psych 3260 exam 1

how has the elderly population changed over human history?

life expectancy was relatively stable between 8000 BCE to 1800 CE, before rapidly increasing due to factors like sanitation, clean water, vaccines, germ theory, and modern medicine

in the modern day, we have more elderly adults and higher life expectancies than ever before

general changes associated with age

increases

• life experience and wisdom

• emotional regulation

• vocabulary and knowledge

decreases

• processing speed

• working memory

• sensory and motor skills

chronological age

the amount of time that has elapsed since your date of birth

objective and universal, but tells us little about a patient’s health

• e.g., two 75-year-olds could be in vastly different health

biological age

measured by damage to cells, organs, and other bodily systems (e.g., telomeres, epigenetics)

a much better predictor of disease

influenced by sleep, exercise, and stress

emotional/psychological age

a person’s subjective experience of how old they are

can increase or decrease over time

affected by mood and culture

the gompertz curve

measures a person’s annual chance of dying across the human lifespan

gompertz zone = 30-90

the longevity revolution

most of the increase in human lifespan occurred after 1900

influenced by healthcare, nutrition, antibiotics, and decreases in infant mortality

how does life expectancy change with age?

“the longer you live, the longer you will live”

older people have made it past many of the major risks in life, so they tend to live longer than younger people

women tend to live longer than men

caloric restriction

significantly reducing the amount of calories you eat every day (40%) is the only proven way to increase lifespan

aging as a cause for disease

age is a proxy for many changes and effects, but it is NOT a cause of anything

aging cannot be used for random assignment, so it can only be considered a quasi-experiment (correlational)

thus, changes associated with age are “age-related”

cross-sectional studies

same test day, different lifetimes

ex: testing how 20-year-olds, 50-year-olds, and 95-year-olds use their cellphones

cohort

a group of people born in the same generation

cohort effect

differences in behaviors due to wildly different ages and lived experiences

ex: people born during WWII didn’t get their first phone until they were in their 60s, while people born in 2000 didn’t get their first phone until they were in middle school

longitudinal studies

follow the same people over time

pros = eliminates cohort effects, leaving aging as the leading contributor to potential changes

cons = some participants may drop out or die (selective attrition), changes in technology, expense, practice effects

selective attrition

the participants who leave a longitudinal study are often those doing the worst (i.e., poorest health), which biases the results of the study

practice effects

participants take the same tests again and again in a longitudinal study

can hide real decline and make people look better than they really are

how does choosing age groups skew tests?

most studies related to age psychology choose young adult groups (18-25) and older adult groups (65-95)

• the 7-year span in young adults can have significant differences in experiences, abilities, and life stages

• the 30-year span in older adults can have significant differences in health, life experiences, cognition, and goals

healthy-volunteer bias

the people who most need studying are the ones least likely to take part; makes aging look gentler than it is and causes the study’s average to sit above the true average

• healthy → enroll and keep coming back

• frail/ill → decline, can’t attend, or don’t survive

which age group is almost never included in aging studies?

individuals in nursing homes

excluded because they’re…

• difficult to test

• have cognitive impairments

• are expensive to test

• often lead to “messy” data

although researchers want to focus on “normal” aging, the elderly in nursing homes should also be part of that population

what is the relationship between biology and psychology?

biological changes influence our thoughts, emotions, and behavior

our psychological responses, habits, and environments influence our biology

what are some biological effects of aging?

wrinkling skin → makes agining visible (psychological consequences)

muscle weakness → leads to reduced independence

bone density → becomes thinner and weaker, increasing fracture risk

cardiovascular and respiratory changes → less efficient

gait speed

how fast you walk

• also requires thinking

what are some effects of aging on the brain?

abilities are determined by multiple brain areas; cognitive decline leads to more effort to achieve the same tasks

shrinking hippocampus → impaired memory, increased forgetfulness, difficulty learning new information

enlarged ventricles → linked to slower thinking and reduced processing speed

loss of white matter → fewer and less efficient connecitons between brain regions

reduced neurotransmitters → affect mood, motivation, attention , and learning

prefrontal cortex inhibition →makes it harder to focus, plan, and multitask

how does aging affect memory?

episodic memory declines faster (hippocampus changes)

procedural memory doesn’t go away (basal ganglia doesn’t change)

circadian rhythm

the 24hr sleep-wake cycle

required for maintaing physiological and psychological processes

why is sleep beneficial?

sleep restores the body, consolidates memories, regulates mood and emotion, clears waste form the brain, supports immune function, and drives overall health

how does the circadian rhythm change with aging?

older adults go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier

• leads to better cognitive ability in the morning

older adults have problems staying asleep, not falling asleep

insomnia

difficult falling asleep and staying asleep

leads to daytime fatigue

becomes more common as we age

daytime fatigue

impaired attention and reaction time during the day due to a lack of sleep

fragmentation and age

young adults get more continuous sleep (more restorative)

older adults get more fragmented sleep because they are more likely to wake up multiple times during the night (less restorative)

