scholarly journals The breadth of attention in old age

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hüttermann ◽  
Otmar Bock ◽  
Daniel Memmert
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Attention Deficits ◽  
Eye Position ◽  
Visual Periphery ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Breadth Of Attention

Older adults typically have more difficulties than younger ones in situations that require attention in the visual periphery, such as driving a car or riding a bicycle. Previous studies accordingly found that the breadth of attention decreases in old age when one attention-demanding task is presented at fixation and simultaneously another one in the visual periphery. The present work evaluates the role of eye position for the observed deficit by presenting both tasks in the visual periphery (condition peripheral-peripheral) or by leaving it up to the subjects where in the visual field the tasks appear (condition free-gaze). Our data indicate that attention breadth decreases by 27% from the age of early 20 to the age of late 60 in both conditions. This outcome generalizes previous findings about age-related attention deficits to scenarios that were not explored in previous studies, yet are relevant for everyday behavior.

scholarly journals Strategies and cognitive reserve to preserve lexical production in aging

GeroScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Baciu ◽  
Sonja Banjac ◽  
Elise Roger ◽  
Célise Haldin ◽  
Marcela Perrone-Bertolotti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Aging Effects ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Compensatory Strategies ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Complementary Domain

AbstractIn the absence of any neuropsychiatric condition, older adults may show declining performance in several cognitive processes and among them, in retrieving and producing words, reflected in slower responses and even reduced accuracy compared to younger adults. To overcome this difficulty, healthy older adults implement compensatory strategies, which are the focus of this paper. We provide a review of mainstream findings on deficient mechanisms and possible neurocognitive strategies used by older adults to overcome the deleterious effects of age on lexical production. Moreover, we present findings on genetic and lifestyle factors that might either be protective or risk factors of cognitive impairment in advanced age. We propose that “aging-modulating factors” (AMF) can be modified, offering prevention opportunities against aging effects. Based on our review and this proposition, we introduce an integrative neurocognitive model of mechanisms and compensatory strategies for lexical production in older adults (entitled Lexical Access and Retrieval in Aging, LARA). The main hypothesis defended in LARA is that cognitive aging evolves heterogeneously and involves complementary domain-general and domain-specific mechanisms, with substantial inter-individual variability, reflected at behavioral, cognitive, and brain levels. Furthermore, we argue that the ability to compensate for the effect of cognitive aging depends on the amount of reserve specific to each individual which is, in turn, modulated by the AMF. Our conclusion is that a variety of mechanisms and compensatory strategies coexist in the same individual to oppose the effect of age. The role of reserve is pivotal for a successful coping with age-related changes and future research should continue to explore the modulating role of AMF.

scholarly journals Likelihood of Participation in Home-Based Cognitive Assessment: The Role of Subjective Cognitive Decline and Age

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 293-294
Author(s):  
Moriah Splonskowski ◽  
Holly Cooke ◽  
Claudia Jacova
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Cognitive Assessment ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive State ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Increased Risk

Abstract Home-based cognitive assessment (HBCA) services are emerging as a convenient alternative to in-clinic cognitive assessment and may aid in mitigating barriers to detecting cognitive impairment (CI). It is unknown which older adults would be likely to participate in HBCA. Here we investigated the role of age and Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD). SCD has demonstrated an increased risk for progression to CI/dementia. A nation-wide community-dwelling sample of 494 adults age 50+ were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete an online survey assessing perceptions around HBCA and SCD. Our sample was 91.9% White and 66.8% female. It consisted of 174 respondents aged 50-60, 265 aged 61- 70, and 55 aged 71-79. Age groups were comparable with respect to their acceptance of cognitive assessment (Range 4-20, higher score=higher acceptance, 7.9±3.3, 8.15±3.2, 8.05±3.43) and SCD-Q total (43.1±5.8, 43.2±5.7, 43.3±5.7). Correlation analysis revealed a relationship between SCD-QSCD total and perceived likelihood of participation in HBCA for those ages 61-70 (r(263) = .222 p = .000), but not for ages 50-60 or 71-79 (r(172) = .102 p = .152; r(53) = -.102 p = .458). Our findings suggest that SCD influences the likelihood of participation in HBCA for older adults’ transitioning to old age (61-70). Findings show that for adults transitioning into old age (61-70), perceived cognitive state influences their likelihood of participation in HBCA. Importantly, concerns about CI/dementia may generate more favorable perceptions of HBCA for this group.

