PSYCH 257 - Neurocognition and Aging

AIDS

caused by HIV

cerebral reserve hypothesis

the more synpases a person develops through life, the more neuronal death must take place before neurocognitve disorders are obvious.

ex. the more you learn, the more you use your brain,e ven if you are developing alzheimers, it literally wont show in your functioning

aphasia

difficulty with language

apraxia

imapired motor functioning

agnosia

failure to recognize objects

sundowner syndrome

difficulties become more pronounced later in teh day

classes of neurocognitive disorders based on etiology

1. alzheimer’s disease

2. vascular injury

3. frontotemporal degeneration

4. traumatic brain injury (!!)

5. lewy body disease

6. parkinsons disease

7. HIV infection

8. substance use

9. huntington’s disease

10. prion disease

11. another medical codition

ure gonna do great on this test <3

emotional changes as someone is deterioriating mentally

1. delusions

2. depression

3. agitation

4. aggression

5. apathy

what is delirium, course, treatment, prevention.

impaired consciousnessa dn cogntion during course of several hours of days

VERY QUICK ACTING!!! hours to days.

mostly in older patients, can be in reaction to substances, subsides quickly if the cause of the problem is removed

age can make them more vulnerable to delirum as a result of mild infections or med changes, as well as sleep deprivaiton, excessive stress

1. distubance in attention, reduced awarenss of environent

2. hours to days

3. disturbance in cogntion (memory, language, visuospatial ability)

4. disturbances are not better explaiend by another pre-existing condition or neurocognitive disorder,

treatment:

• eliminating underlying cause, it should go away quickly in most cases

prevention

• drug monitoring

• structured interventions

• a lot of resources to help those who are at risk ffor delirium

agnosia

inability to recognzie and name objects

ex. see a ball, can’t recognize it and name it as a ball tho

“what is that thing….”

alzheimer’s disease

progressive memory impairment and other behavioural and cognitive problems

creutzfeldt-jakob disease

type of prion disease

transmitted to humans through infected cattle, is what it was thought of

dementia

deterministic

if you have one of these genes, you have nearly 100% chance of deveoping the disease.

facial agnosia

inability to recognize even familiar faces. ofc they feel warmly towards their loved ones! but they just cant process the nuances that make people’s faces distinct.

frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder

overarching term to categorize brain disorders that damage the frontal or temporal regions of the brain

ex. personality, language, behaviour

human immunodeficiency virus-type-1

causes AIDS

infection itself seems to be responsible for hte neurological impairment

ex. cognitive slowness, impaired attention, foregetfulness

ppl with HIV are particularly susceptible to cognitive impairments in the later stages of the HIV infection, but tey can occur earlier

huntington’s disease

gentic disorder

affects motor movement through chorea—> involuntary limb movements

mild cog impairment

major neurocognitive disorder

• previously labeled demtnia

• gradual deterioration of brain functioning that affects judgment, memory, language, other advanced cognitve processes

• can develp at any age, but mostly appears in older adults

mild neurocognitive disorder

disorder that was created to focus attention on teh early stages of cogntive decline

someone with this knows they have slight issues, but they laugh it off and use smaller cues to help them, but its not a source of major distress ro impairment. they can still function independently

can be caused by medical condtions, drugs, alcohol

neurocognitive disorder due to alzheimer’s disease

• impairment of memory, orientation, judgment, and reasoning

• forget important events and lose objects

• insidious onset, gradual progression

• no mixed etiology (other disease or condtion likely contributing to cognitive decline)

• disturbance is not better explained by another disease, or the effects of a substance, or aonother disorder

• aphasia, apraxia, agnosia, difficulty with planning, amonia

neurocognitive disorder due to HIV infection

cogntivie slowlness, impaired attention, forgetfulness. clumsy, repetive movements, tremors, leg weakness, apathy, soical withdrawal

sometimes referred to as subcortical dementia, because it affects the inner areas of the brain

neurocognitive disorder due to huntington’s disease

• subtle cognitive decline

• irritability, impulsivity

• chorea —> involuntary muscle movements

neurocognitive disorder due to lewy body disease

lewy bodies: microscopic deposits that damage brain cells over time. gradual impairment in alertness, and attention, vivid visual hallucinatons, motor impairment

similar to parkinsons

neurocognitive disorder due to parkinson’s disease

motor issues, tremors, jerkiness…

neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease

prions —> proteins that reproduce and cause damage in brain cells, leading to neurocognitive decline

always fatal!! no known treatmnet!! only contracted through blood infusions or cannabilism.

neurocognitive disorder due to traumatic brain injury

symptoms that persist for at least a week following the trauma, including executive dysfunction, problems with learning and memory

• teens adn young adults at most risk, (traffic accidents, assaults, falls, suicide attempts)

parkinson’s disease

degenerative brain disorder
affects movement mostly

ex. tremors, jerkiness, voice change, stooped posture

ex. bradykinesia —> slow body movements

pick’s disease

neurological condition

produces symptoms similar to alzheimers

genetic component

early-onset neurocognitive disorder

late in life

substance/medication-induced neurocognitive disorder

alcohol use disorder for example, inhalants, glue or gasoline,

memory impairmnet, one of the cogntive disturbances: aphasia, apraxia, agnosia, or distubance in executive functioning.

susceptibility

only increase risk, are more common in teh overall population

traumatic brain injury (TBI)

like a concussion, something that causes injuries that last in the brain for a very long time

ex. concussion, hitting hippocampus

vascular neurocognitive disorder

progressive brain disorder

vascular —> blood vessels

when blood vessels in the brain are blocked or damaged, and no longer carry oxygen

this means oxygen is not going to those parts of hte brain, elads to brain damage, leads to cognitive disturbances

1. onset is related to one or more cerebrovascular events

2. evidence is prominent in complex attention and frontal-executive function

3. evidence of presnce of disease in history, physical exam, or neuroimaging

4. not better explained by another disease or disorder