• leads to less/interrupted REM sleep and more daytime fatigue

sleep apnea

a cessation of breathing during sleep, caused by blocked or collapsed airways

can happen 500+ times an hour; breathing only resumes upon waking up

effects:

• additional strain on the heart (increased risk for hypertension, strokes, and heart attacks)

• poor sleep quality (daytime fatigue, worsened mood)

• REM interruptions

CPAP machine

continuous positive airway pressure; pumps air into the mouth during sleep to reduce interruptions caused by sleep apnea

memory consolidation

the process of stabilizing a memory after learning and storing it so it can be remembered later

strongly associated with REM sleep

sleep and neurodegenerative diseases

poor sleep quality has been linked with a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s

during high-quality sleep, the brain clears out waste proteins (beta-amyloid plauqes and tau protein) which are associated with Alzheimer’s

effects of aging on the eyes

lens yellowing, senile miosis, vitreous foaters, macular thinning, cataracts

lens yellowing

chromophores accumulate; blues dim, contrast drops

senile miosis

pupil shrinks; -⅓ the light reaches the retina at age 80

vitreous floaters

the small shapes you see drifting across your vision (increases with age)

macular thinning

central retina thins; fine detail and reading degrade

cataracts

lens proteins that clump into a cloudy haze; glare worsens

prevalence increases with age

treatment

• surgery can remove cloudy lenses and replace them with artifical intraocular lenses (IOLs)

  • cataracts can still return

prevention

• blocking UV light

• no smoking

• movement and health eating

• preventing lens injury

presbyopia

a decrease in lens elasticity associated with age

stiffer lens → less shape change → blurred near vision

corrective lenses and surgery can help, but aren’t permanent solutions

20/20 vision

normal visual sharpness or clarity when looking at an object or chart from 20 feet away

• first number = the distance (in feet) between you and the eye chart

• second number = the distance (in feet) at which an individual with healthy eyes could see the eye chart

ex: 20/40 vision indicates that what you see clearly at 20ft, someone with perfect vision could see clearly at 40ft

passing the eye test ≠ seeing well enough to drive

eye charts

used to test individual’s vision, but do not represent the real world

• eye charts are bright, have high contrast, no movement

• the real world can be dark, have glare, and constant motion

disability glare

scattering of light (increased glare), causing general blindness

increases with age

glare recovery

the amount of time it takes to regain sensitivity after temporary blindness

increases with age

dark adaptation

the process of vision adjusting when the lights are turned off; causes pupil dilation

• cones (color) are prioritized in high-light environments

• rods (black/white) are prioritized in low-live environments

increases with age

ex: after being blinded by oncoming headlights, it can take at least 30 seconds for an older adult to see well enough to drive safely

contrast sensitivity

the ability to detect differences between light and dark, even when contrast is low

as contrast decreases, the same pattern becomes harder and harder to see

declines with age

ex: sidewalk curbs disappear; glass is harder to identify

dynamic visual acuity

the ability to detect moving objects (object or observer can be moving)

decreases exponentially with age

ex: difficulty identifying a speed limit sign when driving at a high speed

glaucoma

damage to the optic nerve caused by increased pressure (poor fluid drainage), leading to peripheral vision loss and eventual blindness

vision loss if often slow and may be undetectable; vision that is lost will not return even with treatment

treatment is most effective if started early

• eyes drops to decrease pressure

• laser surgery to improve fluid drainage

• surgery to create new drainage routes

prevention

• knowing family history (highly heritable)

• protecting eyes from injury

• avoiding steroids

• regular movement

macular degeneration

thinning and loss of the macula, leading to central vision loss

• dry AMD → more common and typically slower; leads to blurring and distortion in the center of the eye

• wet AMD → less common and often faster; leads to a black spot in the center of the eye

treatments exist but vision will not recover

• medications and surgery can slow and stop further damage

vision and memory associations

many problems that look like they’re caused by poor memory may actually be caused by poor vision

• ex: poor vision makes it harder to understand reading → leads to poor recall → may be interpreted as a memory problem

the outer ear

function = collecting sound

parts = pinna (auricle), external auditory canal

pinna (auricle)

the external ear structure; collects sound waves

grows hair with age

external auditory canal

funnels sound waves to the middle ear

contains cerumen (wax)

middle ear

function = amplifies sound

parts = tympanic membrane (eardrum), ossicles, eustachian tube

tympanic membrane

the eardrum; vibrates due to air pressure and sound waves

ossicles

three small bones in the ear (malleus = hammer, incus = anvil, stapes = stirrup); vibrate due to air pressure and sound waves

becomes denser with age

eustachian tube

drains fluid out of the ear

inner ear

function = turning sound into signals

parts = semicircular canals, cochlea, auditory nerve

cochlea

hit by the vibrating stapes to create traveling waves in cochlea fluid that bend hair cells to start action potentials in the auditory system

tonotopic organization

base of the cochlea resonates due to high frequencies

apex of the cochlea resonates due to low frequencies

auditory nerve

transmits auditory signals to the brain

hearing range

10Hz to 20,000Hz

highest frequencies (~20,000Hz) can only be heard by infants

what causes age-related hearing loss?

