7/29/2019 Module 13 Adulthood

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Module 13: Adulthood

Sensory Abilities: Vision, hearing, muscle strength, smell, distance perception all

diminish

Health: Immune system weaken but there is accumulated antibodies*13% of people over 65 live in nursing homes

Aging and Disease:

Dementia- The erosion of brain tissue caused by small strokes, brain tumors, or

alcoholism

Alzheimers Disease- a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by

gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and finally physical

functioning. Also characterized by emotional flatness, disorientation, incontinence,

mental vacancy, and a decrease in production of Ach (destroys hippocampus)

Do cognitive abilities such as memory and reasoning decline like physical abilities?YES

Primary Point- Ability to recall info (remembering without cues) decline but

recognition ability (MC) remains stable with age

Aging and Intelligence

Crystallized Intelligence- Ones accumulation of knowledge, vocab, and analogies

(increases with age)

Fluid Intelligence- Ability to reason quickly and abstractly when solving novelproblems (declines with age)