week 2

Question 1

who is Jim Mann

Answer 1

Diagnosed with alzheimers in 2007 (mild case or slow acting)

Active researcher

Question 2

who is Olive Bryanton

Answer 2

2018 PhD dissertation was titled, “Pioneers in Aging: Voices of women 85 years and older aging in place in rural communities.” she was 81 when she did her PhD

Question 3

why is EDI important?

Answer 3

you cannot have a high quality health system without equity

Question 4

describe health equity

Answer 4

Health equity allows people to reach their full health potential and receive high-quality care that is fair and appropriate to them and their needs, no matter where they live, what they have or who they are.

Health care equity is a sub-set of health equity. It is the part of health equity that focuses on the health system’s ability to provide equitable health care.

Question 5

describe health equality

Answer 5

Health equality is a high-quality health system recognizes and respects social, cultural and linguistic differences. “Equity” should not be confused with “equality.”

Question 6

describe the two objectives of Tri-Agency Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan for 2018-2025

Answer 6

Objective 1: fair access to tri-agency research support - equitable and inclusive access for all members of the research community to granting agency funding opportunities

Objective 2: equitable participation in the research system - influence the achievement of an inclusive post-secondary research system and culture in canada

Question 7

how can ageism be combatted?

Answer 7

policy and law: can address discrimination and inequality based on age and protect the human rights of everyone, everywhere

educational activities: include instruction that transmits information, knowledge and skills, as well as activities to enhance empathy through role-playing, simulation and virtual reality

intergenerational interventions: aim to foster interaction between different generations

Question 8

how many Canadians under the age of 65 are currently living with a young onset of dementia?

Answer 8

approximately 16,000

Question 9

differentiate between dementia and alzheimers

Answer 9

term “dementia” doesn’t actually refer to one, specific disease. rather, it’s an overall term for a set of symptoms that are caused by disorders affecting the brain.

alzheimers is a specific brain disease that accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases

Question 10

describe mild cognitive impairment (MCI)

Answer 10

a condition in which people have more memory or thinking problems than other people their age.

symptoms of MCI are not as severe as those of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.

people with MCI can usually take care of themselves and carry out their normal daily activities.

Question 11

describe alzheimers

Answer 11

a chronic neurodegenerative disease that destroys brain cells, causing thinking ability and memory to deteriorate over time

not a normal part of aging and is irreversible

suspected to by caused by the amyloid cascade (hypothesis)

Question 12

what is the typical age of onset for alzheimers

Answer 12

65 years old, but as early as 30

Question 13

what are the types of dementia? briefly describe

Answer 13

alzheimers: most common

young onset dementia: before 65 years of age

vascular dementia: when the brain’s blood supply is blocked or damaged, causing brain cells to be deprived of oxygen and die

lewy body dementia: abnormal ‘Lewy bodies’ deposits of protein called alpha-synuclein inside of the brain’s nerve cells

frontotemporal dementia: group of rare disorders that primarily affect the areas of the brain associated with personality and behaviour

mixed dementia: more than one type of dementia

LATE-NC: most recently identified form of dementia, noted for its close similarity to Alzheimer’s

Question 14

what are the symptoms of dementia

Answer 14

Memory loss, both short-term and long-term

Difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language that are severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities

Changes in mood or behaviour.

Question 15

what are the methods used to diagnose dementia

Answer 15

CT (computerized tomography) scan and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) take images of the brain.

SPECT (single proton emission computed tomography) shows how blood is circulating to the brain.

PET (positive electron tomography) shows how different areas of the brain respond during activities like reading and talking. This scan is usually done after 45 minutes of rest.

Sleep tests measure brain activity to determine levels of cognitive performance and brain aging.

Psychiatric and psychological evaluations

Question 16

what are the 7 stages of dementia

Answer 16

1) no cognitive impairment
2) very mild cognitive decline
3) mild cognitive decline
4) moderate cognitive decline
5) moderately sever cognitive decline
6) severe cognitive decline
7) very severe cognitive decline

Question 17

what are the 4 medications for alzheimers? what do they do?

Answer 17

Aricept™ (brand name) or Donepezil (generic name)

Reminyl ER™ (brand name) or Galantamine (generic name)

Exelon™ (brand name) or Rivastigmine (generic name)

Ebixa® (brand name) or Memantine (generic name)

prevent decline in learning and memory by protecing brain cells and preventing breakdown of brain chemicals

Question 18

what can explain age-related decline in cognitive performance?

Answer 18

by morphological and functional changes in the brain.

number of cortical neurons (thus the thickness of the gray matter) and also of intra- and intercortical connections decrease, so that brain networks thin out.

as a consequence, exchange of information between and cooperation of local, regional and supra-regional brain structures is impaired or lost

morphological brain aging pattern is called the ‘first-in, last-out’ hypothesis, which means that the brain regions that develop earlier are also less affected by age-related decline than those that develop later

Question 19

define cognitive reserve

Answer 19

brain actively tries to compensate for functional losses with the help of already established, successful cognitive processes and individual strategies

Question 20

define resilience specific to this course

Answer 20

constructs of brain reserve, cognitive reserve, and functional compensation are used to explain the preservation of cognition in the presence of (pathological) brain alterations

Question 21

what are metamodels

Answer 21

provide a framework for the theories researchers propose, for the hypotheses they generate, for how they design their research, for the samples of participants they include in their studies, and for the method they use to analyze the data they collect

Question 22

why is scientific research never completely objective

Answer 22

individual researchers subscribe to different metamodels. may explain a bit of why their findings may conflict. scientific research is never completely objective because it is always driven by a viewpoint

Question 23

what are the 3 types of metamodesl

Answer 23

mechanistic

organismic

contextual

Question 24

describe the mechanistic metamodel

Answer 24

uses a machine metaphor to study developmental processes

research tends to focus on organism’s reaction to external environmental forces instead of the role an organism plays in constructing the environment.

using this, attempts could be made to minimize negative aspects of aging through control of the environment

their approach to the study of development is to break down a complex phenomenon into parts and then to study each one separately.

