Physical and Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood

Flashcards about Physical and Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood

Life Span

The maximum number of years an individual can live.

Life Expectancy?

The number of years that the average person born in a particular year will probably live.

Young-Old

65-84 years of age.

Oldest-Old

85 years and older.

Functional Age

A person's actual ability to function.

Evolutionary Theory of Aging

Natural selection has not eliminated many harmful conditions and nonadaptive characteristics in older adults because it is linked to reproductive fitness.

Cellular Clock Theory

Cells can divide a maximum of about 75-80 times, and as we age, our cells become less capable of dividing.

Free-Radical Theory

People age because when cells metabolize energy, the by-products include unstable oxygen molecules that damage DNA and other cellular structures.

Mitochondrial Theory

Tiny bodies within cells that supply essential energy for function, growth, and repair, and aging is due to their decay.

Hormonal Stress Theory

Aging in the body’s hormonal system can lower resistance to stress and increase the likelihood of disease.

Allostasis

Adaptive in the short term, but continuous accommodation of physiological systems in response to stressors may result in a wearing down of body systems due to constant activity.

Why does brain weight and volume decrease in late adulthood?

Mainly due to shrinkage of neurons, lower numbers of synapses, and reduced length of axons.

What are Reductions in Acetylcholine linked to?

Linked to small declines in memory functioning and to the severe memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease.

What happens with a normal age-related reduction in dopamine?

Problems in planning and carrying out motor activities can occur.

What are Severe reductions in dopamine production linked to?

Linked with age-related diseases characterized by a loss of motor control, such as Parkinson's disease.

What does GABA do?

Helps to control the preciseness of the signal sent from one neuron to another and production decreases with aging.

Neurogenesis

Generation of new neurons.

Lateralization

Changes may provide one type of adaptation in aging adults; decrease plays a compensatory role in the aging brain.

What is Poor Sleep linked to?

Linked to a lower level of cognitive functioning.

What are good strategies to help older adults sleep better at night?

Avoiding caffeine, avoiding over-the-counter sleep remedies, staying physically active during the day, staying mentally active, and limiting naps.

What are Physical Appearance changes in Late Adulthood?

Wrinkles and age spots, becoming shorter, and weight usually drops after we reach 60 years of age.

Why do we get shorter as we get older?

Bone loss is a common cause of the decrease in height as we age.

How does Vision change with age?

Visual processing speed declines, dark adaptation is slower, and the area of the visual field becomes smaller.

Cataracts

A thickening of the lens of the eye that causes vision to become cloudy, opaque, and distorted.

Glaucoma

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

Macular Degeneration

Deterioration of the macula of the retina, which corresponds to the focal center of the visual field.

How does hearing change in late adulthood?

Inability to hear sounds at frequencies higher than 25 dB with their better ear, usually due to degeneration of the cochlea.

What percentage of the population over the age of 65 is estimated to be legally deaf?

15% of the population over the age of 65.

How does Smell and Taste change as we age?

Lose some of their sense of smell or taste, beginning around 60 years of age.

How does touch change as we age?

Detect touch less in the lower extremities than in the upper extremities.

How does the Circulatory System and Lungs change as we age?

Cardiovascular disorders increase.

How does Health change as we age?

More susceptible to disease or illness and likely to have some type of impairment as they age.

Arthritis

The most common chronic disorder in late adulthood, followed by hypertension.

What age group is more likely to die of cancer or cardiovascular disease?

Adults 65 to 74 years old.

Arthritis

An inflammation of the joints accompanied by pain, stiffness, and movement problems.

Osteoporosis

An extensive loss of bone tissue.

How to prevent Osteoporosis?

Eating foods rich in calcium, exercising regularly, and avoiding smoking.

What ranking of leading cause of death are unintended accidents among older adults?

9th leading cause of death among older adults.

Falls

Leading cause of injury deaths among adults aged 65 and older.

Late-onset Alcoholism

The onset of alcoholism after the age of 65, often related to loneliness, loss of a spouse, or a disabling condition.

Resistance exercise

Can preserve and possibly increase muscle mass in older adults.

Obesity

Linked to the acceleration of diseases in many older adults and is a risk factor for an earlier death.

Antioxidants

Vitamin C, E, and beta-carotene that help to slow the aging process and improve the health of older adults.

Geriatric Nurse

Can be especially helpful in treating the health care problems of older adults.

Cognitive Mechanics

“Hardware” of the mind and reflect the neurophysiological architecture of the brain developed through evolution.

Cognitive Pragmatics

Culture-based “software programs” of the mind.

Selective Attention

Older adults are less adept at this than younger adults are.

Divided Attention

Involves concentrating on more than one activity at the same time.

Sustained Attention

Focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or some other aspect of the environment; vigilance.

Executive Attention

Involves action planning, allocating attention to goals, error detection and compensation, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances.

Episodic Memory

The retention of information about the where and when of life’s happenings.

Semantic Memory

A person’s knowledge about the world.

Tip-of-the-Tongue (TOT) Phenomenon

Individuals can’t quite retrieve familiar information but have the feeling that they should be able to retrieve it.

What is Working Memory decline during late adulthood years?

Less efficient at inhibition in preventing irrelevant information from entering. Increased distractibility.

Perceptual Speed

A cognitive resource that involves the ability to perform simple perceptual-motor tasks and shows considerable decline.

Explicit Memory

Memory of facts and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state; declarative memory.

Implicit Memory

Memory without conscious recollection, involving skills and routine procedures that are automatically performed.

Source Memory

The ability to remember where one learned something; failures of this increase with age.

Prospective Memory

Remembering to do something in the future.

Wisdom

Expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgement about important matters.

Terminal Decline

Changes in cognitive functioning linked more to distance from death or cognition-related pathology than to distance from birth.

Scaffolding

Involves the use of complementary neural circuits to protect cognitive functioning in an aging brain.

Who adjusts best to Retirement?

Healthy, have adequate income, active, better educated, and have extended social networks.

Depression

Mood disorder in which the individual is deeply unhappy, demoralized, self-derogatory, and bored.

Dementia

Any neurological disorder in which the primary symptoms involve a deterioration of mental functioning.

Alzheimer's Disease

A progressive, irreversible brain disorder that is characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and physical function; involves a deficiency in the important brain messenger chemical acetylcholine.

Respite Care

Services that provide temporary relief for those who are caring for individuals with disabilities, illnesses, or the elderly.

Parkinson's Disease

Chronic, progressive disease characterized by muscle tremors, slowing of movement, and partial facial paralysis; triggered by degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)

Involves implantation of electrodes within the brain.

Integrity vs. Despair

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

Life Review

Looking back at one’s life experiences, evaluating them, interpreting them, and often reinterpreting them.

Activity Theory

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

Socioemotional activity Theory

Become more selective about their social networks, place a high value on emotional satisfaction, and spend more time with familiar individuals with whom they have had rewarding relationships.

Selection

Based on the concept that older adults have a reduced capacity and loss of functioning; they require a reduction in performance in most life domains.

Optimization

Possible to maintain performance in some areas through continued practice and the use of new technologies.

Compensation

Relevant when life tasks require a level of capacity beyond the current level of older adult’s performance potential.

Possible Selves

What individuals might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming.

Ageism

Prejudice against others because of their age, especially against older adults.

Eldercare

The physical and emotional caretaking of older members of the family, whether that care involves day-to-day physical assistance or responsibility for arranging and overseeing such care.

Generational Inequity

The view that our aging society is being unfair to its younger members because older adults pile up advantages by receiving an inequitably large allocation of resources.

Social Support

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