A number of recent functional neuroimaging studies have found different patterns of brain activation in older and younger adults while performing identical memory or working memory tasks. One such pattern involves greater bilateral activation in older adults for tasks that activate only unilateral brain regions in young adults [54, 55].
Areas of cognitive strength in normal aging are also discussed, because these may be recruited to compensate for areas of weakness. Theories of cognitive aging that have developed within each cognitive domain are outlined and brain regions hypothesized to underlie these functions are noted.
Whether it’s a special episode on the PBS series, The Secret Life of the Brain, or an entire issue dedicated to the topic in the journal Science, a better understanding of the aging brain is viewed as a key to an improved quality of life in a world where people live longer.
This increased activation has been observed particularly in a sub-group of high-functioning older people [56], and has been interpreted by many as compensatory activity, representing perhaps some reorganization of the aging brain.
As people age, their movements and reflexes slow and their hearing and vision weaken. Until the 1990s, most aging research examined cognitive abilities of adults younger than 80. More recent research includes the fast-growing 80s-and-older population and has advanced our understanding of cognitive changes in the elderly.
Keeping the brain healthy through good nutrition and physical activity is important to reduce the risk of cognitive decline associated with vascular disease. A healthy diet includes limiting the intake of sugar and saturated fats, particularly trans fats.
In addition, older adults often have a better overview of a situation, or better appreciation involving the impact of a single event, than younger people do, because of their greater life experience . The cognitive operations described above do not exist in isolation.
Scientists are learning the many ways in which physical exercise affects the brain, ranging from benefits shown in animal models at the cellular level, such as stimulation of brain-growth factors or reduction in oxidative stress, to a decrease in white matter damage in humans.
Age hinders attention, particularly when it is necessary to multitask. When switching from one task to another, the elderly have more difficulty paying attention to multiple lanes of traffic, for example, or noticing if someone is about to step off a curb at a busy intersection.
Similarly, the ability to keep multiple pieces of information in mind at the same time is another skill that peaks around ages 18 to 20 and becomes more difficult thereafter.
Over time, in the study, young participants tended to shift their performance so that they no longer selected cards from all decks—they selected only from the decks that gave them a net gain. However, a subset of older participants continued to select cards from all decks, resulting in a net loss.
The basic cognitive functions most affected by age are attention and memory.
Some older adults retain excellent cognitive function well into their 70s and 80s and perform as well or better than younger adults. Others, although within the normal range, show signs of decline by age 60. In addition, decline is not uniform across cognitive domains.
Establishing such links between brain and cognition is the principal goal of cognitive neuroscience. As people age, they change in a myriad of ways — both biological and psychological. Some of these changes may be for the better, and others are not. This book primarily concerns the normally aging brain, the neuroanatomical ...
Selective attention refers to the ability to attend to some stimuli while disregarding others that are irrelevant to the task at hand. For example, in visual search tasks, people are asked to search a visual display for a target letter that is surrounded by other nontarget letters.
As people age, they change in a myriad of ways — both biological and psychological. Some of these changes may be for the better, and others are not. This book primarily concerns the normally aging brain, the neuroanatomical and neurophysiological changes that occur with age, and the mechanisms that account for them.
As noted above, however, some older adults have hearing loss and so, in conversational settings, may be required to interpret a weak or distorted acoustic signal. Even under these conditions, older people seem able to maintain good levels of comprehension by effectively using context to interpret the message [47].
Older adults do quite well on these daily tasks, using a variety of external aids such as calendars and appointment books to remind themselves of these activities. Certain habitual tasks such as taking medications at the appropriate times each day, however, may create difficulties for older people.
Angela has had several periods of extremely "up" moods. They last for a couple of weeks and she has gotten into trouble several times. During those times she doesn't sleep, spends way too much money, gets involved in bad business decisions, talks quickly and thinks even more quickly, and believes she can do anything.
d. Carleen comes to therapy because she is feeling sad. Carleen says she has often had periods of extreme sadness in the past and they typically last between 6 and 8 months. During those times she overeats, has trouble sleeping, feels exhausted all the time, and thinks a lot about dying.
Aging Brings Challenges. Aging brings an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and dementia. For example, Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, is the 5th leading cause of death among older Americans. Older adults also face more challenges with everyday living activities.
Older adults also face more challenges with everyday living activities. 80 percent of older adults have at least one chronic health condition. 1 in 3 older adults has limitations in activities such as preparing meals and housekeeping.
Birth rates are declining, posing a potential shortfall of caregivers, and that trend will continue. Caregivers themselves are at risk for health problems. Trends show they will be working longer hours and caring for people with more than one chronic disease.