Introduction
Peter G. Coleman, Ann O’Hanlon in Aging and Development, 2017
As part of a developmental series, this book is concerned to introduce readers to ways of thinking about growing old as continued growth, in which persons in later life continue to develop new capacities and adapt successfully to the physical and social problems that arise, such as increasing likelihood of health problems and experience of loss. It is not a book about the psychological decrements of aging. This is not to deny that these issues exist and that they are worthy of study. In fact most of the early work in the psychology of aging was of this character, for example in the performance comparisons between different age groups pioneered in Britain by Francis Galton. Their subsequent dominance of the field has made it almost natural to associate the psychology of aging with the psychology of decline. There are excellent introductory books available on cognitive aging that detail findings on changes in performance with age in various fields such as memory, reaction time and problem solving. This book is about the emotional, relational and internal responses to living a long time that reveal the more positive side of the experience of aging.
Introduction
Lars-Göran Nilsson, Nobuo Ohta in Dementia and Memory, 2013
There is great variability in performance in cognitive aging. This variability has not been given the attention it deserves in research during the last three or four decades. This is somewhat surprising given that research on cognitive aging has flourished and increased in volume during this period. To illustrate this, it might be mentioned as a curiosity that, according to Web of Science, there were six papers published in this field in 1970, 14 papers in 1980, 83 in 1990, 1,797 papers in 2000, and 5,381 papers in 2010. A major reason for this development is of course the realization that there are many important issues to cover in this research. In addition to the large variability in cognitive performance mentioned, when does cognitive decline start, is dementia inevitable, and can markers be found early for persons who later will develop dementia are other issues that are intensively studied in many laboratories around the world, contributing to the great increase in published papers in this field. The present chapter will cover these issues in turn.
General Cognitive Changes with Aging
José León-Carrión, Margaret J. Giannini in Behavioral Neurology in the Elderly, 2001
There is both evidence for a generalized factor of cognitive aging, which affects multiple functions, and evidence of more specific decline in various functions themselves. The evidence for a generalized factor of declining processing speed is largely statistically based and may overstate its influence or component value on other cognitive processes. Nevertheless, there is no question that processing speed is very much related to age and that it has a significant relationship to other cognitive capabilities. In this same vein, the frontal aging hypothesis suggests that deterioration in the functioning of the frontal cortex is selectively related to age and that it either influences or supports age-related cognitive decline. That the frontal cortex undergoes significant change appears assured, although it remains controversial whether this part of the brain and associated functions are preferentially susceptible to the effects of aging. There does not seem to be a question that executive functions are significantly affected with aging.
Effects of Musical Mnemonics on Working Memory Performance in Cognitively Unimpaired Young and Older Adults
Published in Experimental Aging Research, 2023
Marije W. Derks-Dijkman, Rebecca S. Schaefer, Maartje L. Stegeman, Ilse D. A. van Tilborg, Roy P. C. Kessels
Cognitive aging refers to cognitive change due to nonpathological aging, which does not affect every cognitive domain to the same extent. For instance, semantic memory (for example measured using vocabulary) is relatively resilient to brain aging, whereas for example conceptual reasoning and processing speed show a gradual decline over time (see for an overview Eikelboom, Bertens, & Kessels, 2020). Furthermore, there is considerable heterogeneity among older adults in the rate of decline (Harada, Natelson Love, & Triebel, 2013). Overall, aging-related decline in memory function is consistently reported (Nyberg, Lövden, Riklund, Lindenberger, & Bäckman, 2012). Notably, the ability to maintain and manipulate information for a brief period of time (i.e., working memory [WM] capacity) declines with age (Nyberg et al., 2012) as does everyday memory function (episodic memory [EM]; Nyberg et al., 2012; Rönnlund, Nyberg, Bäckman, & Nilsson, 2005).
Associations of Future Cognitive Decline with Sexual Satisfaction among Married Older Adults
Published in Clinical Gerontologist, 2021
Allison G. Smith, Shoshana H. Bardach, Justin M. Barber, Andrea Williams, Elizabeth K. Rhodus, Kelly K. Parsons, Gregory A. Jicha
It also remains unclear whether there is a causal relationship between sexuality/intimacy and cognitive health or vice versa, and to what extent other confounding factors – such as physical wellness and mental health – play in such associations. Sexuality and intimacy involve a nexus of biological and psychosocial factors, including health, well-being, quality of life, and physical activity endurance (Wright & Jenks, 2016). Each of these factors are known to be associated with cognitive aging. For instance, chronic illness is a strong predictor of cognitive decline (Tilvis et al., 2004) and is also associated with reduced sexual activity and sexual dysfunction (Lindau et al., 2007), as well as lower sexual satisfaction (Flynn et al., 2016). Thus, individuals who are more physically and cognitively healthy may also be engaging in more satisfying sexual activity.
The Role of Sensory Function in Processing Speed and Working Memory Aging
Published in Experimental Aging Research, 2019
Lingling Ji, Huamao Peng, Xiaofei Mao
The age-related variance accounted for by working memory was lower than that by sensory function (Ghisletta & Lindenberger, 2005) and processing speed (Salthouse, 1996). Previously, we had explored the mediating effects of sensory function, processing speed, and working memory on the relationship between age and primary mental abilities, and concluded that sensory function, processing speed, and working memory were three important mediators that affected cognitive aging. The effect of these three mechanisms on aging of primary mental abilities presented a hierarchical relation, in that sensory function and processing speed could predict the decline of working memory and further predict the aging of primary mental abilities (Peng, Shen, & Wang, 2004; Shen, Wang, Peng, & Tang, 2003). Thus, the role of working memory in cognitive aging may be less basic than that of sensory function and processing speed. Moreover, several studies, which investigated the relationships between these functions, found that sensory function aging had a significant effect on memory decline but not on the decline in processing speed (Baldwin & Ash, 2011). When participants’ auditory acuity declined, their corresponding auditory working memory performance was also poorer than that of the control group (Lindenberger, Scherer, & Baltes, 2001). Since the present study mainly investigated the relationship between these three cognitive abilities, the question arises on exploring the mental mechanisms between sensory function, processing speed, and working memory. The following two theories may provide some explanations.
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