Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Year 2 Developmental > Learning pack 3 > Flashcards

Learning pack 3 Flashcards

1
Q

What is middle adulthood/mid-life?

A
  • A developmental stage ‘halfway’ between the beginning and end of adulthood
  • The sandwich generation:between parents/children/grandchildren
  • 40 to 60 years of age
  • May need revision if we keep living for longer
  • it is a substantial time of transition
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are the mortality rates in mid-life?

Mok et al (2015)

A
  • Longitudinal study of over 2 million
  • Estimated that 1 in 50 males (2%) will die by age 40
  • 1 in 120 females (0.8%) will die by age 40
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Biological changes in mid-life

A
  • Loss of physical youth
  • Less than peak condition
  • Andropause, Menopause and the biological clock
  • Early indications of Alzheimer’s
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Psychological changes in mid-life

A
  • Slower cognitive processing
  • Appraisal of circumstances –> mid-life crisis
  • Depression vs. life satisfaction
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Social changes in mid-life

A
  • Concern for health/well-being of parents
  • Children leaving home –> empty nest
  • Liberated vs. isolated
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Biological changes in mid-life: Hair and skin

A
  • Effects of primary ageing become more obvious
  • Grey, thinning hair/baldness
  • Extra hair in unwanted places
  • Photoageing: wrinkles, age spots, moles
  • Sun exposure, smoking and alcohol consumption all contribute to accelerated ageing
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Biological changes in mid-life Body composition

A
  • Expanding waistline/redistribution of fat stores –> so called ‘middle-age spread’
  • Slowing of basal metabolic rate –> loss of muscle and hormone production
  • Low bone density which is also exacerbated by hormone loss –> osteoporosis
  • 50+ years have higher risk of fractures due to brittle bones –> reduced mobility
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Biological changes in mid-life: Vision

A
  • Loss of visual acuity
  • Thickening of the lens
  • Reduced light at the retina - Poor focus/muscle contraction –> blurry vision
  • Less able to adapt rapidly to changing light levels
  • Also linked to cognition (Leon-Dominguez et al, 2016)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Biological changes in mid-life: Hearing

A
  • Auditory nerves and inner ear structure degenerate
  • Poor perception of very high and low frequencies
  • Not usually problematic until age 50+, and major deficits stem from our own behaviour and occupational hazards
  • Secondary ageing: Degree of hearing loss largely due to noise exposure over lifespan (Rabinowitz, 2000)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Biological changes in mid-life: Reproduction in women

A
  • In women, menopause occurs around age 50 but begins 10-15 years prior, and results in a loss of ability to conceive
  • Pre-menopausal: fluctuating hormone levels and irregular periods
  • Peri-menopausal: more extreme variation in periods, hot flushes cause multiple issues (Bromberger et al, 2010)
  • Post-menopausal: oestrogen and progesterone levels consistently low for a period of 1 year, such that menstruation ceases
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Biological changes in mid-life: Reproduction in men

A
  • In men, loss of reproductive capacity or andropause occurs later on
  • Diminishing levels of testosterone: 1% per year from 40s
  • Gradually reduced quantity of viable sperm
  • Accompanied by loss in muscle tissue and strength
  • Erectile dysfunction influences 31% by late 50s
  • Can be improved with diet and exercise due to associations with the amount of body fat and individual has (Esposito et. al, 2004)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Biological changes in mid-life: Health

A
  • Health is the biggest. factor affecting quality of life in middle-age
  • Cancer: most likely cause of death in middle-aged women
  • Cardiovascular disease: sudden heart attacks as the most likely cause of death in middle-aged men (particularly those with low socioeconomic status)
  • The impact of lifestyle is cumulative
  • Education is predictive of health behaviour (smoking, drinking, physical inactivity) in mid-life (Clouston et al, 2015)
  • Cardiorespiratory fitness in mid-life (approx 49) is associated with lower healthcare costs in later life (65+)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Psychological changes in mid-life: Cognition

