Chapter 14

Research has found that about half of all adult cognitive decline can be traced to these three specific diseases:

- Alzheimer's disease - vascular disease - Lewy body disease

What are two harmful consequences of ageism?

- IF people of any age treat older people as if they are frail and confused, that treatment might make them become more dependent on others - IF people believe that the norms for young adults should apply to everyone, they may try to fix the old. If they fail they give up. many older people are ageist

Factors considered part of wisdom:

- ability to put aside one's personal needs (self actualization) - self-reflective honesty (integrity) - perspective on past living (the life review)

deterioration of cognition correlates with:

- almost every motor slowdown - brain size decreases with each passing year - the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex shrink most. - volume of gray matter and white matter is reduced

Things that prevents, postpones, and slows down cognitive loss of all kinds are:

- exercise - medication - avoid specific pathogens

compression of morbidity can occur in the three methods:

- first by medicine - second by society - individuals

We now know that neurons appear in two specific areas:

- the olfactory region - the hippocampus

What are the three clusters that theories of aging are grouped into?

- wear and tear - genetic adaptation - cellular aging

Common vision impairments among the elderly: 1. Characterized by a thickening of the lens, causing vision to become cloudy, opaque and distorted 2. Characterized by a build up of fluid within the eye that damages the optic nerve. Early stages have no symptoms, but the later stages cause blindness 3. Deterioration of the retina. An early warning occurs when vision is spotty (letters missing when reading), without treatment, results in blindness

1. cataracts 2. glaucoma 3. macular degeneration

The elderly may have an advantage in developing wisdom, particularly if they have:

1. dedicated their lives to the "understanding of life 2. learned from their experiences 3. become more mature and integrated

The second most common cause of NCD is a ____1____(temporary obstruction of a blood vessel in the brain). or a series of strokes, called ___________2__________.

1. stroke 2. transient ischemic attacks (TIA's or ministrokes)

About _____ of longevity can be attributed directly to genes and the other ______ to epigenetic and environmental factors

1/3rd 2/3rds

A prejudice whereby people are categorized and judged by their chronological age the idea that _____ determines whom a person is, this makes ______ a social disease, much like racism and sexism

Ageism

The most common cause of major NCD, characterized by gradual deterioration of memory and personality and marked by the formation of plaques of beta-amyloid protein and tangles of tau in the brain.... now formally referred to as...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) (major NCD due to Alzheimer's disease)

The science that describes populations, including population by cohort, age, gender, or region

Demography

The number of times a human cell is capable of dividing. The limit for most human cells is approximately 50 divisions, an indication that the lifespan is limited by out genetic program. _________ believed that aging is caused primarily by a natural loss of ________ _______ -- that is, by inevitable errors in transcription as each cell reproduces itself

Hayflick limit molecular fidelity

Children born with this disease stop growing at about age 5 and begin to look old, with wrinkled skin and balding heads, dying in their teens of diseases typically found in people five times their age. ....also called?

Hutchinson-Golford syndrome progeria

A form of major NCD characterized by an increase in particular abnormal cells (protein) in the brain. Symptoms include visual hallucinations, momentary loss of attention, falling, and fainting - Main symptom is:

Lewy Body disease - loss of inhibition

A chronic, progressive disease that is characterized by muscle tremor and rigidity and sometimes major NCD; caused by reduced dopamine production in the brain.

Parkinson's disease

ApoE2 vs ApoE4

aids survival vs increases the rate of death by heart disease, stroke or neurocognitive disorders

foods that decrease the risk of major NCD are: foods that have high levels of correlation with major NCD are

antioxidants (C, A, E) and vitamin B-12 Homocysteine (from animal fat)

The number of years that the average person in a particular population group is likely to live to. In the U.S., it is about ________ (___ for men and ___ for women), and is increasing primarily because of?

average life expectancy 80 years old (77 for men, 82 for women) - public health measures

The practice of limiting dietary energy intake (while consuming sufficient quantities of vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients) in hopes of slowing down the aging process. most dramatic evidence comes from?

calorie restriction fruit flies (also monkeys and mice)

The ways in which molecules and cells are affected by age. Many theories aim to explain how and why aging causes cells to deteriorate

cellular aging

condition that occurs when a new mother died because the doctor used unsterilized instruments cells that build bone (___________) are outnumbered by cells that reabsorb bone (_____________)

childbed fever oestoblasts vs osteoclasts

How does a person cope with senescene without succumbing to ageism?

choose (select) to specialize (optimize), using effective strategies (compensation)

Repeated blows to the head, even without concussions, can cause........, which first causes memory loss and emotional changes

chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

A shortening of the time a person spends ill or infirm before dying, accomplished by postponing illness. - means fewer years (compression) of disability (morbidity) before death, adding "life to years, not years to life" the who recognize that disability is the result of...

compression of morbidity person to environment interaction

The part of the information-processing system that regulates the analysis and flow of information. Memory and retrieval strategies, selective attention, and rules or strategies for problem solving are all included together these are the _________ __________ of the brain, the work of the prefrontal cortex

control processes executive function

Phenomenon in which each younger generation has been larger than the next older one. Occurred because most families had many children and deaths occurred at every age worldwide, children outnumber elders by:

demographic pyramid 3:1

A shift in the proportions of the populations of various ages

demographic shift

The most common reversible condition that is mistaken for major NCD is

depression

which age group has the largest accident rate per driver

drivers under 20

The idea that cognition should be measured in natural settings and schedules. ??????? A focus on what elders actually need and want to remember is called?