aging leads to a progressive loss of cochlear hair cells from the base (high frequencies) to the apex (low frequencies)

• inner hair cells are more robust

• outer hair cells are more likely to be damaged

hearing loss and gender

men are more likely than women to develop hearing loss

the differences in hearing ability between men and women increase with age, especially at higher frequencies

audiograms

measure hearing thresholds

preventing hearing loss

limit exposure to background noise at specific frequencies

loud sounds damage the part of the cochlea that matches the frequency of the noise

ex: continual exposure to power tools will damage the hair cells responsible for that frequency

hearing aids

devices used to amplify noises for individuals with hearing loss

often not used by older adults (social stigma + acceptance of age)

somewhat ineffective → amplify all noises, not just specific noises (masking)

cochlear implants

uses microphones that transmit sounds to electrodes in the cochlea, which send signals to the brain

very controversial among the Deaf community

interactions between hearing and cognition

as speech gets faster, the gap in understanding between younger and older adults increases with age

due to changes in processing speed

energetic masking

difficulty understanding a speaker due to background noise (e.g., music) at the same frequency

difficulties associated with masking increase with age

informational masking

difficulty understanding a speaker due to background talking at the same frequency

more difficult to understand than energetic masking

difficulties associated with masking increase with age

accented speech and understanding

difficulties with understanding distorted or accented speech increase with age

compounded with energetic & informational masking

what is the link between hearing loss and dementia?

large population studies show that older adults with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia

hypothesis 1: there is a common cause between hearing loss and dementia

• some theories, but no concrete evidence

hypothesis 2: hearing loss leads to social isolation, which leads to cognitive decline (dementia)

• hearing aid use is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia

• hearing loss is associated with low performance on multiple cognitive abilities (e.g., memory, processing speed, executive function)

the McGurk effect

what you see and what you hear can interact to create a new perception, indicating that visual and auditory information are combined in the brain

• lip reading!

ex: visual input = “ga ga ga” and auditory input = “ba ba ba” → participants heard a new sound (“da” or “tha”)

what causes the McGurk effect?

1. redundancy → two looks at the same signal (auditory and visual)

2. complementarity → if one signal is hard to hear, the other can provide the missing information

bigger boost for younger adults, but still beneficial for older adults

how can you prevent age-related hearing loss?

avoid excessive noise

use hearing protection

keep listening levels on devices at a safe range

keep your ears clean and dry

see a healthcare professional if you notice problems (e.g., ringing, hard to hear, muffled sounds)

how long and loud can you listen to something without hearing loss?

80 dB for 40 hours/week

• doorbells, loud conversations, and traffic (inside a car)

90 dB for 4 hours/week

• shouted conversations, movie theaters, and motorcycles at 25ft

100 dB for 20 minutes/week

• hair dryers, headphones at max volume, and sporting events

disability trajectory

small injuries that cascade into very detrimental effects

ex: older adult falls → has to go to the hospital → loses muscle during their hospital stay → now requires a walker or wheelchair → loss of independence

detrimental effects of falling

hip fractures (disability cascade)

traumatic brain injury

detrimental effects of near falls

decreased confidence in moving

avoiding activities

reduced movement → reduced mobility → increased risk of falling

not going out → social isolation

what does balance require in a psychological sense?

attention → focusing on relevant information and ignoring distractions

decisions → constantly deciding where to move, how fast to move, and how to adjust to changes in the environment

confidence → cautious movement can increase the risk of falling

willingness to move → recovering from the the fear of past falls

how is balance a sensory tripod?

balance requires

1. vision (information about surroundings, movement, and distance)

2. the vestibular system (inner-ear motion and gravity sensors)

3. proprioception (information about bodily movement)

vestibular system

responsible for the body’s balance; controlled by the semicircular canals

semicircular canals

rely on tiny hair cells that detect head movement and changes in position relative to gravity (vestibular system)

aging leads to a loss of vestibular hair cells (poor balance)

• leads to dizziness and unsteadiness when standing up

• makes adults feel less stable when turning quickly

• leads to greater uncertainty in movement

proprioception

information from sensors in your muscles, joints, and feet that tell your brain where your body is and how it’s moving

decreases with age

• reduced sensitivity in the feet

• reduced joint-position sense

• less accurate pressure information

• slower detection of body sway

how can we improve balance?

strength training, balance practice, and physical activity

osteoporosis

increased porosity and fragility of the bones

increases with aging, making the bones much more fragile and more likely to break with a fall

prevention

• maintain calcium when you’re young

• practice weight-bearing exercise

• increase Vitamin D

• avoid smoking and excessive alcohol

decibels (dB) vs frequency (Hz)

decibels = measure of loudness

frequency = measure of pitch

eye miosis

unusually small or constricted pupils that fail to expand properly in dim light

pupil size decreases with age