Question 25

describe the organismic metamodel

Answer 25

uses a biological metaphor. belief that development originates from within the organism and that the developing organism acts upon the environment.

environment isn’t ignored but it is not the main focus

development is directed toward some goal, it occurs in a series of stages in which new and different structures emerge.

organismic researchers focus on patterns of abilities or other characteristics as well as on the nature of the structures underlying such patterns.

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. researchers would emphasize the importance of complex and constantly changing developmental phenomena that occur within a larger framework.

emphasizes qualitative changes in development. main focus is on variation in the structures, or pattern, of characteristics at different points of the adult life span. older organisms are not viewed as having either a lesser or a greater quantity of a characteristic or ability. rather, characteristics and abilities are assumed to be qualitatively different at different stages of life

Question 26

describe the contextual metamodel

Answer 26

view the organism and the environment as being in continual interaction

a dialectical process, meaning that a constantly changing organism develops within a constantly changing environment

those using contextual metamodels often look beyond the age variable. would look into variables such as years of education, prior experience, present lifestyle, socioeconomic status, etc

Question 27

describe the life-span developmental perspective

Answer 27

draws on all 3 metamodels, but is most similar to the contextual model.

considers development to be a multifaceted, ongoing process

development processes can show both gains and losses over the life span. however, the proportion of gains to losses changes as people grow older

because the model assumes individuals develop in their own way, research would follow the same people over time to assess intraindividual change (change within the individual).

the life-span perspective can be applied to any aspect of development (e.g. cognitive, social, biological) but it is more often applied to the study of intellectual abilities.

Question 28

describe the age variable in developmental research

Answer 28

can be viewed as categorical (18-24) or continuous (18+)

Question 29

what should be considered when conducting developmental/aging research

Answer 29

age: chronological age/maturational level

cohort: generation; the lives of people in a particular cohort are influenced by state of medical knowledge available when they were infants, young children, adolescents, and adults

time of measurement: conditions that prevail when the research is conducted. e.g. work status/family status
conditions could also be related to test methods/revisions

Question 30

what are the 4 types of research design? when should they be used? what are the confounding factors?

Answer 30

cross sectional: most commonly used when two or more age groups are studied
- confounding: age & cohort

longitudinal: individuals are followed over time and tested on two or more occasions
- confounding: age & time of measurement (& attrition due to participants dropping out)

time lag: individuals of a particular chronological age group are tested at two different times, usually years or decades apart (individuals of the same age group who are tested at different times are members of different cohorts because they were born at different times). it is not considered a developmental study because all study participants are members of the same age group
- confounding: cohort & time of measurement

sequential: involved combination of the cross-sectional, longitudinal, or time-lag comparisons
- no confounding

Question 31

what are the types of sequential research designs? what are they a combination of? best in what situation?

Answer 31

cohort-sequential: simultaneous cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. longitudinal studies are conducted on two different cohorts. design isolates, age and cohort effects. however, time of measurement effects can’t be isolated, so this design is best when a researcher expects that time of measurement effects will be trivial

time-sequential: two or more cross sectional comparisons at two or more times of measurement. design isolates the effects of age and time of measurement, but cohort effects can’t be isolated. design is useful if the main concern is separating the effects of age and time of measurement and a researcher can assume the cohort effects will be trivial

cross-sequential: two or more cross sectional and longitudinal comparisons. effects of cohort and time of measurement are isolated, but the effect of age is not. this design is useful if the main concern is separating the effects of cohort and time of measurement

Question 32

what are the approaches to conducting aging research?

Answer 32

experimental

quasi-experimental

descriptive

newer

Question 33

describe the experimental approach to conducting research

Answer 33

variables are independent or dependent. research manipulates the independent variable that has at least two categories or levels.

there is random assignment of research participants to the various levels of the independent variable (factor). this makes it possible to make cause-and-effect statements regarding the influence of the independent variable on the outcome as measured by the dependent variable

Question 34

describe the quasi experimental approach to conducting aging research

Answer 34

if research participants are not randomly assigned to levels of a categorical approach. therefore, cause-and-effect statements can’t be made

age is a quasi-experimental factor

Question 35

describe the descriptive approach to conducting aging research (categorical and continuous variables)

Answer 35

research does not attempt to manipulate any variables, so variables are neither independent or dependent

data collected on the variables of interest and the relationship is studied between them

if age is a categorical variable (e.g., young, middle-aged, and older groups), there may be interest in determining whether the relationship between the other variables follows the same pattern or a different pattern for the separate age groups.

if age is a continuous variable, then there may be an interest in determining whether the other variables increase, decrease, or remain the same with increasing age