Quiz 6

Question 1

Brain Research Hypothesis

Answer 1

Focused on the relationship between brain damage –> outcome
Says that neural structure is related to cognition HOWEVER there is a dissociation between brain damage and cog. outcomes (relationship is not as strong)

Question 2

STAC MODEL

Answer 2

Shares same features of BRH, same moderating relationship…where scaffolding (reserve) contributes to compensation reducing relationship between brain damage and cog. impairment

Question 3

Reserve as a moderator

Answer 3

BRH says that brain reserve may function as a moderator, meaning that an inc. in reserve will influence the neural integrity and cog. function by reducing the relationship
Measures show that reserve is responsible for regulating the relationship between neural burden and decline

Question 4

Testing BRH (three measures)

Answer 4

Reserve: eg. premorbid intelligence or education
Brain damage: brain atrophy or structure impairments
Change in cognitive capacity (aka outcome): need some type of metric to see if memory has changed over time (longitudinal measure)

Question 5

Measuring Reserve

Answer 5

Structurally: ‘extra’ neurons and synapses, volume, head circumference, dendritic branching
Functionally: a degree of excess capacity or compensatory mechanisms such that the brain could continue to perform well despite damage

Question 6

Measuring reserve in brain pathologies

Answer 6

See much greater damage in higher education because they were able to handle it longer without getting diagnosis
Memory seems great until a point than decreases fast (really good reserve)

Question 7

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve

Answer 7

Genetics
Socioeconomic status
IQ
Education
Sleep
Social Engagement 
Cognitive Stimulation 
Brain Games debate
Healthy lifestyle
Omit bad habits
Diet
Exercise

Question 8

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Genetics

Answer 8

Our DNA can influence the extent in which our brain can endure damage

Question 9

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Socioeconomic status

Answer 9

Health related, what you eat, doctors you see as a child, exercise…cog stimulation like music classes and being put into extraciriculars

Question 10

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: IQ

Answer 10

some level of innate intelligence can contribute to CR

Question 11

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Education

Answer 11

KIND OF IN OUR CONTROL

what you can do with education moving forward

Question 12

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Sleep

Answer 12

getting sleep is critical to cognition
Provides brain a state optimal for consolidation and gist processing
supports creativity, Memory, and emotional regulation
“sleeping on it” can help solve problems

Question 13

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Social Engagement

Answer 13

interacting with people is important for well-being and cognition, related to inc. in cognition and brain volume, social support can buffer against the effects of stress

Question 14

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Cognitive Stimulation

Answer 14

on its own is very important, this is what is the use it or lose it talks about, need to keep using our brain or it will atrophy

Question 15

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Brain Games debate

Answer 15

Brain training has benefits to cognition…BUT may not generalize to other activities in daily lives
Limited cognitive transfer so they are not necessarily better than “real world” cog activities
UPSHOT: they do stimulate brain

Question 16

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Healthy lifestyle

Answer 16

MOST IMPORTANT FOR KEEPING BRAIN HEALTHY AND STAYING COG. FIT

Question 17

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Omit bad habits

Answer 17

No smoking/ drinking a lot

Question 18

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Diet

Answer 18

LOTS of water, fruits/vegetables, mediterranean diet???

Question 19

Factors contributing to increased cog. reserve: Exercise

Answer 19

Any is good but AEROBIC IS BEST
Can help “regrow” brain
ALSO VERY IMPORTANT

Question 20

“Selective” effect of exercise on anterior hippocampus (what makes it “selective”)

Answer 20

Exercise ONLY influenced the anterior hippocampus
Anterior shows more atrophy and age related decay … important because usually this shows A LOT of loss for OAs but exercise can seem to protect it

Question 21

Exercise intervention v. habitual exercise

Answer 21

The exercise intervention lead to improvements, but in comparison to control (stretching) group it wasn’t a huge difference
A LOT of it had to do with the pre-experimental data

Question 22

Senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type

Answer 22

SDAT; most common form of D
Incurable, degenerative, and terminal
Progressive: early stage- depression/small dec., intermediate- irritable, anxiety, deterioration of speech
advanced- simple responses are difficult

Question 23

Alois Alzheimer

Answer 23

German psychiatrist and neuropathologist, examined Auguste D and 1st diagnosis of AD

Question 24

Auguste D

Answer 24

First patient diagnosed with AD

Had: trouble sleeping, language disruptions, delusions, “lost myself”

Question 25

AD pathology: Atrophy

Answer 25

Of the affected regions, including degeneration in the temporal and parietal lobes, parts of frontal cortex/cingulate gyrus
Gray and white matter shrunk

Question 26

AD pathology: Tau tangles

Answer 26

deposits of the protein TAU that accumulates inside of nerve cells themselves

Question 27

AD pathology: Amyloid plaques

Answer 27

deposits of the protein beta-amyloid that accumulates in the spaces between nerve cells

Question 28

AD pathology: Regional progression

Answer 28

Some people stop at the preclinical or MCI and never progress further
Normal –> Preclinical –> MCI –> Dementia

Question 29

Progression diagnosis criteria: Preclinical v. Mild Cognitive Impairment v. Dementia

Answer 29

Preclinical: silent phase- brain changes without noticeable symptoms, not detectable on tests
MCI (Mild cognitive impairments): cog changes are of concern to individual or fam, 1+ cog domains significantly impaired, quantifiable on tests
Dementia: drops off quickly and progressive, cog impairment severe enough to interfere with daily activities

Question 30

AD Effects on: Memory

Answer 30

(Early AD) New memories are lost first, older are lost later

Newer memories are more hippo dependent

Question 31

AD Effects on: Executive function/working memory

Answer 31

(Early AD) selected aspects of EFs, particularly those involving changing from one task to another (set-shifting) and self-monitoring

Question 32

AD Effects on: Visuospatial function

Answer 32

(Moderate AD) Difficulty with navigation, spatial layout, and directions
Following the progression (visual spatial is in the back of the brain)

Question 33

AD Effects on: Language

Answer 33

(Moderate AD) Naming and verbal fluency impairment

Question 34

AD Effects on: Attention

Answer 34

largely unaffected (unless task has to do with working memory). impairments in attention in an otherwise mildly impaired patient are used as a marker that the patient has a disorder other than AD

Question 35

Treatment options for AD

Answer 35

NO CURE for it or to stop progression
Some treatment includes medications and non-drug approaches to manage symptoms (anxiety/depression meds)
Advances in reducing amyloid build up
Trying to figure out biomarkers

Question 36

Why are hidden upsides hidden? (Reduced Inhibition)

Answer 36

reduced inhibition –> improved Memory for some background content –> inc performance if it ends up being relevant

Question 37

Why are hidden upsides hidden? (Gist processing)

Answer 37

inc gist processing –> better ability to see the “big picture”

Question 38

Why are hidden upsides hidden? (Life experience/wisdom)

Answer 38

More ‘life experience’ –> greater opportunity to amass wisdom