PSY Lecture 9

How old was the oldest person who lived?

122 years old

What was the life expectancy in Canada in 2015 for males at birth?

79.8 years

What was the life expectancy in Canada in 2015 for Females at birth?

83.9 years

What was the life expectancy in Canada in 2015 for males at age 20?

80.5 years

T or F: The gender gap of life expectancy has narrowed over the last 20 years

True

What reasons contribute to the narrowing of the gender gap?

Less violent death of men
Women are more independent by working, smoking and drinking

Active life expectancy

Life expectancy free from disease and impairment

Dependent life expectancy

Total life expectancy including disease and impairment

Health Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)

Number of expected years of life lived in good health

How is HALE calculate?

Calculated based on self-reported impairment from sensory
(vision, hearing, speech), walking/moving, dexterity, emotion,
cognition, and pain

What is the HALE in Canada for Males at birth?

69 years old

What is the HALE in Canada for Males at age 20?

71.1 years old

What is the HALE in Canada for Females at birth?

70.5 years old

What is the HALE in Canada for Females at birth?

72.3 years old

According to HALE, how many years on average do men live with health impairments?

10 years

According to HALE, how many years on average do women live with health impairments?

14 years

Men suffer from more _____ conditions, Women suffer from more ____ conditions

Fatal, Chronic

How many years old is Young-Old?

60-80 years old

How many years old is oldest-old?

80+ years old

What are some highlights of young-old?

• Increase life expectancy, living longer, aging better
• Potential for physical and mental fitness
• Cognitive and emotional reserves in aging mind
• High levels of emotional and personal well being
• Effect strategies to master gains and losses of later life
• Adapt to changes physically and mentally

What are some highlights of Oldest-old?

• Loss in cognitive potential and ability to learn
• Increase in negative effects of stress
• High prevalence of dementia, frailty, chronic conditions
• Problems with quality of life, dying with dignity
• Harder but not impossible to learn new things

Demographers

People who study population trends

Population pyramid

Graphic technique for illustrating population trends

What is the relation between education level and life expectancy/

Better-educated people tend to live longer—mostly because they have higher incomes, which give them better access to good health care and a chance to follow healthier lifestyles

What country is seeing the largest increase in proportion of older adults?

Japan

What are two factors that are important to consider when discussing the general aging of the global population

a declining birth rate in many countries, often tied to increases in opportunities for women (such as education and careers)
Especially due to more people living longer.

How long we live depends on the complex interactions among ____, _____, _____ and _____

biological, psychological, socioeconomic, and life-cycle forces

average longevity

Age at which half of the people born in a particular year will have died.

maximum longevity (life expectancy)

Oldest age to which any person lives.

According to research, what is the maximum longevity of humans?

Around 120 years
Due to key body systems such as the cardiovascular system have limits on how long they can last

What percent of the variation in human longevity is due to a person's genetics?

About 25%

T or F: Living in poverty shortens longevity

True

Describe the differences in life expectancy for African Americans vs European Americans over the lifespan

At birth:
4 years less for African American men
3 years less for African American men

At age 65:
2 years less for African Americans

At age 85:
African Americans tend to out live European Americans

What does the wide diversity in life expectancy differences among different countries reflect?

A vast discrepancy in genetic, socio-cultural and economic conditions, health care, disease, and the like across industrialized and developing nations.

Gerontologists believe old age was a time for what?

Potential growth than of decline

What type of news about aging is the third age classified as?

The good news

What type of news about aging is the fourth age classified as?

The Bad News

What does Metabolic Theory of Aging state?

We have limited energy to spend in a lifetime
The rate of a creature’s metabolism is related to how long it lives
Only evidence for slight increase in longevity from reduced
calories eaten

What does Genetic Programming Theory of Aging state?

The idea that aging is genetically programmed; “biological clock”
• E.g., programmed cell death, clocklike changes in hormones

What does the Wear and Tear Theory of Aging state?

Body gradually deteriorates over time, tissues become stiffer, muscles and arteries become less flexible
• E.g., osteoarthritis

What do the Cellular Theories of Aging state?

Focuses on the number of times cells can divide, which presumably limits the life span of a complex organism

What possibly causes cells to limit their number of divisions?

Telomeres

What are telomeres

Tips of chromosomes are shortened each time after cell replication – eventually chromosomes become unstable and can’t replicate

Describe the Hayflick Limit?

states that a normal human cell can only replicate and divide forty to sixty times before it cannot divide anymore, leading to cellular aging

Telomerase

The enzyme needed in DNA replication to fully reproduce the telomeres when cells divide.

What might accelerate the changes that occur in telomeres and thereby shorten one's lifespan?

Chronic stress

What does the free radical theory of aging state?

Proposes that aging is caused by unstable molecules called free radicals, which are highly reactive chemicals produced randomly in normal metabolism

free radicals

Highly reactive chemicals produced randomly in normal metabolism that bond easily to other substances inside cells; may
cause cellular damage associated with aging

E.g., cause cell damage to heart by changing oxygen levels in cells

What is the role of antioxidants?

prevent formation of free radicals
Don't necessarily increase lifespan, but may postpone cancer and Heart disease

Free radicals may have a role in the development of what disease?

alzheimer's disease

What are some common antioxidants?

vitamins A, C, and E, and coenzyme Q

neurofibrillary tangles

Fibers that are part of axons of neurons become “tangled” together to form spiral-shaped masses

Neuritic Plaques

damaged and dying neurons that collect around a core protein

beta-amyloid

A protein that is the basis for neuritic plaques and is thought to be a basis for dementia.

