Kensinger: Aging

Question 1

What are 5 main aspects of aging?

Answer 1

• Social-emotional
• Societal
• Evolutionary
• Neurobiological
• Cognitive

Question 2

What are the 3 main socio-emotional aspects of aging?

Answer 2

1. Living with limitations (mobility, interests)
2. Smaller world (loneliness)
3. Purpose in life (retirement, depression, loss)

Question 3

What is ageism?

Answer 3

Prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination based on age

Question 4

What’s the difference between prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination?

Answer 4

Prejudice = how we feel
Stereotyping = how we think (takes individual dignity away)
Discrimination = how we act

Question 5

Why isn’t ageism banned yet?

Answer 5

It’s more socially accepted and often meant as an innocent thing

Question 6

What are the benefits of employing an older person?

Answer 6

• more experience
• less panic
• mentoring
• loyal

Question 7

What are 5 things you can do about ageism?

Answer 7

• raise awareness
• speak out
• no prejudices/stereotypes
• treat everyone the same
• promote inter-generational contact

Question 8

What is the consequence of exposure to ageism?

Answer 8

It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 9

What is a societal aspect of aging? Name three consequences of this

Answer 9

Due to baby-boom there are more older adults with increased longevity

1. Elderly live autonomously as long as possible
2. Increased pressure on family/caretakers
3. Financing retirements is problematic

Question 10

From an evolutionary perspective, why do we age?

Answer 10

• Evolutionary pressure of natural selection
• There is no evolutionary pressure to select genes that promote successful aging

Question 11

How does our sleep rhythm develop over age? What are the consequences of this?

Answer 11

• Less deep sleep
• More active in the morning
• Need for naps

Consequences: reduced cognitive performance, weaker memory consolidation

Question 12

What’s the difference between ontogenesis and fylogenesis?

Answer 12

Ontogenesis = individual development
Fylogenesis = development of the species

Question 13

What is dual aging?

Answer 13

More older adults and more longevity

Question 14

What are 4 main aspects of cognitive decline?

Answer 14

1. Regulative functions
2. Memory
3. Self-efficacy & self-management
4. Orienting

Question 15

What are considered regulative functions and how does this decline with age?

Answer 15

1. Stability and flexibility (switching tasks, shielding goals)
2. Working memory (updating, remembering)
3. Planning, impulse control

It declines because of deterioration PFC

Question 16

Which brain regions decline first with age?

Answer 16

(Dorsolateral) prefrontal cortex + hippocampus

Question 17

What is the difference between self-efficacy and self-management ability? How does this decline with age?

Answer 17

Self-efficacy = self-confidence
Self-management = capacity to control own behavior/emotions

This declines because of prefrontal decline

Question 18

Which type of memory gets harder to remember with age?

Answer 18

Contextual details of events (where, who, when)

Question 19

What are the 4 notions of orienting?

Answer 19

1. Notion of place (where you are)
2. Notion of temporal space (where were you then)
3. Notion of contextual space
4. Notion of autobiographical space (who are you)

Question 20

Which cognitive aspect declines fast with dementia?

Answer 20

Memory and orienting

Question 21

What are cognitive processes that remain stable with age and which processes can improve with age?

Answer 21

Stable: creativity, language, social

Improve: crystallized knowledge, wisdom

Question 22

What are the two main purposes of intervention and prevention in aging?

Answer 22

• promote resilience against stressors
• prevent neurocognitive decline

Question 23

Which three factors are important in personal differences in cognitive status with aging?

Answer 23

• lifestyle
• social connectedness/purpose in life
• brain and skill training

Question 24

What is most important to establish social connectedness at later age?

Answer 24

• intergenerational contact
• meaning
• activity
• competence

Question 25

What does skill training promote neurologically?

Answer 25

Structural and functional neural network connectivity

Question 26

What is the issue with research done in brain gymnastics?

Answer 26

Poor replicability and many studies aren't properly conducted

Question 27

What are the 4 criteria of the DSM to get the diagnosis of dementia?

Answer 27

1. Memory problems 2. Cognitive problems in at least another domain 3. Influences daily functioning 4. Clear consciousness, non-hallucinating

Question 28

Which 3 brain areas does dementia affect?

