Silver Threads Among the Gold

Continuing Development

Growing As We Age

Age distribution of U.S population,1980, 1990, and 2002

Data source: The Bureau of the Census

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%

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

The Chicago Picasso

1967

Pablo Ruiz Picasso 1881-1973

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 Russell1872 - 1970

• (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

Just a few examples of Russell’s late life (age 75-97) work

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

Courchesne, E., et al Normal brain development and aging: quantitative analysis at in vivo MR imaging in healthy volunteers, Radiology, 216 (2000) 672-682.

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

White Matter Hyperintensities

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

Memory & Pathologies of Aging

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

Forms of “long-term” memory

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.

Memory across adulthood

Memory ability in the elderly is highly variable

Memory and medial temporal lobeH.M.

Memory and medial temporal lobenormal aging

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 brain: pathology

AD and the brain: gross pathology

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.