Cognitive Aging Pt. 1 (Age-Related Changes)

Question 1

what does cognitive aging have

Answer 1

variability but there is a general decline in cognitive performance

Question 2

what are the two factors that impact cognitive aging

Answer 2

genes and environment

Question 3

what is a result of cognitive aging

Answer 3

decrease in cognitive function and an increase in dementia risk

Question 4

what did the Alzheimer’s disease neuroimaging initiative study measure

Answer 4

memory and executive function

Question 5

what is crystallized intelligence

Answer 5

skills, ability, knowledge that is overlearned, well-practiced and familiar

Question 6

what is an example of crystallized intelligence

Answer 6

vocabulary

Question 7

what remains stable and can even improve with age into 70s or 80s

Answer 7

crystallized intelligence

Question 8

what is fluid intelligence

Answer 8

learning, processing, integrating new info; attending to and manipulating your enrivonment

Question 9

what are exmples of fluid intelliegnce

Answer 9

executive functioning, processing speed, memory, psychomotor ability and problem sovling

Question 10

what age does fluid intelligence peak at and them gradually decline

Answer 10

25-30 years old

Question 11

what are the domains of cognitive ability

Answer 11

• processing speed
• attention
• memory
• language
• visuospatial abilities
• executive functioning

Question 12

what is processing speed

Answer 12

speed that cognitive abilities are performed, as well as speed of motor responses

Question 13

when does processing speed start to decline

Answer 13

gradual decline in 3rd decade of life and continues through lifespan

Question 14

what is attention

Answer 14

the ability to concetrate and focus on a specific stimulus or task

Question 15

what does sustained attention do with age

Answer 15

may improve

Question 16

what is selective attention

Answer 16

the ability to focus on specific into while ignoring irrelevant info

Question 17

what is divided attention

Answer 17

ability to focus on multiple tasks at the same time

Question 18

what affects complex task performance

Answer 18

aging

Question 19

what is one of the most common cognitive complaints among older adults

Answer 19

memory changes

Question 20

what are the two types of memory changes

Answer 20

declarative (explicit) and non-declarative (implicit)

Question 21

what is declarative (explicit) memory changes

Answer 21

conscious recollection of facts and events

Question 22

what are the different types of declarative memory changes

Answer 22

semantic and episodic

Question 23

what is semantic memory change

Answer 23

common knowledge, acquired facts that decline minorly only in late life

Question 24

what is episodic memory change

Answer 24

memory for personally experienced events like specific place and time

Question 25

what is episodic memory changes measured by

Answer 25

memory of personal stories, word lists that is a lifelong gradual decline

Question 26

what is non-declarative (implicit) memory change

Answer 26

outside awareness

Question 27

what is procedural

Answer 27

memory for motor and cognitive skills

Question 28

what is acquisition and how does it decline

Answer 28

the ability to encode new information into memory and declines with age

Question 29

what is preserved as cognitively healthy

Answer 29

retention of information that is successfully learned

Question 30

what is retrieval and how does it decline

Answer 30

the ability to access learned information and declines with age

Question 31

what is language

Answer 31

a complex cognitive domain composed of both crystallized and fluid cognitive abilities

Question 32

how does language change with age

Answer 32

it remains stable and can even improve

Question 33

what is visual confrontation naming

Answer 33

the ability to see a common object and name it

Question 34

when does visual confrontation naming decline

Answer 34

stable until 70 YO and then declines

Question 35

what is verbal fluency

Answer 35

ability to perform a word search and generate words for a certain category

Question 36

when does verbal fluency decline

Answer 36

steady decline with aging after 3rd decade

Question 37

what is visuospatial abilities

Answer 37

ability to understand, interpret and manipulate objects in 2D and 3D

Question 38

what are examples of visuospatial abilities

Answer 38

object perception, ability to recognize familar obejcts or faces, perception of physical locations of objects

Question 39

when does visuospatial abilities decline

Answer 39

remains intact with aging but noticebale decline for more complex tasks

Question 40

what is executive functioning

Answer 40

higher order functioning

Question 41

what are examples of executive functioning

Answer 41

self-monitor, planning, organization, reasoning, mentally flexible, and problem solving

Question 42

when does executive functioning exhibit decline

Answer 42

with age especially after 70 YO

Question 43

what are the different tests of executive functioning

Answer 43

the stroop test and the wisconsin card-sorting test

Question 44

what is the mini-mental state exam (MMSE)

Answer 44

a test of cognition that povides objective evidence to identify and diagnose congitive impairment

Question 45

what occurs to the brain during normal aging

Answer 45

loss of gray matter and white matter causing decreased total volume

Question 46

what occurs to the number of neurons during normal brain aging

Answer 46

the number doesn't change

Question 47

what does slow atrophy of neurons in the brain result in with normal brain aging

Answer 47

results in a loss of synapses up to 1% per year

Question 48

what occurs to the signal transmission along axon in normal aging

Answer 48

it remains intact

Question 49

what parts of the brain shrink with aging

Answer 49

- flattened gyri - increased subarachoid space - enalrged ventricles - widened gulia

Question 50

what occur to neurons with age

Answer 50

no significant loss of neurons with age

Question 51

what occurs to the neuron size with aging

Answer 51

fewer larger neurons and more smaller neurons