Concrete and Formal Operational thought Processes in Young Adulthood and Old Age

1976 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Clayton ◽  
Willis F. Overton
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Crystallized Intelligence ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Concrete Operational ◽  
Fluid And Crystallized Intelligence

A study was conducted to examine the role of concrete and formal operations in a young and old population. In addition, the present study explored the relation between operational thought and Cattell's concept of fluid and crystallized intelligence, as well as the role of differential living arrangements in maintaining operational thought. Eighty females from three age groups (18–20 years, 60–70 years and 70–80 years of age) were tested on a series of Piagetian tasks and indices of fluid and crystallized intelligence. The findings supported the notion that age-related performance differences occur in the area of formal operational thought prior to the time they occur in concrete operational thought. Except for the young sample, the operational tasks were found to be unrelated to fluid intelligence at the age levels represented in this study. Living independently as opposed to living in an old age home did not appear to be a significant factor in maintaining operational thought. Discussion focused on the necessity of identifying those factors which influence the developmental course of formal operational thought across the life span.

scholarly journals Biases in object location estimation: the role of camera rotations and translation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladislava Segen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Location Estimation ◽  
Object Location ◽  
Systematic Bias ◽  
Accurate Representation ◽  
Object Locations ◽  
Age Related

The current study investigated a systematic bias in spatial memory in which people, following a perspective shift from encoding to recall, indicated the location of an object further to the direction of the shit. In Experiment 1, we documented this bias by asking participants to encode the position of an object in a virtual room and then indicate it from memory following a perspective shift induced by camera translation and rotation. In Experiment 2, we decoupled the influence of camera translations and camera rotations and examined also whether adding more information in the scene would reduce the bias. We also investigated the presence of age-related differences in the precision of object location estimates and the tendency to display the bias related to perspective shift. Overall, our results showed that camera translations led to greater systematic bias than camera rotations. Furthermore, the use of additional spatial information improved the precision with which object locations were estimated and reduced the bias associated with camera translation. Finally, we found that although older adults were as precise as younger participants when estimating object locations, they benefited less from additional spatial information and their responses were more biased in the direction of camera translations. We propose that accurate representation of camera translations requires more demanding mental computations than camera rotations, leading to greater uncertainty about the position of an object in memory. This uncertainty causes people to rely on an egocentric anchor thereby giving rise to the systematic bias in the direction of camera translation.

Older Adults’ Recalled Memorable Messages about Aging and Their Associations with Successful Aging

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quinten S Bernhold ◽  
Howard Giles
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Hope Theory ◽  
Memorable Messages ◽  
Subjective State ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dispositional Hope ◽  
The Right ◽  
Memorable Message

Abstract Using the Communicative Ecology Model of Successful Aging (CEMSA), this study examined how one’s own age-related communication and memorable message characteristics indirectly predict successful aging, via aging efficacy. Older adults with higher dispositional hope recalled memorable messages as (a) higher in positivity, (b) higher in efficacy, and (c) more likely to contain a theme of aging not being important or being a subjective state that can be overcome with the right mindset. Older adults were classified as engaged, bantering, or disengaged agers, based on their own age-related communication. Uniquely for CEMSA’s development and the blended role of hope theory within it, memorable message efficacy indirectly predicted greater successful aging, via heightened aging efficacy.

Inferences and Confidence in Warning Texts: The Role of Age and Prior Knowledge

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne E. Adams ◽  
Wendy A. Rogers ◽  
Arthur D. Fisk
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Text Passage

Understanding warnings is important, regardless if prior knowledge with respect to such information exists. The goal of the current study was to investigate younger and older adults' ability to draw inferences under different conditions of prior knowledge, and how confident participants were about their decisions. Participants read two-sentence text passages, which either resembled real warnings (real) or were the opposite of real warnings (reversed). Participants evaluated whether information in a given statement was consistent (true) or inconsistent (false) with information given in a text passage. Statements either repeated information explicitly or implied in the text passage. Participants also rated their confidence in the correctness of their answer. Data showed no age-related differences in accuracy when the text passages resembled real warnings. When text passages were reversed, older adults were less accurate than younger adults, yet more confident when inferences were required.

