Neuroscience of Ageing Flashcards by Jack Evans

Which types of lesions are associated with Alzheimer’s disease

1/ Arteriovenous malformations and cerebral infarctions
2/ Senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles
3/ Arteriovenous malformations and neurofibrillary tangles
4/ Senile plaques and cerebral infarction

2/ Senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles

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Associated with Alzheimer’s disease, senile plaques are formed by which protein?

1/ Tau protein
2/ Beta-amyloid protein
3/ Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein
4/ Matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein

2/ Beta-amyloid protein

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Associated with Alzheimer’s disease, neurofibrillary tangles are formed by which protein?

1/ Tau protein
2/ Beta-amyloid protein
3/ Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein
4/ Matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein

1/ Tau protein

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What happens to beta-amyloid protein during the onset of Alzheimer’s disease?

1/ It is over-regulated, leading to a lack of it
2/ It isn’t produced, leading to a lack of it
3/ It is under-regulated, leading to too much of it
4/ It is over produced, leading to too much of it

3/ It is under-regulated, leading to too much of it

It is normally broken down once released from a neuron. This regulatory process fails, leading to a build up. These form senile plaques.

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What happens to tau protein during the onset of Alzheimer’s disease?

1/ It is over-regulated, leading to a lack of it
2/ It isn’t produced, leading to a lack of it
3/ It becomes defective
4/ It becomes too effective

3/ It becomes defective

Tau protein normally maintains the skeleton of a neuron (microtubules). Tau protein detaches from the skeleton in Alzheimer’s. This leads to be breakdown of the neuron skeleton, as well as the defective tau proteins joining to form filaments in the neuron. This leads to the death of the neuron (the dead neuron is the neurofibrillary tangle)

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In Alzheimer’s disease, where do neurofibrillary tangles normally originate?

1/ Thalamus
2/ Hippocampus
3/ Basal ganglia
4/ The cortex

2/ Hippocampus

Essential to memory and learning. They then reach the whole brain, leading to global dysfunction

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In Alzheimer’s disease, where to senile plaques normally originate?

1/ Thalamus
2/ Hippocampus
3/ Basal ganglia
4/ The cortex

4/ The cortex

Then the hippocampus, before spreading to the whole brain. Their progression does not correspond with the symptoms of the disease.

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Which of the following is not a form of dementia

1/ Alzheimer's disease (AD)
2/ Vascular dementia (VD)
3/ Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB)
4/ Parkinson's disease
5/ Huntington's disease

5/ Huntington’s disease

Huntington’s disease is an inherited genetic condition that causes/can lead to dementia

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Vascular dementia is caused by

1/ A stroke/strokes
2/ Microscopic build up of specific proteins
3/ A build up of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles
4/ An aggregate loss of dopamine due to a loss of cells in the substantia nigra

1/ A stroke/strokes

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Alzheimer’s disease is caused by

3/ A build up of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles

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Dementia with Lewy Bodies is caused by

2/ Microscopic build up of specific proteins

The protein is Lewy Bodies

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Parkinson’s disease is caused by

4/ An aggregate loss of dopamine due to a loss of cells in the substantia nigra

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It has been estimated that some brain regions may lose up to 1% of their mass each year in healthy adults. This loss is

1/ Equally distributed
2/ Not equally distributed
3/ Exclusively located in the hippocampus
4/ Exclusively located in the cortex

2/ Not equally distributed

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Grey matter in the brain…

1/ Grows during adolescence and then plateaus in the third decade of life, decreasing thereafter
2/ Increases until the age of 10, followed by a gradual decrease until about 70
3/ Increases until the age of 5, followed by a gradual decrease until about 70
4/ Grows during adolescence and then plateaus in the fifth decade of life, decreasing thereafter

3/ Increases until the age of 5, followed by a gradual decrease until about 70

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White matter in the brain…

1/ Grows during adolescence and then plateaus in the third decade of life, decreasing thereafter

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White matter is made up of…

1/ White neurons
2/ Axons insulated by myelin
3/ Dendrites insulated by calcium
4/ The corpus callosum

2/ Axons insulated by myelin

Decline in white matter is associated with a decline in

1/ Motor control
2/ Emotional stability
3/ Processing speed
4/ Long term memory capacity

3/ Processing speed

This is a threshold phenomenon, rather than linear

Which ability is surprisingly well preserved in normal ageing?

1/ Spatial orientation
2/ Numerical abilities
3/ Attentional processes
4/ Language abilities

4/ Language abilities

The preservation of language abilities in an ageing brain can be explained by

1/ Neuro-functional reorganisation
2/ Neuro-lateral reproduction
3/ Neuro-structural specific preservation
4/ Aggregate increase in PFC volume

1/ Neuro-functional reorganisation

Such as additional frontal recruitment in older adults (when compared to younger ones) when performing verbal cued-recall tasks (Osorio et al, 2009)

Who is responsible for the Cognitive Reserve hypothesis?