A
  • In mid-life, our brains and cognitive processes become slower
  • Cognitive skill is likely to decrease if you don’t stay mentally active (Salthouse, 2004)
  • Linked to the function of the circulatory system (Raz and Rodrigue, 2006)
  • Correlation between risk of heart disease/cancer and intellectual skills, mediated by physical activity
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Psychological changes in mid-life: Memory

A
  • The older we get the more forgetful we perceive ourselves to be
  • Working memory: By age 55, we can no longer accommodate large, complex loads –> at least in vision
  • Semantic memory as stable, episodic memory more prone to decline
  • Themes are remembered better than specific details
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Psychological changes in mid-life: Middle age and dementia

A
  • One of the biggest financial burdens for society - £1.4 billion in Wales alone
  • Cognitive impairment is often the most feared aspect of ageing
  • Early-onset familial Alzheimer’s disease: by age 55, highly genetic, accounts for approx 5% of cases
  • ‘Prodromal’ dementia in middle age –> Mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
  • Associated with high glucose levels (Rosness et al 2016)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the related risk factors of dementia?

A
  • Obesity
  • Smoking
  • Alcohol
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is the myelin model of neurodegeneration?

Bartzokis (2004)

A

Age-related breakdown in the protective membranes of neurons can increase the likelihood of developing AD

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is the interaction of genetics and lifestyle on Alzheimer’s

Rovio et al (2005)

A
  • Leisure-time physical activity at least twice a week during mid-life is associated with a reduced risk of AD
  • More pronounced among APOE e4 carriers
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Psychological changes in mid-life: Personality

A
  • Largely stable during adult life
  • Openness, extraversion and neuroticism decline, potentially because there is less room for your own individual sense of self
  • You often become less negative and impulsive in mid-life, as you take on more important responsibilities and roles
  • Personality defines biological stress response –> lowest in those high in extraversion and conscientiousness
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Psychological changes in mid-life: Depression in men

Hiyoshi et al (2015)

A

Those with high cognitive functioning in adolescence are less likely to be diagnosed with a mood disorder during middle age unless they also have low resistance to stress

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Psychological changes in mid-life: Depression in women

Bromberger et al (2015)

A

The experience of mid-life in unlikely to trigger the onset of depression but changes due to menopause can lead to reoccurrence of depressive symptoms

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is a mid-life crisis

A
  • Classified as a reaction to changes in life structure (Levinson et al, 1978)
  • Erikson predicted ‘crisis’ at all life stages, not just mid-life
  • Not as prevalent as you might expect
  • May be more likely in your 60s (Wethington et al 2004)
  • Often triggered by a specific occurrence: life event approach
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What are the crises in mid-life?

A
  • Not to be confused with mid-life crisis
  • Erikson (1963): generativity vs. stagnation –> the need to care for the next generation
  • Relationship to mental health: those with high generativity/life satisfaction are the least burdened by being a carer
  • Vaillant (2002) work-based goals, ‘career consolidation’ and ‘keeper of the meaning’ stages
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Social changes in mid-life: Career

A
  • Peak work satisfaction despite lack of promotions
  • Equally as good as younger employees at a large variety of roles, expect where speed is key
  • Anxiety over having to acquire new skills
  • Awareness is crucial –> knowing your weaknesses forces you to compensate for them to maintain performance
  • Career change - voluntary vs involuntary
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Social changes in mid-life: Role conflict

A
  • As the ‘sandwich generation’, middle-aged adults take on the most number of roles
  • Partner: Marital conflict declines, marital self-efficacy, control of the relationship, better strategies to cope with arguments
  • Friend: more refined social network, genuine friends, less contact, family provides primary support
  • Carer: 1/3 women in the UK are multi-generational care givers –> leads to you being the last person you think of
  • Grandparent: A great source of satisfaction when the role is more remote
  • Parent: pivotal role in young adulthood, less so in middle-age as children grow up and leave home
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Social changes in mid-life: Multigenerational families

A
  • Due to the dynamics and role changes in mid-life, it may not just be your children who live with you
  • You may be responsible for looking after children’s children or caring for elderly parents and you may be helping financially (particularly stressful, and a source of conflict, for those of low socioeconomic status)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What is older adulthood?

