Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
1
Roadmap
• A fine time to be old
2
A fine time to be old . . . .
• There are a lot of us
3
A fine time to be old . . . .
• There are a lot of us
– Camaraderie
– Political clout
– Opportunity to redefine what it means to be old
• Technology
– Help to maintain independence
– Facilitate contact with loved ones & current events
• Society more accepting of diversity
– Universal access
• New discoveries about the aging mind & brain
4
The Old View
1 All cognitive functions decline with aging
6
Cognitive loss is selective: some abilities
decline but others improve, and people differ
High
• What declines?
– Speed
– Long-term memory & learning
• most kinds
– Executive control & working
memory
– Word finding/retrieval
Low
• What is spared/improved?
– Vocabulary & world knowledge Age
– Some aspects of problem solving & decision making
• Interpersonal & real-world ill-defined problems
• Delaying rewards in decision making (including financial)
– Regulating emotions
Note: Gradual across adult years
Data from Park et al 2002
7
People Differ
Fast
Speed
Slow
9
"This is the best time of my life. I love being
old. . . . Because I am more myself than I
have ever been. There is less conflict. . . I
am surer of what my life is all about, have
less self-doubt to conquer.”
– May Sarton At seventy: A journal
10
The New View . . .
11
Brain Loss: Also Selective
Naftali Raz
Wayne State
Kristen Kennedy
U T Dallas
Karen Rodrigue
U T Dallas
14
Lifelong Neural Plasticity
• Normal aging doesn’t lead to loss of neurons
• Throughout life, we can grow
– new blood vessels (angiogenesis)
– new connections among neurons (synaptogenesis)
– new neurons (neurogenesis)
• Hippocampus
• This lifelong neural plasticity is experience
dependent
15
The New View . . .
16
Promoting Healthy Cognitive/Brain Aging
– “Brain games” (typically computer-based)
– Social engagement
– Diet
– Physical exercise
– Lifelong bilingualism
– Meditation
– Taking on new learning (e.g., photography, new
language)
– Teaching & practicing reasoning skills
– Attitudes toward aging
http://coah.jhu.edu/research/projects/Experience_Corps_pages/
Baltimore’s EC Home Page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxN47eKtB88&feature=related
Advantages for older adults
19
• 2 year-long
randomized clinical
trial with 111
participants
20
Clinical Trials of Lifestyle Changes
• Growing number of studies showing effects on
– task performance
– brain function and structure
– subsequent lifestyle changes
• Exciting because of broad advantages for
individual and society
• But . . .
– Hard to know what is causing changes—often loose
controls
– Very expensive to conduct
– Can be hard to get funded
21
22
23
NAP.EDU
24
The New View . . .
25
AD isn’t just accelerated aging
• Different patterns of brain loss in aging & AD
– loss of neurons in AD, but not in normal aging
26
AD isn’t just accelerated aging
• Different patterns of brain loss in aging & AD
– loss of neurons in AD, but not in normal aging
– different pattern of brain changes
• The bad news
– Drug trials continue to be discouraging
– Treatment starting too late in disease?
• Brain pathology (plaques & tangles) starts decades before any
cognitive symptoms appear
• New drug trials trying to target earlier before cognitive symptoms
• Some good news
– Lifestyle matters
– Incidence of dementia
27
Good news: Lifestyle factors matter
• (Some?) lifestyle factors that promote healthy
cognitive aging may delay the symptoms
and/or brain pathology of AD
– E.g., attitudes toward aging, lifelong bilingualism
28
Attitudes and AD Biomarkers
Becca Levy
31
The New View
1 Cognitive/brain loss is selective
– some components decline but others don’t
– people differ
32
Thank you &
congratulations!!g
33
Extra Slides Follow
34
• Suggestion for general psychology reading: Current
Directions in Psychological Science
35
Population Pyramids
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-population-pyramid
1950
1995 2050
65-year-olds 85-year-olds 36
Cognitive loss is selective: some abilities decline but
others improve, and people differ
Good
Poor
38
With increasing age found . . . .
– Fewer self-references
– More future-tense & fewer past-tense verbs
– More positive & fewer negative affect words
39
Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)
http://adni.loni.usc.edu/study-design/background-rationale/ 40