Mental health and aging -6

Basic cognitive functions:
Information processing,
attention, and memory

“By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.”
George Burns
1896-1996

AGEFEED

#braingames

1. Train your brain. Look for new challenges every day, from crossword puzzles to
videogames to taking different routes to get to the same place.

2. Limit distractions. Easier said than done in this age of multitasking, but focusing on
one task at a time boosts your memory (hint: stay off social media during class!)

3. Keep organized. Make lists, reduce clutter, and keep common items in the same
location.

4. Practice mindfulness. Focus on your current inner state while you remain aware of
your surroundings.

5. Stay healthy. Good physical health promotes mental agility.
6. Use mnemonics. Memory tricks can help you remember everything from gardening

advice (“leaflets of three, let it be” to avoid poison ivy) to people’s names (“Joy has a
baby boy”).

7. Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water can help you avoid sluggishness and memory
loss.

8. Use visualization. Ever go into another room to get something and forget what it
was? Imagine that you’re picking the item up as soon as you decide to go get it.

9. Write things down. Like, with a pen or pencil. Handwriting outweighs typing on a
computer or phone, in part because your brain is better activated when creating each
letter’s shape rather than hitting keys that all have the same shape and feel.

10. Make new brainpaths. Use your fingertips to trace the outlines of objects. Each
repetition will help you build new synapses.

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PROCESSING
SPEED AND
ATTENTION

Two
approaches to
understanding
aging and
attention

General slowing hypothesis:
Fewer resources means
slower and less efficient
processing

Inhibitory deficit: Older adults
can’t tune out irrelevant
information

500

1000

1500 2000 2500 3000

3500

4000

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000
O

ld
er

a
du

lts
R

T
(m

s)

Younger adults RT (ms)

Older adults respond at
slower speeds than
young adults

Brinley plot:
Performance of older adults is plotted against
performance by younger adults, revealing that
as the task becomes more difficult (requires
more time), older adults are
disproportionately slower.

Incongruent
sequence

Congruent
sequence

green

green

red

green

blue

red

Stroop task of inhibitory
control

(incongruent)

Videogames and attention

Training in videogames can boost attention under the right circumstances

MEMORY

Scaffolding theory
of memory

According to the scaffolding theory,
older adults can recruit alternate
neural circuits as needed by task
demands as shown by these
potential routes.

Abilities that
decline

Abilities that are
stable

Episodic memory Semantic memory

Source memory

False memory

Retrieval failure

Prospective memory

Flashbulb memory

Implicit memory

Procedural memory

Long-term memory and aging scorecard

The
“reminiscence
bump” in
early
adulthood

Do older people just have more to remember?

Our brains get slower as we age not because of
age-related cognitive decline, but because it
takes longer to process the lifetime of
experiences and knowledge we’ve acquired.

Michael Ramscar (2014)

Factors that can
influence memory in

later life

• Psychosocial factors
• Stress and depression
• Memory “self-efficacy”
• Stereotype threat

• Health-related factors
• Smoking
• Diet
• Aerobic exercise
• Strength training

Properly timed exercise aids memory
Vigorous activity four hours after first learning something boosts recall

Specific ways to improve
memory in later life

• Better encoding
• Practice
• Strategy use

Imagine a place you know well.

Mentally walk through each room,
associating items you want to
remember with that room.

To recall those items, retrace your
steps.

The use of method of loci as a way to improve
long-term memory (also called “Memory Palace”)

https://artofmemory.com/wiki/How_to_Build_a_Memory_Palace

Driving and Aging

Younger and older drivers

Younger drivers- highest crash rates

• Drink and drive
• Distracted driving
• Less experience
• Driving cheaper, less safe cars

Older drivers- highest fatality rates

• Mobility limitations
• Vision changes
• Restricted UFOV
• “Fear of driving”

The productivity illusion in distracted driving
(Watson et al., 2016)

Lambert et al., 2016

Across all indicators, including
subjective:

Nissan Rogue highest
Kia Optima lowest

“Confusion Corner” in Manitoba

Limited UFOV

Healthier UFOV

`

Reaction time and pedal error in older drivers

NHTSA, 2015:
12,000 accidents/year due to pedal error.

Another relevant design factor is stepover height,
defined as the difference in height between the
plane of the brake pedal face and the plane of the
accelerator pedal face. Vehicles with little stepover
height may cause the driver to inadvertently depress
both pedals at the same time or be more likely to
confuse the pedal location.

That is, if the force/displacement profiles of the
brake and accelerator pedals are similar, the tactile
feedback to the driver might cause a failure to
properly identify the pedal being applied.

Age-related decline in detection of response error

Hasegawa et al.,2020, PLoSOne

Sample
questions
from the
National
Highway
Traffic Safety
Administra-
tion’s self-test
for older
drivers

Steps Older Drivers can
Take to Improve Their
Driving

• Exercise to increase strength and flexibility

• Avoid drug-drug interactions

• Vision tests

• Drive during daylight and good weather

• Find safest routes (well-lit streets, arrows at
lights, easy parking)

• Plan route before driving

• Leave enough room in front

• Avoid distractions (including food)

• Consider alternatives to driving, including
online shopping

Rotaries or
roundabouts

can help
reduce

accidents

Reduction in collisions
with roundabouts
(percent)

• Reasons:
• Low travel speeds
• No light to beat
• One-way travel

Acuity
Night vision
Headline glare

Anxiety
Confusion

Social attitudes

Availability of other
transportation

Mobility
Strength
Coordination
Pain

Psychological

Biopsychosocial model of driving and aging