Ch 15 aging and cognition

An elderly person who believes falsely that others are conspiring against her, cheating, or spying on her and behaves in angry, irritable, and depressed ways is exhibiting:

delusional disorder

geropsychology

field of psychology concerned w. the mental health of elderly

A particular problem found MORE often in the elderly that is related to substance abuse is

misuse of prescription drugs

Delirium

rapidly developing acute disturbance in attention and orientation that makes it very difficult to concentrate and think in a clear and organized manner

An 80-year-old hospitalized individual is recovering from surgery but now has gotten an infection. Over the course of a few days, the person shows increasing confusion and consistently misinterprets what others are trying to communicate. The MOST probable diagnosis for this condition would be:

Delirium

mild neurocognitive disorder

decline in cognitive functioning is modest but doesn't interfere w. ability to be independent

major neurocognitive disorder

decline in cognitive functioning is substantial and interferes w. one's ability to be independent

neurocognitive disorder symptoms

decline in memory and learning, attention, perceptual-motor skills, planning and decision making, language ability, social awareness

neurocognitive disorder

disorder marked by significant decline in at least one area of cognitive functioning

Discuss the issues of old age and stress

just like in childhood, the elderly experience special pressures, unique upsets, and major biological changes. such as lack of independence. cognitive decline or forgetting and misplacing things often happens because of stress or old age. contending w. the stress of loss,

depression

most common of mental health problems. same features as regular depression in younger people. profound sadness&emptiness, low self-esteem, guilt, pessimism, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances more profound in those who've recently lost a spouse, close friend, or out of a development of a serious physical illness, women>men, increases in clinical depression tied to increase in death rate, those who suffer from depression recover from infections and illness much slower and are more likely to suffer from significant medical problems such as having a stroke.

Alzheimer's disease

most common type of neurocognitive disorder, marked prominently by memory impairment

senile plaques

sphere-shaped deposits of beta amyloid protein that form in the spaces between certain brain cells and in certain blood vessels as people age. people w. alzheimer's disease have an excessive # of these

neurofibrillary tangles

twisted protein fibers that form within certain brain cells as people age. people w. alzheimer's have an excessive # of these