ecological validity

A condescending way of speaking to older adults that resembles baby talk, with simple and short sentences, exaggerated emphasis, repetition, and a slower rate and higher pitch than used in normal speech; is characteristic of? reduces communication and cognition (<-sensory loss too)

elderspeak

Generally, ___________ memory (recall of learned material) shows more loss than ____________ memory (recognition and habits), which means that names are harder to remember than actions.

explicit memory implicit memory

Brain disorders that occur with serious impairment of the frontal lobes. Also called _______________ lobar degeneration. - parts of the brain that regulate emotions and social behavior (amygdala and prefrontal cortex) deteriorate. - emotional and personality changes are the main symptoms (________ disease is the most common form)

frontotemporal NCDs (Picks disease)

A mechanism in the DNA of cells that regulates the aging process by triggering hormonal changes and cellular death and repair

genetic clock

Senescene reduces the production of neurotransmitters.... the result is an overall slowdown of the brain, evident in:

glutamate, acetylcholine, serotonin, especially dopamine reaction time, movement, speech, and thought

Process in which researchers interview each person privately and extensively. They read and reared all the transcripts, tallying responses and topics by age and gender (_________ part). Then they analyzed common topics, interpreting trends (______ part). In this case, what did the researches conclude?

grounded theory that sexual activity is more a social construction than a biological event. they compensated for physical changes by optimizing their relationship in other ways.

While wear and tear is the oldest and most general theory of aging, most scientists....

have rejected wear and tear as a general theory of aging, because other body functions benefit from activity. ex: exercise improves heart and lung functioning, weight training increases muscle mass

What are the steps in the information processing approach?

input (sensing) memory (storage) programming (control) output (usually verbal)

Flynn found that the intellectual ability of each new cohort...

is better than that of the previous one.

An examination of one's own role in the history of human life, engaged by many elderly people. this can can written or oral. elders provide an account of their own personal journey by writing or telling their story.

life review

Irreversible loss of intellectual functioning by organic brain damage or disease. Formerly called dementia, major ___ becomes more common with age. but it is abnormal and pathological even in the very old. as longevity increases the rates of major NCD rise as well eventually better ___1___ and ____2____ will reduce the rate of cognitive impairments everywhere

major neurocognitive disorder (major NCD) education and public health

The DSM-V now describes neurocognitive disorders, either ________ (previously called dementia) or ______ ( previously called ______ cognitive impairment) what percent of elders have some form of neurocognitive disorder?

major vs mild 14%

The oldest possible age that members of a species attain under ideal circumstances. For humans that age seems to be?

maximum life span // 122 years old

What are the three abilities most often stereotyped as dropping with age?

memory, speed, and making new freinds

scientists usually measure output through use of standardized tests of _________ __________

mental ability

Sexual satisfaction often increases after? compensation for diminished arousal results from both?

middle age thinking and behavior

__________ and ________ are often used to reduce anxiety in those who suffer from neurocognitive impairment

music and singing

Any of a number of brain diseases that affects a person's ability to remember, analyze, plan, or interact with other people

neurocognitive disorder (NCD)

Fragile bones that result from primary aging, which makes bones more porous, especially if a person is at genetic risk.

osteoporosis

Research concludes that both __________ and ___________ are the foundation for wellness

physical exercise and adequate sleep

Clumps of protein called beta-amyloid, found in brain tissues surrounding the neurons

plaques

Refers to a situation in which people take many medications. The various side effects and interactions of those medications can result in NCD symptoms.

polypharmacy

The universal and irreversible physical changes that occur in all living creatures as they grow older. ______________ is inevitable, programmed for each species.

primary aging

remembering to do something in the future (to take a pill, to meet someone for lunch, to buy milk). one crucial aspect of ____________ __________ seems to be the ability to.... declines with age

prospective memory shift the mind quickly from one task to another: older adults get immersed in one thought and have trouble changing gears

The specific physical illnesses or conditions that become more common with aging but are caused by health habits and other influences that vary from person to person

secondary aging

The final stage in Maslow's hierarch of needs, characterized by aesthetic, creative, philosophical, and spiritual understanding

self-actualization

When organisms can no longer repair every cellular error, _________ occurs and is first apparent in the _______. It also occurs in the body, most notably with _______, as the aging immune system is increasingly unable to control abnormal cells

senescence skin cancer

the divide between what is sensed and what is not

sensory threshold

A specific memory deficit that involves forgetting the origin of a fact, idea, or snippet of conversation. in a practical sense what does this mean?

source amnesia that elders might believe a rumor or political advertisement because they forget the source.

Twisted masses of threads made of a protein called tau within the neurons of the brain

tangles

The area at the tips of each chromosome that is reduced a tiny amount as time passes. By the end of life, ___________ are very short. Eventually at the Hayflick limit, the _________ is gone, duplication stops, and the creature dies there length is related to both?

telomeres genes and stress

Alzheimer's disease is partly genetic due to either:

trisomy 21 amyloid precursor protein (APP) presenilin 1 presenilin 2

The creation of settings and equipment that can be used by everyone, whether or not they are able-bodied and sensory -cute

universal design

Formerly called __________ or ___________, this disease is characterized by progressive loss of intellectual functioning caused by repeated infarcts (strokes), or temporary obstructions of blood vessels. correlated with what gene?

vascular disease (vascular or multi-infarct dementia) ApoE4

A view of aging as a process by which the human body wears out because of the passage of time, (overuse) and exposure to environmental stressors.

wear and tear

remembering information for a moment before evaluating, calculating, and inferring its significance declines with age

working memory