PSYC 322 MT 1

Older adulthood

The stage of life assumed to occur at age 65 by researchers (can vary but 65 is the figure)

Ages of Young old, Old-old, Oldest-old, Centenarians, Super-centenarians

65-74, 75-84, 85+, 100-109, 110+

Three main phases of older adulthood

Young-old, Old-old, Oldest-old (which includes centenarians and super-centenarians)

Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Aging

• Describes universal, physical changes in the body that irreversibly change (e.g. puberty)

• Describes abnormal changes like disease with time that can be prevented or reversed

• Stage that describes rapid, sudden losses that affect multiple systems near end-of-life

Heterogeneity

How the rate of aging physically varies across different adults, which include physical, social, and psychological changes

Most prominent factors of heterogeneity

• Gender (Men die, women get sick)

• Martial Status (Married live longer, healthier, better for guys)

• Ethnicity (Complex and depends, physically and culturally and the environment, etc.)

Mortality-Morbidity Paradox

The pattern where rate of death is usually lower for aging females but rate of sickness is higher

Feminization of Poverty

Older women are more likely to experience poverty than older men

• Earn less/lower pension

• Career interruptions from caregiving (children)

• Live longer/alone after widowhood

Healthy Immigrant Effect

Effect where people who newly move to a country have better health than its residents but this only lasts for a little while before conforming to the average

Multiple Jeopardy

Term that describes older people having to face multiple disadvantages/difficulties due to their identity

Cumulative Disadvantage

Disadvantages that lead to more disadvantages later in life (compounding)

Age Related Changes in the Body from Aging:

All fronts

• Larger, less efficient heart

• Weakened and smaller stomach/digestion

• Reduced hormones

• Weaker immune system

• Thinner, less elastic skin

• Reduce bone and muscle density

• Weaker change in reproductive functioning

• Reduced respiratory, urinary, neural function

Structural Brain Changes from Aging

• -0.2% volume per year after 35

• -0.5% per year after age 60

• Deterioration of both white and grey matter

• General shrinkage of everything and sulci (folds) widen

Functional Brain Changes with Aging

• Reduced dopamine function

  • Attention/memory/movement/reinforcement

• Reduced serotonin function

  • Mood, food, sleep, sex

Environmental interventions to support neuroplasticity in the aging brain

Diet, exercise, training programs (enriched environment)

Common theories of aging

• Genetic Theories of Aging

• Telomere Theory

• Free Radical Theory

Genetic Theories of Aging

• Several theories and variants that state aging is determined by specific genes

  • These genes contribute to age-related diseases and lifespan

• Although some species show little to no genetic evidence of biological aging, there are observed changes in majority of species

Heritability of Lifespan

• 25-30% of our lifespan is due to genetic factors, the rest from the environment

• heritable factors become more important as we age

Genes Associated with Longer Lifespan

• APOE (Chromosome 19)

• FOXO (Chromosome 6)

Genes associated with aging diseases

• KIBRA (Chromosome 5, Alzheimer’s and memory)

• LPA (Chromosome 6, Coronary artery and stroke)

• SH2B3 (Chromosome 12, Cancer and diabetes)

Interventions of aging

• Gene editing (medication that guides enzymes to chromosomes and snips out bad genes, chromosome re-heals)

• Viral vectors (using viruses to alter cell nuclei)

Telomere theory of aging

• Telomeres, repetitive DNA sequences/proteins found at the tips of chromosomes

• Determines number of times cell can divide before reaching the Hayflick limit

• With each cell division telomeres shorten and can no longer divide

  • called cellular senescence

  • develop into SASPs (senescence-associated secretory phenotypes)

Cellular senescence

A state of cell arrest where it can no longer divide, instead develops into SASPs (senescence-associated secretory phenotypes)

Senescence-associated secretory phenotypes

Cells undergoing cellular senescence that secrete molecules which damage surrounding healthy tissue

Free radical theory of aging

• Biological aging is determined by reactive oxygen species which causes cumulative damage to cells

Reactive Oxygen Species

Oxygen-containing molecules (e.g. O2, H2O2) that are the byproducts of ATP production

• Target macromolecules (e.g. carbs, protein, fatty lipids, DNA/RNA)

Hayflick Limit

Observation that cells undergo a finite amount of divisions before stopping, amount decreases with age

Age stereotypes

Ways of thinking that reflect beliefs about characteristics of age groups, albeit potentially wrong.

• Can be explicit (conscious beliefs, attitude, reasoning)

• or implicit (unconscious/subliminal, condescending)

Multiple Stereotype Model vs Stereotype Content Model

• Stereotype model with seven subtypes (positive/negative), used to compare several positive or negative stereotypes of older adults people have

• Stereotype model used to compare competence vs warmth across several social groups and classes, including elderly people

  • Who are supposedly low in competence and high in warmth

Ageism

Negative attitudes, discriminatory behavior, and institutional practices and policies against older adults that continue stereotypes

Elder Abuse

• Acts which causes harm or distress to an older person

• or a lack of appropriate action that also causes harm or distress

Rates of Elder Abuse

• 10% of elders in Canada in the past year

• Only 1 in 24 (~4%) cases is usually reported

Stereotype Threat

• Tendancy for members of a stereotyped group to underperform because of a stereotype that “activates” it

• In older adults: Memory, self-reported health, loneliness, help-seeking behavior

Self-stereotyping

• Tendancy for members of a stereotyped group to adopt and assimilate to the stereotypes themselves

• e.g.: gait, health behaviors, memory, etc.

Relationship between self-perception of aging, functional heath, and survival?

Positive self perceptions of aging lead to better functional health and therefore better survival (and the other way around too)

Factors that mediate self-perceptions of aging, functional health, and survival

• Perceived control

• Will to live