What is the most important normative changes with age according to Neuroscience research

involves structural changes in the neurons, the basic cells in the brain, and in how they communicate

What are the three structural changes that are important in normal aging?

neurofibrillary tangles, dendritic changes, and neuritic plaques.

Large amount of neurofibrillary tangles are associated with

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia

T or F: With old age, dendrites only shrivel and die

False, some continue to grow in certain part of the brain, explaining why older adults continue to improve in some areas

neurotransmitters

Chemicals released by neurons in order for them to communicate with each other.

Describe the level of neurotransmitters an older adult would have?

Declining levels

What neurotransmitter is especially important for cognitive processes

Dopamine

Declining levels of dopamine are associated with what?

Memory and sleep changes, along with Parkinson's Disease

structural neuroimaging

Neuroimaging technique such as CT and MRI scans that provides highly detailed images of anatomical features in the brain.

functional neuroimaging

Neuroimaging technique that provides an indication of brain activity but not high anatomical detail.

atherosclerosis

A disease caused by calcification and blockages in the arteries.

strokes, or cerebral vascular accidents (CVAs)

Interruption of the blood flow in the brain due to blockage or a hemorrhage in a cerebral artery.

What is the most common cause of death in the United States

Cardiovascular disease

What two factors have lead to a decline in cardiovascular disease in the recent decades?

fewer adults smoke cigarettes and many people have reduced the amount of fat in their diets

What are the two important age-related structural changes in the heart?

the accumulation of fat deposits and the stiffening of the heart muscle caused by tissue changes.

What are the two important age-related structural changes in the circulatory system?

Calcification of the arterial walls causing them to stiffen and fat deposits in the arteries can create blockages that restrict blood flow

transient ischemic attacks (TIAs)

Interruption of blood flow to the brain; often an early warning sign of stroke.

What factors determine the recovery from a stroke?

the extent and type of the loss, the ability of other areas in the brain to assume the functions that were lost, and personal motivation

vascular dementia

Disease caused by numerous small cerebral vascular accidents

T or F: Vascular Dementia can have a sloe onset and may progress quickly

False, it can have a sudden onset and may progress slowly

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Most common form of incapacitating respiratory disease among older adults

What causes the maximum amount of air in one breath drops 40% from age 25 to age 85?

The stiffening of the rib cage and air passages with age and to destruction of the air sacs in the lungs by pollution and smoking

What cognitive functions improve in older adults from playing video games?

Memory, attention, reaction and overall improvement in the mechanics of intelligence

What is related to less cognitive decline?

Education, high literacy, engaging work, active lifestyle and learning new things

What are the 3 mechanisms of neuroplasticity?

Neurogenesis, changes in structure and functional changes

speed of processing

How quickly and efficiently the early steps in information processing are completed.

T or F:Speed of processing slows down with age, however, the rate that cognitive processes slow down from young adulthood to late life varies a great deal depending on the task

True

What is the most important reason speed of processing slows down?

older adults take longer to decide that they need to respond, especially when the situation involves ambiguous information

divided attention

The ability of people to perform more than one task simultaneously

What is the difference between a younger adult vs an older adult when it comes to multitasking?

Older adults are just as able to multitask, but they perform each task a bit more slowly compared to younger adult

This true until tasks become complex

When walking and talking, what do older adults prioritize?

Walking and maintaining balance
In other words, older adults focused on the task most important to them

What is the most important cognitive ability that humans have?

Memory

working memory

Processes and structures involved in holding information in mind and simultaneously using it for other functions
Ex-solve a problems, make a decisions, perform some
functions, or learn new information.

How would you describe the capacity of working memory?

small

What area of the brain do older activate more during easier tasks?

Prefrontal cortex

T or F: Evidence indicates there is significant age-related increase in working memory

False, there is a decline, although the extent of the decline is still in doubt

implicit memory

Unconscious remembering of information learned at some earlier time.

explicit memory

Deliberate and conscious remembering of information that is learned and remembered at a specific time.

episodic memory

General class of memory having to do with the conscious recollection of information from a specific time or event.

semantic memory

General class of memory concerning the remembering of meanings of words or concepts not tied to a specific time or event.

autobiographical memory

Memory for events that occur during one’s life.

How is autobiographical organized?

In the order in which the events occurred
This allows people to remember events from a particular time period and can trigger others

T or F: Older adults tend to remember more negative events than positive

False, they remember more positive events than negative and even put a more positive spin on events once remembered more negatively

What compensatory strategy does the older adult brain use in the parietal and frontal regions of the brain?

Since older adults have less extensive neural networks in these areas than younger adults, these lobes show higher levels of activity in comparison to younger adults

T or F: There is no magic number of times a person must forget something before it becomes a matter for concern

True

external memory aids

Memory aids that rely on environmental resources, such as notebooks and calendars