Week 3a: Cognitive aging Flashcards

1
Q

What is cognition?

A

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

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2
Q

What is cognitive health?

A

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

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3
Q

Cognitive changes

A
  • Memory
  • Attention
  • Language
  • Intelligence
  • Brain changes
  • Everyday functioning in familiar environments
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4
Q

What is brain reserve?

A

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

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5
Q

Less brain reserve

A

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

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6
Q

What is cognitive reserve?

A

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

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7
Q

Two key characteristics of cognitive reserve

A

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

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8
Q

High brain reserve

A

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

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9
Q

Delayed free recall

A

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

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10
Q

Source memory

A

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

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11
Q

Prospective memory

A

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

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12
Q

Recognition memory

A

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

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13
Q

Temporal order memory

A

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

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14
Q

Procedural memory

A

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

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15
Q

Long term memory

A

Long term memory is greater when you age

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16
Q

Short term memory

A

Short term memory is worse when you age

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17
Q

Aging and Long term memory

A

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

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18
Q

Fluid intelligence

A

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

19
Q

Crystallized intelligence

A

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

20
Q

Aging and perceptual deficits

A

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

21
Q

Aging and intelligence

A

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

22
Q

What are some reasons for differences in intelligence with aging?

A
  1. Slowed processing speed
  2. Lack of inhibitory control
  3. Perceptual processing resources (working memory capacity) reduction
  4. Perceptual processing efficiency reduction
23
Q

Cumulative demand

A

Every individual has many diff factors affecting their cognitive heath

24
Q

Factors effecting cognitive aging

A
  • 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)
25
Dementia
A group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with your daily life - cognitive and psychological changes
26
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
27
Comorbidities and dementia
People w dementia often have an underlying disease Comorbidities progress in those with dementia
28
Causes of dementia
Neurodegeneration: damage and death of brain's neurons
29
Why is the prevalence of dementia increasing?
More older adults People living longer
30
7 symptoms of dementia (7 A's)
1. Anosognonia 2. Agnosia 3. Aphasia 4. Apraxia 5. Altered perception 6. Amnesia 7. Apathy
31
Anosognonia
Ignorance of presence of disease
32
Agnosia
Inability to recognize object using senses
33
Aphasia
Loss of ability to speak or understand
34
Apraxia
Inability to perform purposeful movements
35
Altered perception
Misinterpretation of info from senses
36
Amnesia
Memory loss
37
Apathy
Lack of interest
38
Alzheimer's disease
Most common cause of a progressive dementia in older adults
39
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)
40
Mild Alzheimer's disease symptoms
- 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
41
Moderate Alzheimer's disease symptoms
- 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
42
Severe Alzheimer's disease symptoms
- Can't communicate - Completely dependent on others - Body slowly shutting down - Immobile
43
Diagnosis of dementia
- Medical history - Physical exam - Neuro exam - Mental cognitive status exam - Mini mental state exam - Brain imaging
44
How many seniors aged 85+ have been diagnosed with dementia?
1/4