HDFS 17

Hearing loss :(

30 percent of adults between 65 and 74 have some hearing loss 50 percent of adults over 75 have hearing loss High frequencies are the hardest to hear Overall, more than 10 million elderly people in the United States have hearing impairments of one kind or another

All Systems Go...or Gone?

75-year-old's heart pumps less than three-quarters of the blood it pumped during early adulthood Efficiency of the respiratory system declines with age Digestive system produces less digestive juice and is less efficient in pushing food through the system

AMD

Age related macular degeneration is the most common way people over the age of 60 become blind Some evidence shows that diets rich in vitamins A, E, and C can reduce the risk of the disease

The most prevalent and damaging brain disorder among older people is ____ disease

Alzheimer's

With regard to the kinds of autobiographical memories people tend to recall or forget, which of the following forgetting scenarios is the most likely?

Anne, who is a very strict mother, does not remember getting drunk at her high school prom.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between dementia and Alzheimer's disease?

Dementia is a broad category of serious memory loss that encompasses a number of diseases, Alzheimer's being one of them.

symptoms of Alzheimer's

Develop gradually  Start with forgetfulness Affect recent memories first and then older memories fade Causes total confusion, inability to speak intelligibly or recognize closest family members Loss of voluntary control of muscles occurs

oldest old

Fastest growing segment of the population People who are 85 or older Group's size has nearly doubled in the last 20 years Trend is occurring in every developed country in the world

Hearing aids

Hearing aids would be helpful 75 percent of the time Only 20 percent of people wear them Are imperfect and amplify all sounds so it is difficult to discern conversations There is a stigma attached to wearing a hearing aid Because they cannot hear, some people withdraw from society because they feel left out and lonely

Hypertension

High blood pressure, striking about one-third of older people

Information-Processing Deficits

Inability to inhibit irrelevant information and thoughts declines Speed of processing declines Attention declines Less efficient retrieval methods

Arthritis

Inflammation of one or more joints, is common, striking around half of older people

Generalized Slowing Hypothesis

Processing in all parts of the nervous system, including the brain, is less efficient Older people have more accidents Decision process is slowed down

The Biology of Alzheimer's Disease

Production of the protein beta amyloid precursor protein goes awry Produces large clumps of cells that trigger inflammation and deterioration of nerve cell Brain shrinks Neuron death leads to shortage of various neurotransmitters

Alzheimers disease

Progressive brain disorder Produces loss of memory and confusion Incidence and projection Leads to deaths of 100,000 people in U.S. each year Nineteen percent of people 75 to 84 have Alzheimer's Nearly half of people over age of 85 are affected by the disease. In fact, unless a cure is found, some 14 million people will be victims of Alzheimer's by 2050—more than three times more than the current number.

ageism

Results of many attitude studies have found that older adults are viewed more negatively than younger ones on a variety of traits, particularly those having to do with general competence and attractiveness. Because old people LOOK old

brain shit

The brain becomes smaller and lighter with age. There is a reduction of blood flow to the brain. The space between the skull and the brain doubles from age 20 to 70. The number of neurons declines in some parts of the brain, though not as much as was once thought.

Life expectancy, which has risen for centuries, varies with ____, ____, and ____.

gender; race; ethnicity

Semantic memory

general knowledge and facts, such as the fact that 2 + 2 = 4 or the name of the capital of North Dakota

Whether death is caused by ____ ____or by ____ ____ ____ ____ is an unresolved question.

genetic programming; general physical wear and tear

The two main hypotheses to explain the increase in reaction time in old age are the ____ ____hypothesis and the ____ ____hypothesis.

peripheral slowing; generalized slowing

The intellect retains considerable ____ and can be maintained with ____, ____, and ____.

plasticity; stimulation; practice; motivation

Proper diet, exercise, and avoidance of health risks can lead to ____ wellness during old age, and ____ can continue throughout the life span in healthy adults.

