Individual Differences and Ageing Flashcards
why is it important to talk about ageing?
research identifying strategies for maintenance of cognition and brain health are important to close the gap between lifespan and health span
women have a…
higher life expectancy and higher healthy life expectancy than men
higher income countries…
have a larger population over 60 years old
alzheimer’s disease…
increased 3% in causes of death since 2017 due to increased lifespan
healthy ageing
consists of the ability to live in a functional and independent way, but healthy ageing does not mean people are free from cognitive decline
what declines in older adulthood?
working memory, executive function, processing speed, and episodic memory
what increases in older adulthood?
vocabulary size
grey and white matter brain volume…
decreases with age
how is language function affected by ageing?
grammatical complexity, listening, understanding, and reading language experience a decline
what do older adults have impairments in?
accuracy and reaction time for language and syntactic comprehension
this is related to decline in working memory and processing speed
biomarkers of cognitive function
memory, processing speed, and executive function
these can provide biological age
decline in cognitive function is related to decline in other domains
- immune function
- physical capabilities
- physiological functions
- endocrine functions
relationship between cardiovascular and cognitive function
probability of experiencing tip-of-the-tongue state increases as fitness decreases
regular physical exercise interventions…
can increase cognitive performance in all domains
when is the sharpest decline in activity?
75-84 years old
cognitive training interventions can improve…
fluid intelligence, episodic memory, working memory, and processing speed
what can brain health and cognitive ageing be modulated by?
lifestyle factors, which underly individual variability and ageing trajectory
theory of mind
understanding other people have own beliefs, intentions, and knowledge states which may differ from their own
cognitive TOM
understanding thoughts and intentions
affective TOM
understanding feelings and emotional states
what can TOM be disrupted by?
- developmental conditions
- mental health conditions
- physiological conditions
- natural, healthy ageing
executive function
drives cognitive control of behaviour, e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, and attention
why is it difficult to disentangle TOM decline from general EF decline?
different EFs decline with age
_______ TOM is more susceptible to ageing effects than _______ TOM
cognitive
affective
what did TOM intervention studies find?
general improvement in TOM mind abilities after involving discussions about character’s thoughts and actions