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Silver Threads Among the Gold. Continuing Development. Growing As We Age. Age distribution of U.S population, 1980, 1990, and 2002. Year 1980. Year 1990 . Year 2002. 85+ 80-84 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14 5-9 0-4.
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Silver Threads Among the Gold Continuing Development
Age distribution of U.S population,1980, 1990, and 2002 Year 1980 Year 1990 Year 2002 85+ 80-84 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14 5-9 0-4 0% 5 % 10% 0% 5 % 10% 0% 5 % 10% Data source: The Bureau of the Census
Our Aging Populace • The most rapidly growing age group worldwide is that over the age of 85 years. • In the United States there are currently about 4 million persons over the age of 85; by 2050, nearly 19 million are projected.
Thornton Wilder 1897-1975 • THE EIGHTH DAY, 1967 • THE DRUNKEN SISTERS, 1970 • THEOPHILUS NORTH, 1973
Pablo Ruiz Picasso 1881-1973 The Chicago Picasso 1967
Alberta Hunter (1895-1984) Legendary blues singer, lyricist, and actress Alberta Hunter, a distinctive stylist and one of the top recording artists in the 1920s and 1930s, experienced a dramatic comeback in her old age.
Bertrand Arthur William Russell 1872 - 1970 Just a few examples of Russell’s late life (age 75-97) work • (1949) The Philosophy of Logical Atomism • (1954) Human Society in Ethics and Politics • (1955) Russell-Einstein Manifesto • (1957) Organizes the first Pugwash Conference • (1958) Founding President of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament • (1961) Imprisoned for one week in connection with anti-nuclear protests
Frank Lloyd Wright 1867-1959 • Price Company Tower (1952) • Beth Sholom Synagogue (1954) • Guggenheim Museum, (1956) • Marin County Civic Center (1957)
AGING • Healthy Aging • Pathologies of Aging
How to Age Successfully • Genes • Diet/Nutrition • Stay Healthy • Reduce Stress • EXERCISE • Body • Brain
Study Approaches • Micro-approaches • Macro-approaches
Brain Aging • Structural Brain Changes • Functional Changes in Brain and Behavior
Changes in Brain Structure • Brain Aging is Selective • Regions • Tissue Type • Gray Matter • White Matter • Timing • Last in – First out • Nature of Change
Gray Matter Volume White Matter Volume Courchesne, E., et al Normal brain development and aging: quantitative analysis at in vivo MR imaging in healthy volunteers, Radiology, 216 (2000) 672-682.
MRI Postmortem Courchesne, E., et al Normal brain development and aging: quantitative analysis at in vivo MR imaging in healthy volunteers, Radiology, 216 (2000) 672-682.
Changes in Brain Function • Patterns of Brain Activation • Compensatory Plasticity • Non-selective Recruitment • Inhibitory Control of Attention & Behavior • Evidence from EEG • Evidence from PET/FMRI • Animal Models (Center Surround)
Models of Cognitive Aging • Generalized Slowing • Working Memory • Dedifferentiation • Inhibition
Cognitive Aging • Sensory • Motor • Memory • Attention
Aging Attention • Selectivity • Sustained Attention • Divided Attention • Shifting Attention • Spatial Attention • Consequences of Degraded Attention
Shifting Attention Summary • Speed of attention deployment does not change with healthy aging • The ability to gate (inhibit) irrelevant sensory information diminishes with normal aging • This effect may be modality-specific • Decline of gating is most apparent over frontal regions suggesting age-related changes in frontal inhibitory functions
Aging & Memory • Most common complaint of aging is declining memory ability • Overview • Memory • Short-term memory, Long-term memory • Memory in normal aging • Memory in pathological (abnormal) aging
Common “forms” of memory • Short-term (Immediate or Working) memory • Limited storage capacity • Limited duration (seconds, minutes) • Linked to attention • Long-term memory • Unlimited capacity • Long duration (minutes to decades) • multifaceted
Normal Aging and Memory • Anna Thompson of South Boston employed as a cook in a school cafeteria reported at the City Hall Station that she had been held up on State Street the night before and robbed $56. She had four small children the rent was due and they had not eaten for two days. The police, touched by the woman‘s story took up a collection for her.
Aging and dementia • Dementia is leading cause of cognitive disability in elderly • Definition: The loss of intellectual functions (such as thinking, remembering, and reasoning) of sufficient severity to interfere with a person’s daily functioning. • Memory + one other area of functioning • ~50% of people > 85 years have cognitive impairment or dementia • Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia
AD and the brain: imaging PET: Metabolism
Memory & aging summary • Aging changes most pronounced in long-term memory • Decline is inevitable, but highly variable • Memory changes linked to medial temporal lobe changes • Many elderly people (>85 years) develop severe cognitive disability (e.g., dementia) limiting everyday functioning • Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia • AD is NOT accelerated aging
Additional References • Baltes, P.B. and Lindenberger, U., Emergence of a powerful connection between sensory and cognitive functions across the adult life span: a new window to the study of cognitive aging?, Psychology and Aging, 12 (1997) 12-21. • Birren, J.E. and Fisher, L.M., Aging and speed of behavior: possible consequences for psychological functioning, Annual Review of Psychology, 46 (1995) 329-53. • Chao, L.L. and Knight, R.T., Prefrontal deficits in attention and inhibitory control with aging, Cerebral Cortex, 7 (1997) 63-69. • Craik, F.I.M. and T.A. Salthouse, eds. The handbook of aging and cognition. Second ed. 2000, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. • Hasher, L., Zacks, R. T. (1988). Working memory, comprehension, and aging: A review and a new view. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 22, 193-225. • Polich, J., EEG and ERP assessment of normal aging, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 104 (1997) 244-256. • Raz, N., Gunning-Dixon, F.M., Head, D., Dupuis, J.H. and Acker, J.D., Neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive aging: Evidence from structural magnetic resonance imaging, Neuropsychology, 12 (1998). • Salthouse, T.A., Independence of age-related influences on cognitive abilities across the life span, Developmental Psychology, 34 (1998) 851-64.