A
  • 60+
  • Young old: 65-74
  • Old old: 75-84
  • Oldest old: 85+
  • Diversity in later lifestyle –> lifestyle choices catch up with you
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood

A
  • More prevalent, deeper wrinkles
  • Continued loss of elasticity
  • By 75 most people have completely grey hair
  • Thinning, pattern balding, hair loss (95% men, 20% women)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Teeth loss

A
  • 26% of over 65’s

- Impact on facial structure

30
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Weight/build

A
  • 60+
  • Loss of weight due to reduction in muscle mass
  • Weight gain due to lower metabolism, but can be offset by exercise
  • Advised to start strength/balance training before attempting aerobic activity
  • Mental as well as physical benefits –> reduced ‘social physique anxiety’
31
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Bones

A
  • Loss of bone mineral content
  • 50-60s
  • Linked to loss of sex hormones –> worse in women
  • Reduced risk with dietary protein, calcium, and vitamin D but 70% of bone loss is genetic
32
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Mobility

A
  • Loss of strength
  • Stiff tendons
  • Arthritis
  • Joint inflammation
  • Increased risk of falling
  • Half of adults over 75 have difficulty with daily living
  • Strength training is recommended, even in those 90+
33
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Cardiovascular system

A
  • Fats lining arteries, preventing blood flow –> often due to diet and high cholesterol levels

Risk of heart attack and stroke is more pronounced in:

  • Males (due to lifestyle, lack of cardioprotective hormones, distribution of weight
  • Smokers (carbon monoxide restricts oxygen)
  • Someone 65+ has 40% less cardiovascular efficiency than a young adult
34
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Immune system

A
  • Less able to respond to infection e.g. influenza
  • People 65+ serious complications from flue e.g. bronchitis and pneumonia
  • 90% of flu deaths occur in those aged 65+
  • Vaccination is approx 88% effective in young adults but only 56% in older adults
  • Efficiency of flu vaccination is increased by physical exercise (Kohut et al, 2004)
35
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Digestive system

A
  • Less motivation to eat aa healthy, varied diet

- ‘Anorexia of ageing” (Soenen and Chapman, 2013)

36
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Urinary system

A
  • Elasticity in bladder is reduced, particularly in smokers
  • Frequent urge to urinate (30%, 65+)
  • Incontinence and overactive bladder (25%, 65+)
37
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Sleep

A
  • Far more fragmented than in younger adults
  • Frequent waking to go to the toilet and physical issues, such as arthritis and lung disease, influence sleep quality
  • Decrease in stage 4 and REM (Kamel and Gammack, 2006)
  • Sleep deprivation can lead to adverse effects in mental health and physical well-being
  • Sleep disturbance in those over 60 promotes depression, risk of CVD and neurological dysfuntion (Gamaldo et al, 2016)
38
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Smell/taste

A
  • Half of 80 year olds have no sense of smell

- Relationship between poor cognition/inability to identify odours

39
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Vision

A
  • An 85 year old has 80% less visual acuity than a 40 year old
40
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Balance

A
  • Fear of falling leads to restricted movement, becoming less physically active leads to further loss of strength
41
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Brain chanages

A
  • Reduced weight
  • Loss of grey matter
  • Decline in dendrite density/number of connections
42
Q

Biological changes in older adulthood: Genes

A
  • Genes play a role in longevity
  • Identical twins have more similar lifespans than non-identical twins
  • They also have similar illness rates
  • Centenarians run in the family (Murabito et al, 2012)
  • Genes linked to common age-related diseases are depleted in those who age exceptionally (Fortney et al, 2015)
43
Q