prolonged; sexuality

episodic memory

relates to specific life experiences

Taste and smell

Both senses become less discriminating in old age Due to decline in taste buds on tongue Olfactory bulbs in the brain shrink and reduce the ability to smell People eat less and get poor nutrition Older people may over-salt their food and develop hypertension, or high blood pressure

Glaucoma

It must be detected early enough.  Pressure in the fluid of the eye Glaucoma can be corrected with drugs or surgery

Vision

Lens becomes less transparent and the pupils shrink Optic nerve becomes less efficient Distant objects become less acute

Treatment and Cure of Alzheimer's

No cure Treatment deals only with the symptoms Drugs effective in only half of Alzheimer's patients Many end in nursing homes

Peripheral Slowing Hypothesis

Older adults' reaction time slows significantly Suggests that overall processing speed declines in peripheral nervous system (spinal cord and brain)

Fastest growing segment of the population

The fastest growing segment of the population is the oldest old—people who are 85 or older. In the last two decades, the size of this group has nearly doubled. The population explosion among older people is not limited to the United States. In fact, the rate of increase is much higher in developing countries.

T or F: Researchers no longer see cognitive abilities of older people as inevitably declining

True

Older people are often the victims of ____—prejudice and discrimination against ____ ____

ageism; old people

WEAR-AND-TEAR THEORIES OF AGING

argue that the mechanical functions of the body simply wear out with age. Some theories say that the body's constant manufacture of energy to fuel its activities creates by-products, which eventually reach such high levels that they impair the body's normal functioning. Free radicals, electrically charged atoms, are produced in the cells and may cause negative effects on other cells. This is a more optimistic theory, which suggests that longevity can be extended by eliminating the toxins produced by the body.

Although some intellectual abilities gradually ____ throughout adulthood, starting at around age ____, others stay relatively ____.

decline; 25; steady

Short-term memory

declines gradually until age 70, when it becomes more pronounced.

Older people are susceptible to psychological disorders such as ____.

depression

Vision may become more difficult at ____, in ____ ____, and when moving from ____ ____ ____ and vice versa

distances; dim light; darkness to light

Explanations of memory changes in old age have focused on ____ factors, information processing ____, and ____ factors.

environmental; declines; biological

Declines in memory affect mainly ____ memories and ____ ____ memory.

episodic; short term

Old age brings both ____ changes (thinning and graying hair, wrinkles, and shorter stature) and ____ changes (decreased brain size, reduced blood flow within the brain, and diminished efficiency in circulation, respiration, and digestion).

external; internal

Although most older people are ____, the incidence of some serious diseases rises in old age, and most people have at least ____ chronic ailment before they die.

healthy; one

Hearing, especially of ____ frequencies, may diminish, causing ____ and ____ difficulties, and ____ and ____ may become less discriminating, leading to nutritional problems.

high; social; psychological; taste; smell

primary aging

is aging that involves universal and irreversible changes that, due to genetics occur as people get older

Secondary aging

is changes in physical and cognitive functioning that are due to illness, health habits, and other individual differences, but which are not due to increased age itself and are not inevitable.

implicit memories

memories that people are not consciously aware, such as how to ride a bike, are largely unaffected by age

plasticity

or modifiability of behavior, suggests that there is nothing fixed about the changes that may occur in intellectual abilities during late adulthood ("Use it or lose it").

GENETIC PREPROGRAMMING THEORIES OF AGING

suggest that our body's DNA genetic code contains a built-in time limit for the reproduction of human cells. One theory is that genetic material has a "death gene" that is programmed to direct the body to deteriorate and die. Another theory is that genetic instructions for running the body can be read only a certain number of times before they become illegible.

New approaches to increasing life expectancy include ____ ____, reducing ____ ____ through ____ drugs, restricting ____ ____ , and replacing worn-out organs

telomere therapy; free radicals; antioxidant; caloric intake