Week 3 Flashcards
cognition
set of all mental abilities and processes related to knowledge, attention, memory, judgement, etc.
cognitive health
a brain that can perform all the mental processes that are collectively known as cognition (learning new things, intuition, judgement, language and remembering)
cognitive non-linear changes occurring during aging
- memory
- attention
- language
- intelligence
- brain changes
- “everyday functioning in familiar environments”
brain reserve
passive form of capacity that is thought to depend on the structural properties of the brain (size, number of neutrons)
less brain reserve
lower threshold for the expression of functional impairments
- express symptoms faster and more severely
cognitive reserve
an active mechanism for coping with brain pathology (brain’s software)
- the brains ability to cope with damage or changes, cognitive processes such as aging by using pre-existing processes more efficiently
what does cognitive reserve do
helps maintain cognitive function despite Brian pathology
what reduces level of brain reserve
various factors such as alzheimers or dementia
two key characteristics of cognitive reserve
1.the robustness of a particular cognitive function against brain pathology
2. the ability to use alternative functions when a default function is not working
ex. after a stroke you use a diff neural pathway to recover
high brain reserve
- progression is lower and less severe
- usually people with a higher IQ
aging trends ands cognitive abilities
- speed (ability to process) and memory decline the most with age
- vocabulary declines the least with age
aging and long-term memory
- less activity of the hippocampus (can shrink)
- insufficient storage of information
- more overlap in cells representing different memories causing more interference
neuroplasticity
engaging in mentally stimulating activities can help maintain long-term memory function
types of long-term memory
- episodic
- somantic
episodic memory
personal experiences
- declines with age
somantic memory
facts and knowledge
- remains stable longer
diseases and conditions affecting long-term memory
- huntington’s disease
- alzheimers (affects hippocampus)
- sleep deprivation
fluid intelligence
tasks that involve quick thinking, information manipulation, activities involving allocation and reallocation of attention
ex. tests of memory, spatial relations, abstract and inductive reasoning, free recall, mental calculations
crystallized intelligence
tasks that tap well-learned skills, language and retrieval of well-learned material
ex. verbal meaning, word association, social judgement, number skills
aging and intelligence
fluid: develops quickly then decreases with aging
crystallized: develops slowly then increases or stays the same with aging
factors affecting cognitive needs
- medications
- sensory changes
3, health related changes - changes in mood
- sleep
- educational period and income
- gender (females decline faster)
- social factors
- history of disease
- lifestyle choices (drinking/smoking)
dementia
a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with your daily life
- results in cognitive and psychological changes
causes of dementia
neurodegenerationdamage to or loss of nerve cells and their connections in brain
dementia- umbrella term
alzheimer’s= 60-80%
lewy body dementia=5-10%
vascular dementia= 5-10%
frontotemporal dementia= 5-10%
others: Parkinson’s and Huntington’s
***there are several different diseases that cause dementia
comorbidities and dementia
- people w dementia often have an underlying disease
-comorbidities progress in those with dementia
***double chance of comorbidities in a individual with dementia
what is difficult with comorbidities and dementia
makes it difficult to treat and diagnose
neurodegeneration
damage to or loss of nerve cells and their connections in brain
- dependent on types of neutrons and brain regions affected and type of dementia
types of dementia
- progressive
- degenerative
- irreversible
what is the trend with dementia
number of individuals with dementia is increasing substantially
why is the prevalence of dementia increasing?
- people are living longer therefore increased risk of dementia
- more older adults
- better technology to diagnose dementia
8 A’s of dementia
- anosognosia
- agnosia
- aphasia
- apraxia
- altered perception
- amnesia
- apathy
- attention defects
anosognosia
ignorance of presence of disease
(occurs more in the beginning stages)
agnosia
inability to recognize object using senses
aphasia
loss of ability to speak or understand
apraxia
inability to perform purposeful movements
altered perception
misinterpretation of information from senses
amnesia
memory loss
(occurs more in the beginning stages)
apathy
lack of interest
(occurs more in the beginning stages)
attention deficits
can’t sustain/shift attention; easily distracted
risk factors for dementia that CANNOT be changed
- age
- sex
- genetics
risk factors for dementia that CAN be changed or modified (early life)
less education = greater risk (early life- 45)
risk factors for dementia that CAN be changed or modified (mid life)
- hypertension
- high alcohol intake
- obesity
- hearing loss
- TBI
risk factors for dementia that CAN be changed or modified (later life)
- smoking
- depression
- social isolation
- physical inactivity
- air pollution
- diabetes
Alzheimer’s disease
most common cause of a progressive dementia in older adults
- 60-80% of dementia cases
cause of alzheimer’s disease
caused by an increasing buildup of proteins (plaques) and fibres (tangles) in the brain
- block nerve signals and kill brain cells (shrink brain= deterioration)
early alzheimers disease symptoms
- memory loss
- difficulty coming up with words
- difficulty remembering names
- forgetting material just read
- changes in mood/personality
- misplacing things
- trouble planning and organizing things
moderate Alzheimer’s disease symptoms
- forgetting events or personal history
- feeling moody especially in mental challenging situations
- unable to recall information about themselves
- confusion about where they are
- wandering and getting lost
- trouble controlling bladder and bowels
- changes in sleeping patterns
severe alzheimer’s diseases symptoms
- require assistance and care (completely dependent)
- lose all awareness
- physical ability changes (walking, sitting and swallowing) - immobile
- can’t communicate
- vulnerable to infections (body shutting down)
clinical diagnoses of dementia yes
- medical history
- physical exam
- neuro exam
- mental cognitive status exam
- mini mental state exam
- brain imagining
- protein analysis of CSF
- blood samples
percentage of cases of dementia that can be preventable
40%
12 changeable risk factors of dementia
- hearing loss (8%)
- less education (7%)
- smoking (5%)
- depression (4%)
- social isolation (4%)
- TBI (3%)
- hypertension (2%)
- physical inactivity (2%)
- air pollution (2%)
- alcohol (1%)
- obesity (1%)
- diabetes (1%)
