Psy- Ch. 15/16

Divorced and remarried older adults

An increasing number of older adults are divorced—in many cases divorced or separated before entering late adulthood. The majority of divorced older adults are women. Divorce has social, financial, and physical consequences.

Work

An increasing percentage of older adults continue to work—women more than men. Older adults who work beyond retirement age are motivated by factors involving financial status, health, knowledge, and purpose in life. Healthier, better-educated, higher-educated older adults can work longer. •Lower-income individuals are more likely to have physically demanding jobs that are difficult to stay in as they age. Older workers also have lower rates of absenteeism, fewer accidents, and higher job satisfaction.

Health Treatment (Nursing Homes)

As older adults age, their probability of being in a nursing home or other extended-care facility increases. The quality of such facilities in the U.S. varies enormously. •More than one-third are seriously deficient. •Nursing home and assisted living facilities accounted for a high percentage of deaths caused by COVID-19 in 2020.

The circulatory system and lungs

Cardiovascular disorders increase in late adulthood. In older adults, 64 percent of men and 69 percent of women 65 to 74 years of age have hypertension (high blood pressure). Lung capacity drops by 40 percent between ages 20 and 80.

Difference in life expectancy in other countries

Compared with other countries around the world, life expectancy in the United States is higher than some, lower than others. •The lowest estimated in 2018 were in South Africa (50.6 years), Chad (51), and Namibia (51). •The highest is currently Monaco (89.4 years). •Factors such as health conditions and medical care throughout the life span are important.

Dendritic

Dendritic growth may play a role. •Dendrites are the receiving portion of the neuron. •Lack of environmental stimulation and activity may contribute to the lack of dendritic growth in older adults.

Ethnicity

Elderly ethnic minority individuals face both ageism and racism. •They are also more likely to have a history of less education, longer periods of unemployment, worse housing conditions, and shorter life expectancies.

Exercise

Exercise is an excellent way to maintain health and live longer. Gerontologists increasingly recommend strength training in addition to aerobic activity and stretching. Exercise can contribute to people living independent lives with dignity in late adulthood. •Being physically fit means being able to do the things you want to do, whether you are young or old.

Explicit memory vs Implicit memory

Explicit memory: the facts and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state. •Declines as a person ages. Implicit memory: memory without conscious recollections; skills and routine procedures. •Less likely to be adversely affected by aging.

Hearing

Hearing impairments become a serious impediment. Hearing aids and cochlear implants minimize problems linked to hearing loss.

Married older adults

In 2017, nearly 58 percent of U.S. adults over 65 years were married—with a significant gender difference, however: more men than women were still married. Older adults who are married or partnered are usually happier and live longer than those who are single. In late adulthood, married individuals are more likely to be caring for a sick partner, which contributes to stress and places demands on intimacy.

Life expectancy in women vs men

In 2018, the overall life expectancy for women was 81.2 years of age, while for men it was 76.2 years of age. •Health attitudes, habits, lifestyles, and occupation are probably important to this difference.

Policy issues in an aging society

Income: poverty is linked to an increase in physical and mental health problems. •Women and ethnic minorities have much higher rates of poverty. Health care: the increasing proportion of older adults in the population contributes to escalating health-care costs.

Cellular clock theory

Leonard Hayflick's theory that the maximum number of times that human cells can divide is about 75 to 80. •As we age, our cells have less capacity to divide.

Dual sensory loss

Loss of both vision and hearing is linked to less social support, increased loneliness, cognitive decline, and depressive symptoms.

Sleep

Many older adults have difficulty sleeping, and their sleep is more easily disrupted. •As individuals age, they engage in less deep sleep. Poor sleep is a risk factor for falls, obesity, lower cognitive functioning, and earlier death. Strategies include avoiding caffeine, avoiding over-the-counter sleep remedies, staying physically and mentally active, and limiting naps.

Education, work, and health

More older adults are returning to college to further their education than past generations. In work, successive generations have placed a stronger emphasis on cognitively oriented labor, linked with cognitive advantages post-retirement. With the growth of the information society, jobs often require considerable cognitive investment. When older adults engage in complex working tasks, their cognitive functioning shows less age-related decrease.

Causes of death in older adults

Nearly 60 percent of 65- to 74-year-olds die of cancer or cardiovascular disease. •Cancer is now the leading cause in U.S. middle-aged adults. •For those in the 75-to-84 and 85-and-over age groups, however, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause. In 2020, eight out of ten COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. occurred in adults 65 years and older. Ethnicity is linked with the death rates of older adults. •Underlying conditions increase risk.

Nutrition and weight

Research indicates that calorie restriction (CR) slows RNA decline during the aging process.

Sexulaity

Sexuality can be lifelong, but aging does induce some changes in human sexual performance. Orgasm becomes less frequent in males.