Behavioural effects of physical changes in old adulthood

A
  • General slowing (Salthouse, 1996)
  • Errors in retrieving knowledge/performing actions
  • The use of behavioural feedback to compensate for mistakes e.g. when driving
  • Learned skills remain butt are more difficult to perform
  • It becomes harder to acquire new skills
44
Q

Psychological changes in older adulthood: Memory

A
  • At age 60, decline in remembering telephone numbers (West and Crook, 1990)
  • Good general knowledge/recall, given contextual cues (Matzen and Benjamin, 2013)
  • Need more time to learn things
  • Given time, performance may be equivalent to younger adults
  • Reduction in hippocampal volume may account for changes
  • May also be due to changing processing strategies
45
Q

What is Erikson’s ego integrity vs. despair

A
  • Achieving the sense that you’ve lived a useful life or feeling hopelessness
  • Part of ego integrity states that older adults value being able to pass on their experiences to younger generations
46
Q

Psychological changes in older adulthood: Depression

A
  • Poor social support
  • Low income
  • Experiencing loss
  • Health problems
  • Lower rates in males and African Americans
47
Q

Psychological changes in older adulthood

A
  • Cognitive decline –. due to avoiding challenging situations
  • Remaining optimistic means quicker recovery when things go wrong e.g. post-stroke (Hillen et al, 2003)
48
Q

Social changes in older adulthood: Retirement

A
  • Not everyone 65= is retired
  • Postponed due to interest/challenge or for financial reasons
  • Poor health may lead to early retirement
  • Often more of a transition/scaling back than a single stage
  • Inequality in pay may means women work longer
  • Health doesn’t change purely because of retirement –> linked to lifestyle factors
49
Q

Social changes in older adulthood: social life

A
  • steady decrease in social network across adulthood
  • Loss of spouse decreased personal network (Wrzus et al, 2013)
  • May experience stress over returning to active parent role
  • Contact with friends/family –> better life satisfaction ratings than for contact with children
  • Productivity/volunteering linked to successful ageing –> lower mortality and less hypertension
  • New hobbies give life more structure and foster competence, social interaction and creativity –> offer a renewed sense of purpose
50
Q

Social changes in older adulthood: Loss of partner

A
  • When still together couples report higher satisfaction than in earlier married life
  • Relationship based on campanionship
  • Caring for each other if sick or disabled
  • females expect to be without a spouse for many years as they tend to live for longer
  • Men rely more on the social and emotional support of marriage
51
Q

Social changes in older adulthood: Living arrangements

A
  • Common to make changes to existing homes and/or hire someone to assist with daily activities
  • Retain independence, physical and mental health
  • Moving into the home of a relative e.g. adult children
52
Q

What are social judgements?

A
  • Believing others are worse off

- Acts as a self-protective mechanism

53
Q

What are the crucial roles of diet, sleep and exercise in reducing depression?

A
  • Diets comprising of vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, and whole grains are associated with a 35% reduced risk of depression (Jacka et al, 2010)
  • Non-depressed people with insomnia are predicted to have a two-fold increased risk of developing depression (Baglioni et al, 2011)
  • In a longitudinal study of over 9,000 people, regular physical activity was associated with a reduced likelihood of depressive symptoms (Azevedo Da Silva et al, 2012)
54
Q

Maintaining/restoring function in older adulthood: Physical exercise

A
  • Physical activity can help cope with physical changes
  • Enhanced mental health and even social interaction, low mobility impedes social engagement (Rosso et al, 2013)
  • Frailty as a reason to prescribe exercise not a contraindication –> lower iincidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes (Bherer. et. al, 2013)
55
Q

Maintaining/restoring function in older adulthood: Memory

A

The Synapse Project (Park et al, 2014)

  • 221 participants, 60-90 years
  • Activities 15 hours a week for 3 months
  • Older adults who were randomly assigned to learn digital photography, quilting or both showed enhanced episodic memory function at the end of the study and a year later
56
Q