Aging, Attention, and Bimanual Coordination

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy D. Lee ◽  
Laurie R. Wishart ◽  
Jason E. Murdoch
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Bimanual Coordination ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Digit Number ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Movement Frequency ◽  
Effects Of Aging ◽  
Coordination Patterns

ABSTRACTAlthough aging is normally associated with declines in motor performance, recent evidence suggests that older adults suffer no loss in some measures of bimanual coordination relative to younger adults. Two hypotheses for this finding were compared in the present research. One hypothesis was based on the assumption that these coordination patterns are automatic and relatively impervious to the effects of aging. An alternative explanation is that older adults maintain this level of bimanual coordination at a cost of increased attention demand. These hypotheses were tested in an experiment in which bimanual coordination patterns (in-phase and anti-phase) were paced at two metronome frequencies (1 and 2 Hz), either alone or together, with serial performance of an attention-demanding task (adding 3s to a two-digit number at a 1 Hz pace). The results of the study provided some support for both hypotheses. The automaticity view was supported only for the coordination patterns at the 1 Hz metronome frequency. Support for an attention allocation hypothesis was shown in the observed-movement frequency data, as older adults tended to sacrifice movement frequency at the 2 Hz metronome pace in order to maintain performance in the movement and counting tasks. These findings are discussed relative to recent accounts of the role of automaticity in the absence of age-related differences in the performance of cognitive tasks.

On the origins of ageism among older and younger adults

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1003-1014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehud Bodner
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Defensive Strategy ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Social ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Suitable Framework ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

ABSTRACTBackground: Ageism is apparent in many social structures and contexts and in diverse forms over the life cycle. This review discusses the development and consequences of ageism toward elderly people by others of any age, according to the Terror Management Theory (TMT) and the Social Identity Theory (SIT).Method: A systematic search of the literature was carried out on the social and psychological origins of ageism in younger and older adults.Results: Studies on the reasons for ageism among older adults point to attitudes that older adults have toward their own age group, while studies on ageism in young adults explain it as an unconscious defensive strategy which younger adults use against death anxiety. In other words, TMT can serve as a suitable framework for ageism in younger adults, and SIT appears to explain ageism in older adults.Conclusions: A dissociation of the linkage between death and old age in younger adults can be achieved by changing the concepts of death and old age. For older adults, it is recommended to improve self-worth by encouraging social contacts in which older adults contribute to younger adults, weaken the effects of age stereotypes in TV programs, and prepare middle-aged adults for living healthy lives as older adults. However, these conclusions should be regarded with caution, because several key areas (age related cues, activated cognitive processes, impact of death awareness on ageism) need to be investigated in order to validate this understanding of the origins of ageism among younger and older adults.

A Practical Theology of Aging: Biblical Perspectives for Individuals and the Church

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Davies
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Aging Well ◽  
The Church

Aging is a gracious gift given by God to cause us to ask about and work on the real issues of life. The Bible presents three main themes on aging. Achieving old age is a Divine Tribute. People in the last half of life are to be honored and respected. Growing older brings about Definite Testing along with blessing. Adults in the last third of their lives can glorify God uniquely. New understandings and spiritual depth can be developed. The process of aging well can be a Distinctive Triumph. How we see the issue of ministry with older adults depends largely on our vision of the old. In a culture striving to remain youthful and avoid any evidence of growing old, we would do well to allow our values about aging to be shaped by the age-related themes found in Scripture.

scholarly journals The Roles of the Gut Microbiota and Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation in Older Adults With Frailty

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
YuShuang Xu ◽  
XiangJie Liu ◽  
XiaoXia Liu ◽  
Di Chen ◽  
MengMeng Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Chronic Inflammation ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Composition Structure ◽  
Low Grade Inflammation

Frailty is a major public issue that affects the physical health and quality of life of older adults, especially as the population ages. Chronic low-grade inflammation has been speculated to accelerate the aging process as well as the development of age-related diseases such as frailty. Intestinal homeostasis plays a crucial role in healthy aging. The interaction between the microbiome and the host regulates the inflammatory response. Emerging evidence indicates that in older adults with frailty, the diversity and composition structure of gut microbiota are altered. Age-associated changes in gut microbiota composition and in their metabolites contribute to increased gut permeability and imbalances in immune function. In this review, we aim to: identify gut microbiota changes in the aging and frail populations; summarize the role of chronic low-grade inflammation in the development of frailty; and outline how gut microbiota may be related to the pathogenesis of frailty, more specifically, in the regulation of gut-derived chronic inflammation. Although additional research is needed, the regulation of gut microbiota may represent a safe, easy, and inexpensive intervention to counteract the chronic inflammation leading to frailty.

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