Week 3a: Cognitive aging

Question 1

What is cognition?

Answer 1

Set of all mental abilities and processes related to knowledge: attention, memory, working memory, judgment etc.

Question 2

What is cognitive health?

Answer 2

A brain that can perform all the mental processes that are collectively known as cognition (learning new things, intuition, judgement, language and remembering)

Question 3

Cognitive changes

Answer 3

• Memory
• Attention
• Language
• Intelligence
• Brain changes
• Everyday functioning in familiar environments

Question 4

What is brain reserve?

Answer 4

Passive form of capacity that is thought to depend on the structural properties of the brain

Question 5

Less brain reserve

Answer 5

Lower threshold for the expression of functional impairments
- express symptoms faster and more severely

Question 6

What is cognitive reserve?

Answer 6

An active mechanism for coping with brain pathology (brain’s software)

Question 7

Two key characteristics of cognitive reserve

Answer 7

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

Question 8

High brain reserve

Answer 8

Progression is lower and less severe
Usually people with a higher IQ

Question 9

Delayed free recall

Answer 9

Spontaneous retrieval of info from memory without a cue
ex. grocery list items
- declines with age

Question 10

Source memory

Answer 10

Knowing the source of the learned info
ex. remembering where you learned a fact
- declines with age

Question 11

Prospective memory

Answer 11

Remembering to perform intended actions in the future
ex. taking meds
- declines with age

Question 12

Recognition memory

Answer 12

Ability to retrieve info when given a cue
ex. correctly giving details of a story
- stable with age

Question 13

Temporal order memory

Answer 13

Memory for the correct time and sequence of past events
ex. order of what you did last weekend
- stable with age

Question 14

Procedural memory

Answer 14

Memory of how to do things
ex. ride a bike
- stable with age

Question 15

Long term memory

Answer 15

Long term memory is greater when you age

Question 16

Short term memory

Answer 16

Short term memory is worse when you age

Question 17

Aging and Long term memory

Answer 17

Less activity of the hippocampus
Insufficient storage of info
More overlap in the cells representing diff memories causing more interference

Question 18

Fluid intelligence

Answer 18

Tasks that involve quick thinking, info manipulation, activities involving allocation and reallocation of attention
ex. tests of memory, spatial relations, abstract and inductive reasoning, free recall, mental calculations

Question 19

Crystallized intelligence

Answer 19

Tasks that tap well-learned skills, language and retrieval of well-learned material
ex. verbal meaning, word association, social judgement, number skills

Question 20

Aging and perceptual deficits

Answer 20

Understanding speech in noise
Understanding speed of speech
Light sensitivity, visual activity, colour vision and contrast sensitivity
*Can result in limitation in activity and social function

Question 21

Aging and intelligence

Answer 21

Decreases in fluid intelligence
No decreases (some increases) in crystallized intelligence

Question 22

What are some reasons for differences in intelligence with aging?

Answer 22

1. Slowed processing speed
2. Lack of inhibitory control
3. Perceptual processing resources (working memory capacity) reduction
4. Perceptual processing efficiency reduction

Question 23

Cumulative demand

Answer 23

Every individual has many diff factors affecting their cognitive heath

Question 24

Factors effecting cognitive aging

Answer 24

• Medications
• Sensory changes
• Health related changes
• Changes in mood
• Age
• Educational period
• Gender (females decline faster)
• Social factors
• History of disease
• Lifestyle choices (drinking/smoking)

Question 25

Dementia

Answer 25

A group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with your daily life
- cognitive and psychological changes

Question 26

Dementia- umbrella term

Answer 26

Alzheimer’s= 60-80%
Lewy body dementia=5-10%
Vascular dementia= 5-10%
Frontotemporal dementia= 5-10%
Others: Parkinson’s and Huntington’s

Question 27

Comorbidities and dementia

Answer 27

People w dementia often have an underlying disease
Comorbidities progress in those with dementia

Question 28

Causes of dementia

Answer 28

Neurodegeneration: damage and death of brain’s neurons

Question 29

Why is the prevalence of dementia increasing?

Answer 29

More older adults
People living longer

Question 30

7 symptoms of dementia (7 A’s)

Answer 30

1. Anosognonia
2. Agnosia
3. Aphasia
4. Apraxia
5. Altered perception
6. Amnesia
7. Apathy

Question 31

Anosognonia

Answer 31

Ignorance of presence of disease

Question 32

Agnosia

Answer 32

Inability to recognize object using senses

Question 33

Aphasia

Answer 33

Loss of ability to speak or understand

Question 34

Apraxia

Answer 34

Inability to perform purposeful movements

Question 35

Altered perception

Answer 35

Misinterpretation of info from senses

Question 36

Amnesia

Answer 36

Memory loss

Question 37

Apathy

Answer 37

Lack of interest

Question 38

Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 38

Most common cause of a progressive dementia in older adults

Question 39

Cause of Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 39

Caused by an increasing buildup of proteins (plaques) and fibres (tangles) in the brain
- block nerve signals and kill brain cells (shrink brain)

Question 40

Mild Alzheimer’s disease symptoms

Answer 40

• Memory loss
• Wandering and getting lost
• Trouble handling money and paying bills
• Repeating questions
• Personality and behaviour changes
• Taking longer to complete normal daily tasks

Question 41

Moderate Alzheimer’s disease symptoms

Answer 41

• Increased memory loss
• Increased confusion
• Problems recognizing friends and family
• Unable to learn new things
• Unable to carry multistep tasks
• Difficulty coping w new situations
• Hallucinations, delusions, paranoia

Question 42

Severe Alzheimer’s disease symptoms

Answer 42

• Can’t communicate
• Completely dependent on others
• Body slowly shutting down
• Immobile

Question 43

Diagnosis of dementia

Answer 43

• Medical history
• Physical exam
• Neuro exam
• Mental cognitive status exam
• Mini mental state exam
• Brain imaging

Question 44

How many seniors aged 85+ have been diagnosed with dementia?

Answer 44

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