Maintaining/restoring function in older adulthood: Social factors predict memory decline

Ertel et al (2008)

A
  • In immediate and delayed recall tasks, memory declined twice as fast in those with the least social integration
  • This was particularly prominent in those with fewer years of education
  • Social contact and education provide a buffer against severe decline
57
Q

Classification of brain structures: Cortical

A

Superficial

58
Q

Classification of brain structures: Subcortical

A

Deep

59
Q

What are the lobes of the brain used for

A
  • Primarily based on function

Frontal: Decisions
Temporal: Memory
Parietal: Attention
Occipital: Vision

60
Q

Anatomical terms for the brain

A
  • Anterior: In front
  • Posterior: Behind
  • Superior: Above
  • Inferior: Below
  • Dorsal: Above, anterior-posterior axis
  • Ventral: Below, anterior-posterior axis
  • Rostral: To the front, frontal cortex
  • Caudal: To the back, occipital cortex or brain stem
61
Q

What are the different types of methodologies for cognitive neuroscience?

A
  1. Position emission tomography (PET)
  2. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  3. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
  4. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)
62
Q

How does the grey and white matter change affect older adults?

A

White matter: Decline in myelin sheath protecting axons declines with age. This leads to slower information processing

Grey matter: Loss of volume and scope for activation corresponds to a lack of available resources to perform cognitive functions

63
Q

Reorganisation of brain activity

A
  • Driven by decline of function
  • Breakdown of functional specialisation: dedifferentiation
  • Deficits in inter-hemispheric inhibition
  • Reorganisation is designed to protect existing function
  • More advantageous to work together when demand is high and resources are low
  • Co-operation between regions: compensation
64
Q

Current views on compensation?

Grady (2012)

A
  • Defined by studies of individual differences
  • Need to combine neuroimaging data with behavioural studies, so we can see what brain activity means in the context of cognitive capacity
  • Dominant approach
65
Q

What happens when compensatory mechanisms cannot maintain performance?

A
  • Importance of early intervention

- Short-term behavioural training to alter processing strategies has worked well

66
Q

What is tDCS?

A
  • Transcranial direct current stimulation
67
Q

What does tDCS do?

A
  • Increase brain plasticity
  • Maintain neural connections
  • Trying to take the pressure off information processing and executive systems
68
Q

Evidence for cognitive enhancement using tDCS

A
  • Acquisition of a complex motor skill was enhanced 24 hours post-anodal tDCS (Zimermann et al, 2013)
  • Improved object-location learning at a 1 week follow-up after temporoparietal tCDS (Floel et al, 2012)
69
Q

Sustained benefits of tDCS

A
  • Improved accuracy of verbal working memory at 4 week follow-up (Park et al, 2014)
  • Enhanced verbal/visual working memory at a 1 month follow-up –> enhancement transferred to non-trained tasks (Jones et al, 2015)
  • Sustained visual working memory improvement in mild-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (Boggio et al, 2012)
70
Q

Neural enhancement due to tDCS

A
  • Currently, few studies have combined behavioural and neuroimaging data
  • Older adults experienced a word-generation deficit reversal with tDCS to inferior frontal gyrus
  • fMRI activation more ‘youth-like’ (Meinzer et al, 2013)
  • Anodal tDCS improved the semantic word retrieval of participants with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to the level of healthy controls but reduced over-activity in regions of frontal gyrus (Meinzer et al, 2014)
71
Q

Methodological considerations with tDCS

A
  1. State-dependent effects: older adults may benefit more from stimulation during training (Fertonani et al, 2014)
  2. Timing of response: older adults exhibit a delayed response to tDCS (Fujiyama et al, 2014)
  3. Individual differences: education and/or baseline performance predict response to tDCS (Learmonth et al, 2015)
  4. Stimulation intensity/length: need for higher current levels and stronger durations e.g. 1.5mA for 20 mins (Laakso et al, 2015; Tatti et al, 2016)

Year 2 Developmental (5 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions