Week Twelve - Ageing Flashcards
When does maintenance of the body system start to diminish?
from 50 years
What is senescence?
Degenerative phase of ageing
it is universal, progressive and leads to failure of organism
What is the cellular theory of ageing?
Continuous exposure to toxins, pollutants, free radicals leads to genetic errors in cell replication
Ageing = more cells with error
Cell error leads to cell death which leads to organism death
What is the programming theory of ageing?
Max lifespan is preset by genetic factors
You can shorten your life but the max is predetermined
Thing to be careful with in cross-sectional studies?
cohort effects (eg war, famine or an age group) - may overestimate age decline
What 2 types of study designs do we use in ageing?
cross-sectional and longitudinal
What kind of things decline/change with age?
Motor, sensory and intellectual functioning
Skin, bones and muscles change
CV changes
What physical changes occur in the brain as we age?
Brain weight/mass decreases steadily over adulthood but more so after 60
Neuronal loss occurs
Blood flow is decreased
Changes in sensation/perception during ageing?
difficulties in processing/interpreting sensory information (can typically compensate for such deficits)
> 2 impairments = issues
Losses in sensation/perception take what two forms?
Increased sensory thresholds (need louder, more stimulating)
Decreased sensitivity to low-level stimulation
What declines occur in vision?
All components of visual system change with age
- pupils are smaller, less adaptive
- lens becomes denser, less flexible
visual acuity steadily declines in old age (more so in women)
Ageing and attention
Older adults less able to divide attention
Also problems selectively attending to stimuli while ignoring others
Hearing and ageing
hearing issues 3x more likely than visual
age-related hearing problems originate in inner ear (more men)
Speech perception is dependent upon? (2)
hearing and cognitive processes
To understand conversation, what is important?
listening conditions and no increased attentional demands
When is auditory perception more difficult?
When the task is novel/complex and listening conditions are poor
Taste/small and ageing changes
general decline in sensitivity to taste (men more) and odour (worsened by disease, smoking)
Touch/temperature/pain and ageing changes
Touch is gradually lost from middle childhood
Temperature declines later in adulthood
Pain is less for weaker but not strong
physical/psychosocial reasons for OA doing poor on tests?
Nervous, visual loss, arthritis
Cognitive mechanics and ageing
Basic memory processes decline but mnemonics help
What is episodic memory?
Retention of information about the where and when of happenings - declines in OA
What is semantic memory?
Knowledge about the world - OA take longer to retrieve but usually successful
Working memory and perceptual speed…
declines with age
What is explicit memory?
Memory of facts and experiences that individuals consciously know - declines with age
What is implicit memory?
Memory without conscious recollection - declines with age
Executive functioning changes?
Declines with age
What are some non-cog factors that help memory (3)?
health
education
SES
What remains intact with age?
Practical intelligence and expertise - real world problems increase
What is dementia?
A collective term for a syndrome associated with NDD that cause the deterioration of brain function
Most common dementia?
AD
Potential causes of AD?
- genetics
- particular chromosomes
- production of amyloid
- physical factors ie head injury
- toxin exposure
no known cure
Stages of AD and their symptoms
Early stages: problems remembering recent info
After several years: speech problems
Middle stages: personality changes, irritability
Later stages: difficulties with motor movement
What shift have we seen in burden of disease?
Acute to chronic
Carers for those with dementia often report?
deficits in own health, QOL and economic security, mood, stress
What has been introduced for carers?
CBT both individual (expensive) and group
Most common MH problem in OA?
Depression (high prev in women)
What forms a critical part of adult identity?
work roles (gives structure, meaning and purpose to life)
Older workers tend to have?
Lower absenteeism, fewer accidents, higher job satisfaction
Influence of retirement?
Marks passage into the later stages of adulthood - can be related to psychological well-being
Which adults adjust best to retirement?
healthy and active
adequate income
educated
extended social network
Differences between widow/widower and married people?
W/W show lower psychological well-being
Coping responses for bereavement are encouraged by?
availability of social relationships
better general health
Which gender have higher rates of depression following widowment
men (have further to fall as married men are less depressed than married women)
Why do widowed men have more struggles?
widowed men less common
often lose interaction with still-married friends
Health outcomes for widowed men/women?
Declines in health more for men than women
Due to
- poor nutrition (women did cooking)
- other things
Life satisfaction trends with age?
Dip in early-mid adulthood but peaks again as we age
