Normal Aging Flashcards
1
Q
terms to use with patients
A
- use older adults or people over age x instead of the aged, elderly, or senior citizens
- the only exception to this rule might be when referencing tribes/American Indian/Alaska Natives, for which the term elders may be preferred and culturally appropriate
2
Q
ages term: adults
A
18 years or older
3
Q
ages term: older adults
A
65 years and older
4
Q
ages: geriatric
A
older adults but often used in the context of healthcare
5
Q
why is the aging population rising?
A
- decreasing infant mortality
- improved longevity
- increased life expectancy
6
Q
aging population: 2017
A
13% of the world’s population was estimated to be over 60 years
7
Q
aging population: by 2050
A
13% will increase to 25% over 60 years and people aged 80 years and older will triple
8
Q
chronological age
A
how long a person has lived
9
Q
biological age
A
functioning of one’s bodily organs over time
10
Q
cognitive age
A
intelligence, memory, and learning abilities over time
11
Q
psychological age
A
personality changes over time
12
Q
social age
A
social roles in one’s environment
13
Q
theories of aging
A
- biopsychosocial models of aging
- life-span model of postformal cognitive development
- motivational theory of life-span development
14
Q
biopsychosocial models of aging theory
A
complex interactions between biological, psychological, and sociological factors that influence age
15
Q
biopsychosocial models of aging theory: biological
A
- age, gender, genetics
- physiologic reactions
- tissue health
16
Q
biopsychosocial models of aging: psychological
A
- mental health
- emotional health
- beliefs and expectations
17
Q
biopsychosocial models of aging theory: sociological
A
- interpersonal relationships
- social support dynamics
18
Q
life-span model of postformal cognitive development theory
A
- 7 stages
- first occurs before adulthood
- stages range to areas of taking on responsibilities, focusing on community, moving from professional to non-professional activities
- changes in life priorities
19
Q
motivation theory of life-span development
A
aging involves gaming self regulatory skills that involve
- anticipating opportunities to pursue goals
- motivating oneself to engage in goals
- disengaging from goals
20
Q
normal changes: general patterns
A
- neuron shrinkage and reduced dendritic branching = decreased brain volume
- reduction in neurotransmitters
- reduced cerebral blood flow
- decreased white matter (losing connections)
21
Q
neuron shrinkage and reduced dendritic branching = decreased brain volume
A
- starts at age 30 and accelerates after age 70
- atrophy (wasting away)
- primary in frontal lobes and hippocampus which addressed memories and feelings
22
Q
decreased white matter (losing connections)
A
- grey matter is hardware
- white matter is the cables connecting the grey matter to one another
23
Q
fluid intelligence
A
- refers to reason and thinking flexibly
- abilities such as inductive reasoning, figural relations, and associative memory
24
Q
adult cognitive changes: fluid intelligence
A
decreases with age
25
crystalized intelligence
- refers to the accumulation of knowledge, facts, and skills acquired throughout life
- abilities such as vocabulary, verbal comprehension, and semantic relations
26
adult cognitive changes: crystalized intelligence
increases with age
27
non-verbal abilities
abstract reasoning, perceptual-motor speed, and spatial abilities
28
adult cognitive changes: non-verbal abilities
decreases with age
29
sensory memory (initial storage)
- see, hear, taste, smell, touch
- can be tied to another comorbid condition
- immediate memory
30
short-term memory
- hold memories for about 30 seconds unless you engage in a recall strategy such as rehearsal
- written, verbal, pneumonic, acronyms, association, drawing pictures, etc.
31
working memory
- type of short-term memory
- set of 4 numbers, remember, and then say backwards
32
declarative memory
- type of long-term memory
- names, dates, definitions, recollections of experiences
- knowing "what"
- episodic vs. semantic memory
33
episodic memory
personal experiences, activities, and events linked to specific times and places
34
semantic memory
general knowledge of historical facts, social customs, and meanings of words
35
nondeclarative memory (procedural)
- skills, habits, ways of doing things
- knowing the "how"
- motor vs. perceptual
36
motor memory
unconscious processing
37
perceptual memory
- being able to judge and reconstruct in your mind physical features, frequency, or occurrence
- close eyes and ask how many people are in the room
38
changes in semantic memory
maintain
39
changes with procedural memory
maintain
40
typical challenges with memory in the areas of
- episodic memory
- source memory
41
general sensory system changes: hearing
- peripheral
- degeneration of hair cells
- presbycusis
- infections of middle and inner ear
42
changes in hearing: peripheral
benign bony growths of external auditory canal
43
changes in hearing: degeneration of hair cells
sensorineural loss
44
changes in hearing: presbycusis
age related hearing loss
45
vision changes
- changes in pupillary function and lens light transmissibility
- retinal changes
- cataracts
- glaucoma
- presbyopia
46
presbyopia
gradual loss of ability to see things up close
47
language and aging: syntactic processing
- challenges with understanding long and complex sentences
- can contribute to working memory
48
language and aging: syntactic production
use fewer complex structures
49
language and aging: reading and writing
declines in these areas tend to mirror the declines in listening and speaking
50
language and aging
- conceptual knowledge (assessed by vocabulary tests) appears to be well maintained throughout adulthood
- slower in their ability to perform sentence comprehension tasks
51
language and aging: discourse production
- fewer propositions (opinions) in narrative discourse
- fewer steps in procedural discourse
- errors in reference when telling a story
- fewer words per clause
- fewer information units produces (70 years+)
52
discourse
written or spoken communication
53
language and aging: generative naming ability
- naming multiple things under a category
- significantly fewer items generated
54
language and aging: categorization of items
- concept and functional systems of classification preferred
- slower in deciding category membership
55
language and aging: naming
- more "tip of the tongue" experiences is normal, more frequently with age but not to the point that it's affecting everyday communication
- slower response time and less accuracy with confrontational naming
- for typical aging individuals, word finding problems are linked to accessing the word and not a loss of vocabulary
56
confrontational naming
confronting person with a picture and have them naming it
57
object naming
showing a 3-D object along with being able to look and hold the object and then name it
58
language and aging: pragmatics
- aging in and of itself does not appear to influence pragmatic abilities in significant ways
- naturally change as well
59
reserve capacity
regardless of natural changes in the brain adults have the ability to perform in ways that are typically not tested or demonstrated
60
age-related identity threat
the implicit or explicit belief that one will fail because one is "old"
61
"elderspeak"
adaptation of language to a person because of their age
62
promoting brain health
- active intellectual engagement on a daily basis
- active social engagement
- limit passive activities (i.e. watching tv)
- maintain low body fat
- balanced diet
- alcohol consumption only in moderation if at all
- sufficient rest