Executive function

Skills involved in engaging in goal-directed behavior and exercising self-control also decline. There is considerable variation in older adults.

The shrinking, slowing brain

The brain loses 5 to 10 percent of its weight between ages of 20 and 90. •Shrinkage of neurons, lower numbers of synapses, reduced length and complexity of axons, and reduced tree-like branching in dendrites. Some brain areas shrink more than others. •Shrinkage of the prefrontal cortex has been linked to decreased working memory and slower motor behavior. •Reductions in dopamine may cause problems in motor activities.

The adaptive brain & Neurogenesis

The brain might be able to generate new neurons. •Neurogenesis: the generation of new neurons.

Physical appearance and movement

The most noticeable changes are wrinkles and age spots. Both men and women become shorter with aging, due to bone loss in their vertebrae. Weight drops after age 60 with adults experiencing muscle loss. •Exercising is beneficial for overall health and fall risk reduction. Older adults move more slowly than young adults. •Obesity is linked to mobility limitation. The risk of falling in older adults increases with age.

Cohabiting older adults

The number of cohabiting adults 50 years and older has been rising rapidly in recent years and is expected to increase further. In many cases, older adult couples cohabit more for companionship than for love. Others may cohabit rather than marry in order to maintain assets separately.

Health Problems

The probability of having some disease or illness increases with age. Chronic diseases (those with slow onset and long duration) are common in late adulthood. •Arthritis is the most common chronic disorder, followed by hypertension. Low incomes are strongly related to health problems.

Smell and taste

These sensory losses begin at around age 60.

Conclusions for the hormonal stress theory

Various biological processes contribute greatly to aging. Aging is a very complex process involving multiple degenerative factors, including interacting cell- and organ-level communications

Vision

Visual decline in late adulthood is linked to cognitive decline, fewer social contacts, and less challenging social/leisure activities. Declining visual acuity, color vision, and depth perception are also associated with aging.

Touch and pain

With aging, many individuals experience impaired touch, detecting touch less in the lower extremities. An estimated 60 to 75 percent of older adults report at least some persistent pain. •Most frequently back pain, peripheral neuropathic pain, and chronic joint pain. Older adults are less sensitive to pain than are younger adults, and this decreased sensitivity can mask injuries and illness. High levels of pain have been linked to memory impairment.

mTOR pathway

a cellular pathway that involves the regulation of growth and metabolism.

Parkinson Disease: Def, Triggered by, and treatment

a chronic, progressive disease characterized by muscle tremors, slowing of movement, and partial facial paralysis. •Triggered by degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain. •The main treatment involves enhancing the effect of dopamine and later administering the drug L-dopa, which is converted by the brain into dopamine. •Another treatment is deep brain stimulation (D B S).

Cognitive neuroscience

a discipline that studies links between the brain and cognitive functioning. Aging and changes in the brain can influence cognitive functioning, and changes in cognitive functioning can influence the brain.

Sirtuins

a family of proteins that have been linked to longevity and related processes; SIRT 1 has been connected to D N A repair and aging.

Semantic memory

a person's knowledge about the world. •Declines less than episodic memory.

Ageism

a prejudice against others because of their age. •Most frequent form is disrespect, followed by assumptions about ailments or frailty.

Reminiscence Therapy

a therapy in which someone discusses past activities and experiences with another individual or group.

Hormonal stress theory

aging in the body's hormonal system can lower resistance to stress and increase the likelihood of disease. •Researchers are exploring stress-buffering strategies.

Mitochondrial theory

aging is caused by mitochondrial decay.

Compensation

becomes relevant when life tasks require a level of capacity beyond the current level of the older adult's performance potential.

Glaucoma

damage to optic nerve because of pressure created by fluid buildup in the eye.

Evolutionary theory of aging

def: natural selection has not eliminated many harmful conditions and nonadaptive characteristics in older adults. •Benefits conferred by evolution decline with age because natural selection is linked to reproductive fitness.

Macular degeneration

deterioration of the retina's macula, which corresponds to focal center of the visual field.

Social convoy model of social relations

individuals go through life embedded in a personal network of individuals to whom they give and from whom they receive social support.

Arthritis

inflammation of the joints accompanied by pain, stiffness, and movement problems, is especially common in older adults.

Integrity versus despair

involves reflecting on the past and either piecing together a positive review or concluding that one's life has not been well spent.

Dementia

is a global term for several neurological disorders involving irreversible decline in mental function severe enough to interfere with daily living. Alzheimer disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia. Medium to high physical activity has been linked to a lower incidence in 60- to 65-yar-olds.

Alzheimer disease

is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually physical function. •One in 10 individuals 65 and older has Alzheimer disease. •Two-thirds of those with Alzheimer disease in the U.S. are women.

Oateoporosis

is an extensive loss of bone tissue, that causes many older adults to walk with a stoop. •Women are more vulnerable.

