Psychology and behavorial sciences - Theme
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The most notable cognitive declines as a result of aging are: difficulty paying attention to relevant information and ignoring irrelevant information, word-finding difficulties, problems remembering the context in which information was learned.
Aging affects a range of cognitive functions, but there is one core deficit, according to domain-general theories of aging. There are three possible core deficits:
It is possible to explain the effects of cognitive aging by changes that have a larger impact on one area of cognition than another, according to the domain-general theories of aging. There are two main domain-general theories of cognitive aging:
There are two cognitive functions that remain stable or improve with age:
Healthy aging is associated with brain changes, but not all regions are affected equally. There are three main changes in the brain associated with healthy aging:
Advancing age can be associated with more severe impairments in recent memory, although these deficits do not impair their ability to function in daily life. A diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment requires subjective memory complaints, an impairment in one area of cognition but with deficits not severe enough to impair their ability to function in daily life. The vast majority of patients with mild cognitive impairment will eventually also develop dementia. The link between mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease is supported by the high conversion rate and the overlapping neuropathological and genetic features
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause (2/3) for all cases of dementia. The disease can only be confirmed at an autopsy. The clinical profile requires memory impairment plus decline in one other area of cognition. The deficits must have a gradual onset and they must progress continually and irreversibly. There are several results of Alzheimer’s disease:
Plaques and tangles are often apparent throughout the brain in later stages of Alzheimer’s disease. In the early course of the disease, the medial temporal-lobe regions are the most affected. The hippocampal formation also shows atrophy and a volumetric reduction in the entorhinal cortex. The amygdala is affected early on as well. This explains why patients with Alzheimer’s disease do not show an improved memory for emotional information. The nucleus basalis also shows significant cell loss.
In later stages of the disease, there is increased atrophy throughout the medial temporal-lobe and the cellular abnormalities also become apparent in the frontal lobe and throughout the temporal lobe.
Mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease do not have a single cause, but arise due to a combination of many factors, both environmental and genetical.
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This bundle contains a summary for the course "Developmental Psychology" taught at the University of Amsterdam. This contains the book: "An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition)" and several articles.
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great summary! Roos Heeringa contributed on 31-12-2020 11:25
Hey Jesper, great summary! Very clear and concise explanations! I do have one question; why can the disease of Alzheimer only be confirmed in an autopsy? Is there no way to see it in a scan of sorts?
Reply to Roos Heeringa JesperN contributed on 31-12-2020 15:09
Hi, Roos! Thank you!
To answer your question, Alzheimer's disease is typified by atrophy in brain areas such as the hippocampus (but in later stages also other areas) and by plaques. The current neuroimaging techniques are unable to show the specific atrophy and plaque build-up needed to officially diagnose Alzheimer's disease. In practice, however, the diagnosis is based on behavioural outcomes and projections of future behaviour (e.g. more specific cognitive decline) due to the impossibility to look into the brain! Hope this answers your questions!
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