santrock essentials 3e_ppt_ch15

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PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN LATE ADULTHOOD

15

ESSENTIALS OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENTJOHN W. SANTROCK

3e


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CHAPTER OUTLINE

• Longevity, biological aging, and physical development• Health• Cognitive functioning• Work and retirement


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LONGEVITY, BIOLOGICAL AGING, AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Longevity• Biological theories of aging• The aging brain• Physical development• Sexuality


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• Longevity• Life span and life expectancy• Life span: Maximum number of years an individual can live

• Between 120–125 years

• Life expectancy: Number of years that the average person born in a particular year will probably live• Average is 78.3 years


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• Differences in life expectancy• Female life expectancy 80.8 years, males 75.7 years• Beginning in the mid-thirties, women outnumber men because

of:• Social factors such as:• Health attitudes• Habits• Lifestyles• Occupation

• Biological factors


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• Centenarians• Genes play an important role in surviving to an extreme old age

along with:• Family history• Health (weight, diet, smoking, and exercise)• Education• Personality• Lifestyle


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• Biological theories of aging• Evolutionary theory: Natural selection has not eliminated

many harmful conditions and nonadaptive characteristics in older adults

• Cellular clock theory: Cells can divide a maximum of about 75 to 80 times• Age makes cells less capable of dividing• Telomeres – Tips of chromosomes; DNA sequences that cap

chromosomes


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• Free-radical theory: People age because:• When cells metabolize energy

• By-products include unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals

• Emphasis on a decay of mitochrondria–tiny bodies within cells that supply essential energy for function, growth, and repair

• Hormonal stress theory: Aging in the body’s hormonal system can lower resistance to stress and increase the likelihood of disease


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• The aging brain • The shrinking, slowing brain• Brain loses 5% to 10% of its weight between the ages of 20

and 90 years • Volume decreases due to:• Shrinkage of neurons• Lower numbers of synapses • Reduced length of axon

• Slowing of function in the brain and spinal cord begins in middle adulthood and accelerates in late adulthood • Affecting physical coordination and intellectual performance


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• Aging - Linked to a reduction in the production of certain neurotransmitters

• The adapting brain• Neurogenesis - Generation of new neurons• Dendritic growth • Decrease in lateralization

• Improve cognitive functioning


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FIGURE 15.2 - THE DECREASE IN BRAIN LATERALIZATION IN OLDER ADULTS


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• The Nun Study• Intriguing ongoing investigation of aging in 678 nuns• Research provide hope that scientists will discover ways to tap

into the brain’s capacity to adapt in order to prevent and treat brain diseases


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• Physical appearance and movement • Most noticeable changes - Wrinkles and age spots • Shorter with aging due to bone loss in their vertebrae• Weight drops after age 60• Muscle loss

• Older adults move more slowly


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• Sensory development • Vision• Sensory decline in older adults is linked to a decline in cognitive

functioning• Color vision• Depth perception


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• Diseases of the eye• Cataracts: Thickening of the lens of the eye

• Causes vision to become cloudy, opaque, and distorted

• Glaucoma: Damage to the optic nerve because of:• Pressure created by a buildup of fluid in the eye

• Macular degeneration: Deterioration of the macula of the retina• Corresponds to the focal center of the visual field


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FIGURE 15.3 - MACULAR DEGENERATION


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• Hearing• Impairments becomes an impediment • Some, but not all, hearing problems can be corrected by

hearing aids

• Smell and taste• Smell and taste losses typically begin about age 60

• Touch and pain• Decline in touch sensitivity is not problematic for most• Decreased sensitivity to pain can help adults cope with disease

and injury • Mask injuries and illnesses that need to be treated


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• The circulatory system and lungs • Cardiovascular disorders increase in late adulthood• Lung capacity drops 40 percent between the age of 20

and 80, even without disease• Can be improved with diaphragm-strengthening exercises


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• Sleep• 50 % of older adults complain of having difficulty sleeping• Result in earlier death and is linked to a lower level of cognitive

functioning


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• Sexuality• Orgasm becomes less frequent in males with age• Many are sexually active as long as they are healthy


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HEALTH

• Health problems• Exercise, nutrition, and weight• Health treatment


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HEALTH

• Health problems• Probability of having some disease or illness increases with

age• Arthritis is the most common followed by hypertension

• Causes of death in older adults• Nearly 60% of 65–74-year-olds die of cancer or cerebrovascular

disease • 75–84 and 85+ age groups

• Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death

• Ethnicity is linked with death rates of older adults


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HEALTH

• Arthritis: Inflammation of the joints accompanied by pain, stiffness, and movement problems

• Osteoporosis: Extensive loss of bone tissue• Accidents - 6th leading cause of death in older adults• Falls are the leading cause