Working memory

is closely linked to short-term memory but places more emphasis on memory as a place for mental work. •It declines in late adulthood but can be improved through training.

Wisdom

is expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters. High levels of wisdom are rare. Factors other than age are critical for wisdom to develop to a high level. Personality-related factors are better predictors of wisdom than cognitive factors. •Especially, openness to experience, generativity, and creativity.

Perceptual Speed

is the amount of time it takes to perform simple perceptual-motor tasks. •It shows considerable decline in late adulthood and is strongly linked with decline in working memory. •Processing speed, too, can be improved.

Social integration

is the extent to which individuals are involved in social exchanges with others.

socioemotional selectivity theory

motivation changes as a function of time horizons. •When horizons are limited, there is a shift toward prioritizing emotional meaning and satisfaction.

Reminiscence bump

older adults remember more events from the second and third decades of their lives.

Free-radical theory

people age because normal metabolic processes within cells produce unstable oxygen molecules that ricochet inside cells, damaging D N A and cellular structures.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI)

represents a transitional state between the cognitive changes of normal aging and very early Alzheimer disease and other dementias. •M C I is recognized as a risk factor. The current drugs used to treat Alzheimer disease only slow the downward progression; they do not address its cause.

Episodic memory

retention of information about the where and when of life's happenings. •Age-related decline in episodic memory impairs access to autobiographical events and the details involved.

selective optimization with compensation theory

successful aging is related to three main factors: selection, optimization, and compensation.

Technology

the Internet plays an increasingly important role in providing access to information and communication. •Younger seniors use the Internet more than older seniors. •Increasing numbers use e-mail and smartphones. •Older adults are also using social media more.

Life Span

the maximum number of years an individual can live. •Approximately 120 to 125 years.

Activity Theory

the more active and involved older adults are, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their lives.

Life expectancy

the number of years the average person born in a particular year will probably live. •Improved with advances in medicine, nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle, along with a substantial reduction in infant deaths. The average life expectancy for those born in 2017 in the United States is 78.6 years.

Cataracts

the thickening of eye's lens causes vision to become cloudy, opaque, and distorted.

Criticisms of evolutionary theory

•Evolution occurs on a time scale that does not lend itself to empirical study. •It fails to account for cultural influences.

Older adults who adjust best to retirement are:

•Healthy, active, and have adequate income. •Better educated. •Connected with extended social networks and family. •Satisfied with their lives before retiring. Older adults who have the most difficult are those with inadequate incomes, poor health, and other stressful circumstances.

CR (Calorie restriction) may also:

•Help delay chronic problems such as cardiovascular, kidney, and liver disease. •Provide neuroprotection for an aging central nervous system.

Centenarians vs. Super-Centenarians

•Individuals 100 years and older. •Supercentenarian refers to those who live to be 110. In a 2020 list of the world's oldest living people, there were no males in the top 50 oldest individuals. For a majority of centenarians, chronic high-mortality diseases are markedly delayed for many years. Among the factors associated with living to be 100 are longevity genes and effective coping.

Causes of Alzheimer disease

•Involves a deficiency in the brain messenger chemical called acetylcholine. •Deterioration is characterized by the formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. •Oxidative stress and mitochondria may play a role. •Age is an important risk factor.

Research has revealed that exercise

•Is linked to increased longevity. •Is related to prevention of common chronic diseases. •Is associated with increased effectiveness of treatment for many diseases. •Improves older adults' cellular functioning. Improves immune system functioning in older adults

Older adults are more likely to be accorded a position of high status in a culture when:

•Older persons have valuable knowledge. •Older persons control key family/community resources. •Older persons are permitted to engage in useful/valued functions as long as possible. •There is role continuity throughout the life span.

Many abilities can be maintained and/or improved in older adults, especially when they have the following:

•Proper diet. •Active lifestyle. •Mental stimulation and flexibility. •Positive coping skills. •Good social relationships and support. •Absence of disease.

Mental activities that likely benefit the maintenance of cognitive skills include:

•Reading books. •Doing crossword puzzles. •Going to lectures and concerts.

Remarriage is increasing due to:

•Rising divorce rates; •Increased longevity; and •Better health.

selective vs sustained attention

•Selective attention: focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant. •Sustained attention: focused and extended engagement.

Older adults give five main reasons for having sex

•To maintain their functioning. •To feel young again. •To feel attractive and desirable. •To go from lust to love. •To change from "getting sex" to "giving sex."

Apolipoprotein E

•is linked to increased presence of plaques and tangles in the brain.

Life review

•looking back at one's life experiences, evaluating them, and interpreting/reinterpreting them.

Selection

•older adults have reduced capacity and loss of functioning, requiring a reduction in performance in most of life domains.

Optimization

•suggests that older adults can maintain performance in some areas through continued practice and use of new technologies.