Week 12 Lecture Flashcards
What is senescence?
degenerative phase of ageing, universal, progressive
What is the maintenance function in the body?
And what happens to this as we age?
Repair system: it can damage tissue that is repaired, cancers destroyed by immune system.
This system starts to diminish between ages 50-100.
What are the two main theories of ageing, which BOTH contribute to senescence (ageing)?
- cellular theories (exposure to toxins, chemicals etc)
2. programming theories (max lifespan preset by genetic factors)
What is the most common experimental design in ageing?
cross sectional (compare performance of different groups of adults).
What effects do we have to be mindful of in ageing studies?
cohort effects (war, free education etc) over time
What is the ideal study method in ageing?
longitudinal studies
What does longitudinal ageing studies guard against?
cohort differences
What types of functioning slows as we age?
motor, sensory and intellectual functioning
What physiological slowing occurs as we age?
cardiovascular, heart and lungs, skin and bone
If you look older, does this mean you are more likely to die sooner than someone who looks younger than you but is the same age?
no
Brain weight/mass decreases over adulthood but accelerates considerably after what age?
60
As we age, the blood flow to the brain is decreased. This leads to
neuronal death
What changes in our sensation and perception as we age?
difficulties in processing and interpreting sensory information.
Losses in sensory and perception takes two forms. What are these?
- increased sensory thresholds
2. decreased sensitivity to low level stimulation
What happens to your pupils and lens as you age?
pupils become smaller and lens become denser
Are declines in visual acuity greater in males or females?
declines are greater in women than in men
Most visual acuity can be corrected. For those who don’t have it corrected, this reduces what?
Older adults quality of life.
What is called when you can’t see things as closely as you used to?
prespiopia
What percentage of adults who are 75+ years have good corrected vision?
75%
What does 20/20 vision actually mean?
What does 20/40 vision mean?
You can see at 20 metres what normal people can see at 20 metres.
You can see at 20 feet what others can see at 40 feet (only “half as good”).
Which age groups are less able to divide attention?
older adults
What difficulties do older adults have in regard to distractions?
they have problems selectively attending to stimuli while ignoring distractors
Older adults have the greatest difficulties in processing visual information when the situation is… (2)
- novel
- complex
How many times more likely are hearing impairments than vision in older age?
3X more likely