Answer 28

PFC --> cognitive functions Amygdala --> emotion regulation MTL/hippocampus --> memory consolidation

Question 29

What are 3 functions of social and affective factors in aging?

Answer 29

1 Influence speed of cognitive decline 2 Functions remain relatively reserved with age 3 Provide rich form of environmental support + cues for elderly

Question 30

What are three categories of theories of cognitive aging?

Answer 30

1. Focus on availability of resources 2. Focus on compensatory strategies 3. Focus on domain-specific areas of loss

Question 31

What does the theory that focuses on availability of resources say about cognitive aging?

Answer 31

- Cognitive resources are limited the older you get - Context influences availability resources (time of day)

Question 32

What are cognitive resources? What is the link with variability in socioaffective functioning in elderly?

Answer 32

Things like attention, efficiency, executive function and inhibition. Variability in socioaffective functioning has been linked to differences in availability of resources

Question 33

What is meant with 'convergence and divergence between resources and cognitive/sociaffective domains? How does this work?

Answer 33

Emotional/social memory is better preserved than nonsocial memory Emotional info can capture attention and arousing/self-relevant info is prioritized

Question 34

What is the main point of the focus on compensatory strategies theory?

Answer 34

Older adults recruit additional resources to attempt to address cognitive challenges

Question 35

What is the posterior-anterior shift with aging (PASA) model?

Answer 35

Identifies patterns of age-related changes across regions - Increased frontal lobe and decreased occipital lobe activity

Question 36

What do the HAROLD and CRUNCH models both tell?

Answer 36

Older adults need to recruit additional neural regions to support task performance

Question 37

What is the difference in strategies of reducing negative emotions between young and elderly?

Answer 37

Young: cognitive reappraisal Old: situation selection

Question 38

How do elderly differ from young in how they encode information concerning themselves?

Answer 38

Elderly tend to apply resources to process emotional info in a more controlled way than young adults

Question 39

What is the main aspect of the theory of domain-specific areas of loss?

Answer 39

Some age-related declines may not be explained by core deficits, but by changes that have a larger impact on 1 area of cognition than on the other

Question 40

Which two regions are least affected with aging? What is the consequence of this?

Answer 40

Ventromedial PFC + amygdala --> preservation of socioaffective functioning and emotions

Question 41

What is wisdom?

Answer 41

Ability that integrates socioaffective aging and cognitive function through the accumulation of knowledge, social/cognitive experience and emotional processes

Question 42

What are the main changes in the PFC with age?

Answer 42

Atrophy white and grey matter and hemispheric asymmetry reduction (HAROLD)

Question 43

What is mild cognitive aging?

Answer 43

When aging doesn't prevent performance of daily activities, but it can be fairly severe (e.g. memory loss)

Question 44

How do socio/emotional factors impact what is remembered from a scene?

Answer 44

Attention is oriented in older age --> attention often towards positive or self-relevant info

Question 45

What is the influence of emotion on cognition?

Answer 45

- Enhances attention and memory - Distracts, impedes task performance

Question 46

What are the benefits and negative aspects of social influences on cognition?

Answer 46

Benefits: 1. Large network --> boost memory accuracy 2. Mitigate learning/memory deficits in elderly Negatives: 1. Perspective taking difficulties 2. Social interactions remind elderly of ageism --> self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 47

Which type of intelligence declines with age?

Answer 47

Fluid intelligence

Question 48

Which component of the Theory of Mind is more preserved with age and which type of intelligence can protect from ToM declines?

Answer 48

Affective component is preserved Crystallized intelligence can help protect from ToM declines

Question 49

How does the cognitive ability of face recognition develop with age?

Answer 49

More difficulties recognizing (negative) basic emotions and attention is less eye-focused. The decline in fluid intelligence doesn't help

Question 50

What is the direction of the relationship between socioaffective function and cognitive function?

Answer 50

Bidirectional

Question 51

On which processes does cognition have an influence on socioaffective processing and on which processes does socioaffective processing have an inluence on cognition?

Answer 51

Cognition --> socioaff. - Emotional (re)appraisals - Social inferences Socioaff. --> Cognition - Attention - Memory

Question 52

How does the relationship between socioaffective processing and context develop with age?

Answer 52

Context has a larger influence on elderly, because the socioemotional information can come solely from the environment and they prioritize that type of info