COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN LATE ADULTHOOD CHAPTER 18 Lecture Prepared by: Dr. M. Sawhney

CHAPTER OUTLINE Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults Work & Retirement Mental Health Religion and Spirituality

COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER ADULTS Cognitive mechanics Cognitive pragmatics Speed of processing  Considerable individual variation in this ability

ATTENTION Selective attention Divided attention Sustained attention Executive attention

MEMORY  Episodic memory - Younger adults have better episodic memory  Semantic memory - Does not decline as drastically as episodic memory  Explicit and implicit memory - The latter is less likely to be adversely affected with aging than the former  Working memory and perceptual speed - Decline during the late adulthood years

MEMORY  Source memory - Ability to remember where one learned something  Prospective memory - Involves remembering to do something in the future Executive functioning  Aspects of working memory that especially decline in older adults involve:  Updating memory representations that are relevant for the task at hand  Replacing old, no longer relevant information Decision making - Preserved rather well in older adults

USE IT OR LOSE IT Use it or lose it  Certain mental activities can benefit the maintenance of cognitive skills  Research suggests that:  Mental exercise may reduce cognitive decline  Lower the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease

TRAINING COGNITIVE SKILLS  Improve the cognitive skills of many older adults  Some loss in plasticity in late adulthood, especially in the oldest-old  Cognitive vitality of older adults can be improved through cognitive and physical fitness training Cognitive vitality of older adults can be improved through cognitive and physical fitness training

TRAINING COGNITIVE SKILLS ReasoningMemorySpeed of Processing A control group (Willis, et al., 2006) Objective: To determine the effects of cognitive training on daily function and durability of training on cognitive abilities. Design: N= 2832 persons, 5 year follow-up of a randomized controlled with 4 treatment groups.

WORK & RETIREMENT Work  Cognitive ability is one of the best predictors of job performance in older adults  region-c-palm-beach- county/west-palm- beach/local-program-helps- seniors-transition-back-to- work

RETIREMENT In the US:  On average, workers will spend 10%-15% of their lives in retirement  Life paths for individuals in their 60s are less clear today  7 million retired Americans return to work after they retire  Different reasons to work after retirement

ADJUSTMENT TO RETIREMENT  Older adults who adjust best to retirement are:  Healthy  Active and have adequate income  Are better educated  Have extended social networks and family  Satisfied with their lives before retiring  Flexible and plan key factors

MENTAL HEALTH Depression  Gender differences  Common predictors  Earlier depressive symptoms  Poor health or disability  Loss events  Low social support

DEPRESSION  Treatable by combination of medications and psychotherapy.  Cognitive Behavior therapy  Interpersonal therapy  25% of individuals who commit suicide in the U.S. are 65 years of age or older

DEMENTIA & ALZHEIMER’S Dementia: Involve a deterioration of mental functioning  20% of individuals over the age of 80 have dementia Alzheimer disease: Gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually, physical function  Women are likely to develop Alzheimer disease  Causes:  Deterioration of the brain  Formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles  Lifestyle 

Early detection & drug treatment  Mild Cognitive Impairment  fMRI shows smaller brain regions involved in memory for individuals with MCI  Drug treatment of Alzheimer disease  Cholinerase inhibitors and other drugs slow the downward progression of the disease  Caring for individuals with Alzheimer disease  Support is often emotionally and physically draining for the family  Respite care services

PARKINSON DISEASE Parkinson disease: A chronic, progressive disease characterized by muscle tremors, slowing of movement, and facial paralysis  Causes  Several treatments are available

FEAR OF VICTIMIZATION, CRIME, & ELDER MISTREATMENT  Fear of crime  Institutional abuse  EuivTYI64  Older adults receive disproportionately fewer mental health services

RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY Older adults are spiritual leaders in many societies around the world Older adults have higher levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and optimism Religion provides important psychological needs