1/ Roberto Cabeza
2/ Yaakov Stern
3/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Denise Park
4/ Davis et al. (including Cabeza)
5/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Cindy Lustig

2/ Yaakov Stern

Possibly due to factors like educational and occupational attainment, a person’s ability to withstand neurological decline for longer without expressing clinical symptoms is known as

1/ Compensation-Related Utilisation of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH)
2/ Scaffolding Theory of Ageing and Cognition (STAC)
3/ Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis
4/ Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults (HAROLD)
5/ The Posterior-Anterior Shift in Ageing (PASA)

3/ Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis

Studies have found that people who show greater cognitive reserves…

1/ Never show clinical symptoms of cognitive decline
2/ Show clinical symptoms of cognitive decline later, and the experience a slower decline
3/ Show clinical symptoms of cognitive decline later, and the experience a faster decline
4/ Show clinical symptoms of cognitive decline earlier, and the experience a slower decline

3/ Show clinical symptoms of cognitive decline later, and the experience a faster decline

Cognitive Reserve can be subdivided into 2 categories; Cognitive reserve and brain reserve. Cognitive reserve is characterised by

1/ Differences in cortical volume
2/ Differences in the outcome of tasks on a cognitive test
3/ Differences in the brain structure that may increase tolerance to pathology
4/ Differences between individuals in how tasks are performed that might enable some people to be more resilient to brain changes than others

4/ Differences between individuals in how tasks are performed that might enable some people to be more resilient to brain changes than others

Cognitive Reserve can be subdivided into 2 categories; Cognitive reserve and brain reserve. Brain reserve is characterised by

3/ Differences in the brain structure that may increase tolerance to pathology

Who is responsible for the Scaffolding Theory of Ageing and Cognition (STAC)? 1/ Roberto Cabeza 2/ Yaakov Stern 3/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Denise Park 4/ Davis et al. (including Cabeza) 5/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Cindy Lustig

3/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Denise Park

The adaptive brain responds to neural decline by engaging in continuous functional reorganisation via the development of alternative neural circuits. This describes: 1/ Compensation-Related Utilisation of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH) 2/ Scaffolding Theory of Ageing and Cognition (STAC) 3/ Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis 4/ Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults (HAROLD) 5/ The Posterior-Anterior Shift in Ageing (PASA)

2/ Scaffolding Theory of Ageing and Cognition (STAC) STAC suggests that cognitive engagement and mental training promote and strengthen scaffolding Recently developed into STAC-r (revisited) theory that incorporates lifestyle factors that serve to enhance or deplete neural resources

Who is responsible for the theory of Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults (HAROLD)? 1/ Roberto Cabeza 2/ Yaakov Stern 3/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Denise Park 4/ Davis et al. (including Cabeza) 5/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Cindy Lustig

1/ Roberto Cabeza

Elderly individuals who maintain a given cognitive ability show patterns of activation that are bilateral as opposed to more lateralised activations in younger high-performing individuals as well as older, less performing, individuals. This describes: 1/ Compensation-Related Utilisation of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH) 2/ Scaffolding Theory of Ageing and Cognition (STAC) 3/ Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis 4/ Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults (HAROLD) 5/ The Posterior-Anterior Shift in Ageing (PASA)

4/ Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults (HAROLD)

The preservation of some cognitive abilities is associated with some degree of intra-hemispheric reorganisation. This describes... 1/ Compensation-Related Utilisation of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH) 2/ Scaffolding Theory of Ageing and Cognition (STAC) 3/ Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis 4/ Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults (HAROLD) 5/ The Posterior-Anterior Shift in Ageing (PASA)

5/ The Posterior-Anterior Shift in Ageing (PASA)

Who is responsible for the theory of Posterior-Anterior Shift in Ageing (PASA)? 1/ Roberto Cabeza 2/ Yaakov Stern 3/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Denise Park 4/ Davis et al. (including Cabeza) 5/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Cindy Lustig

4/ Davis et al. (including Cabeza) This reorganization has been frequently reported to occur from the occipito-temporal to the frontal cortex

Who is responsible for the theory of Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH)? 1/ Roberto Cabeza 2/ Yaakov Stern 3/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Denise Park 4/ Davis et al. (including Cabeza) 5/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Cindy Lustig

5/ Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Cindy Lustig

Which of the below has not been proposed as activities useful for good brain health in ageing? 1/ Physical exercise 2/ Video games 3/ Socialising 4/ Avoiding television

4/ Avoiding television

Cognitive impairment... 1/ Is mainly determined by age 2/ Is not determined by age 3/ Is determined by the level of education 4/ Both B and C

1/ Is mainly determined by age

Because of ageing... 1/ The brain readapts so the loss of neurons does not have any impact on cognitive performance 2/ Numerous structural changes occur, including loss of white matter 3/ White matter increases in volume while grey matter decreases 4/ White matter decreases in volume while grey matter increases

2/ Numerous structural changes occur, including loss of white matter

During ageing... 1/ It is estimated that only about the 0.1% of brain mass is lost each year in adulthood 2/ It is estimated that up to 1% of brain mass is lost each year in adulthood but this loss is equally distributed across the different brain areas 3/ Brain mass loss is present but many studies have shown that it is negligible 4/ It is estimated that up to 1% of brain mass is lost each year in adulthood but this loss is not equally distributed across different areas

4/ It is estimated that up to 1% of brain mass is lost each year in adulthood but this loss is not equally distributed across different areas

The “Cognitive Reserve” hypothesis argues 1/ That some older adults can tolerate age-related brain structural changes, or pathology related to Alzheimer’s, better than others 2/ That lifelong experiences and leisure activities in later life, can increase the cognitive reserve 3/ Both A and B 4/ That patients affected by Alzheimer’s disease have no cognitive reserve compared to healthy older adults

3/ Both A and B

Physical activity in late adulthood... 1/ Is important to improve cognitive performance but only if non-anaerobic 2/ Is considered an important factor to improve cognitive functions in old age 3/ The lack of standardization among studies regarding the duration and the type of activity has led to a loss of scientific validity 4/ There are too few scientific evidences in favour of its beneficial effects

2/ Is considered an important factor to improve cognitive functions in old age