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FIGURE 15.4 - PHYSICAL FITNESS AND MORTALITY


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HEALTH

• Exercise, nutrition, and weight • Exercise• Linked to prevention of common chronic diseases and

increased longevity• Associated with improvement in the treatment of many diseases• Improves older adults’ cellular functioning and immune system

functioning


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HEALTH

• Nutrition and weight• Getting adequate nutrition• Avoiding overweight and obesity• Role of calorie restriction in improving health and extending life


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HEALTH

• Health treatment • Quality of nursing homes and other extended-care facilities

for older adults varies enormously • Source of continuing national concern

• Factor related to health and survival in a nursing home:• Patient’s feelings of control and self-determination

• Geriatric nurses - Helpful in treating the health care problems


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FIGURE 15.6 - PERCEIVED CONTROL AND MORTALITY


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COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING

• Multidimensionality and multidirectionality• Use it or lose it• Training cognitive skills• Cognitive neuroscience and aging


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• Multidimensionality and multidirectionality• Attention• Selective attention• Divided attention• Sustained attention


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• Memory• Episodic memory: Retention of information about the where

and when of life’s happenings• Younger adults have better episodic memory

• Semantic memory: Person’s knowledge about the world• Older adults take longer to retrieve semantic information, but usually

they can ultimately retrieve it

• Working memory and perceptual speed - Decline during the late adulthood years


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• Explicit memory: Memory of facts and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state

• Implicit memory: Memory without conscious recollection

• Noncognitive factors - Health, education, and socioeconomic status can influence an older adult’s performance on memory tasks


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• Executive functioning• Involves managing one's thoughts to engage in goal-

directed behavior and self control:• General aspects of executive functioning decline in late

adulthood• Considerable variability in executive functioning among older

adults


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• Wisdom: Expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters• High levels of wisdom are rare• Factors other than age are critical for wisdom to develop to

a high level• Personality-related factors are better predictors of wisdom

than cognitive factors


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• Use it or lose it• Certain mental activities can benefit the maintenance of

cognitive skills• Reading books, doing crossword puzzles, going to lectures and

concerts

• Research suggests that: • Mental exercise may reduce cognitive decline


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• 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


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• Cognitive neuroscience and aging• Cognitive neuroscience - Discipline that studies links

between the brain and cognitive functioning• Changes in the brain can influence cognitive functioning,

and changes in cognitive functioning can influence the brain


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WORK AND RETIREMENT

• Work• Adjustment to retirement


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WORK AND RETIREMENT

• Work• Older workers have lower rates of absenteeism, fewer

accidents, and higher job satisfaction than their younger counterparts


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WORK AND RETIREMENT

• Retirement in the U.S.• When people reach their sixties, the life path they follow is

less clear• Some individuals don’t retire, continuing in their career jobs• Some retire from their career work and then take up a new and

different job• Some retire from career jobs but do volunteer work• Some retire from a post-retirement job and go on to yet another

job• Some move in and out of the workforce, so they never really

have a “career” job from which they retire• Some individuals who are in poor health move to a disability

status and eventually into retirement• Some who are laid off define it as “retirement”


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WORK AND RETIREMENT

• Older adults who adjust best to retirement:• Are healthy• Have adequate income• Are active• Are educated• Have an extended social network including both friends and

family• Usually were satisfied with their lives before they retired


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MENTAL HEALTH

• Depression• Dementia, Alzheimer disease, and Parkinson disease


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MENTAL HEALTH

• Major depression: Mood disorder in which the individual is deeply unhappy, demoralized, self-derogatory, and bored• Less common among older adults than younger adults• Common predictors• Earlier depressive symptoms• Poor health or disability• Loss events • Low social support


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MENTAL HEALTH

• Dementia: Involve a deterioration of mental functioning• 23 percent of women and 17 percent of men 85 years and

older are at risk for developing dementia


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MENTAL HEALTH

• Alzheimer disease: Gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually, physical function• Women are likely to develop Alzheimer disease because

they live longer than men• Alzheimer involves a deficiency in the brain messenger

chemical acetylcholine• Formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles


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FIGURE 15.9 - TWO BRAINS: NORMAL AGING AND ALZHEIMER DISEASE


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MENTAL HEALTH

• Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) • Represents a transitional state between the cognitive changes

of normal aging and very early disease• fMRI shows smaller brain regions involved in memory for

individuals with MCI


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MENTAL HEALTH

• 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


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MENTAL HEALTH

• Parkinson disease: A chronic, progressive disease characterized by muscle tremors, slowing of movement, and facial paralysis• Triggered by the degeneration of dopamine-producing

neurons in the brain• Several treatments are available

santrock essentials 3e_ppt_ch15

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