory systems as we age
- hearing
- vision
- tactile (touch, temperature)
Acculturation
- familiarity with social/health care systems
- African Americans born here have roots back to civil war -> more familiar than first generation
- hispanics from US territory (eg. Puerto Rico) more familiar than those from other places (eg. Mexico)
Linguistic/cultural issues
- many Native American elderly have limited English proficiency
- Hispanic elderly differ in their ability to communicate effectively in English
support systems
- multicultural -
- vary among minorities
Ageism
- discrimination against someone because of age.
- common in the health care setting
Sources of ageism in healthcare
- to justify why the medical needs of the older person were not addressed
- frustration about not being able to meet job demands
- feeling unable to help or save the older person
- being reminded of one’s own life and mortality.
WHO
- what is it?
- what is it’s objective?
- World Health Organization
- for all people to attain the highest possible health status
- governed by 193 member states
