Examine Neurological Changes in Aging

Aging brings about changes to the size, cognition, and vasculature of the brain. As individual ages, the brain shrinks, and various changes occur in all aspects, from morphology to molecules. The impacts of aging on cognition and the brain are extensive and have numerous aetiologies. Aging impacts the cells, molecules, cognition, gross morphology, and vasculature (Peters, 2006). This paper will discuss the neurological changes that take place as we grow older.

Brain Process Changes as we Age

As individuals get older, their different bodily systems the brain included- slowly decline. Mind slips are linked to aging. With that in mind, individuals often encounter those similar memory slips in their twenties but do not quite give such incidences a second thought. On the other hand, older grownups often worry about memory lapses, mainly because of the relation between Alzheimers disease and impaired memory. However, note that Alzheimers and dementia are not considered to be part of normal aging.

Below are a few changes that occur to the brain during aging:

Cortical density: There is a decline in cortical density. This is simply the thinning of the brains outer-ridged surface as a result of decreasing synaptic connections. Lesser connections might contribute to reduced and slow cognitive processing

Brain mass: Around the ages of 60 or 70, shrinkage begins to occur at the hippocampus and the frontal lobe, which are the brain parts involved in encoding fresh memories and increased cognitive function

Neurotransmitter systems: According to research, the brain produces lesser chemical messengers as one gets older, and it is this particular drop in norepinephrine, serotonin, acetylcholine, and dopamine activity that might contribute to increased depression and a decline in memory and cognition

White matter: It comprises myelinated nerve fibers bundled into tracts. Their function is to transport nerve signals from one brain cell to another. According to researchers, myelin shrinks down with age, and as an outcome, cognition function declines and processing gets slower (Nichols, 2020)

It has been discovered that the brain volume and its general weight drops with age at about 5 percent per decade after 40 years of age with a decline rate potentially raising with age; 70 years of age to be specific. How this transpires is still not completely understood. Grey matter shrinkage is often reported to result from neuronal cell death, though this finding is not completely clear. Also, it has been proposed that a drop in neuronal volume instead of number leads to the various changes related to brain aging and that it might be linked to gender, with different parts getting mostly affected in males and females. The white matter might reduce with age. It has been found that the myelin sheath deteriorates at about 40 years of age, and it has been proposed that the frontal lobes late myelinating parts get mostly affected by the white matter lesion s (Peters, 2006).

Memory Changes as we Age

The most broadly observed cognitive change linked to aging is memory. Memory can be grouped into four different parts; semantic memory, episodic memory, working memory, and procedural memory....

…adaptively. Researchers adopted a problem-solving therapy selective intervention (six-hour sessions for eight weeks) targeted at individuals with macular degeneration. Since macular degeneration alters the behaviors that someone was capable of, problem-solving therapy presents an inventive behavioral solution to dealing with these visual difficulties and possibly preventing depression. At eight weeks, the experimental group had 50 percent of the depression rate incidence compared to the control group (11.6 percent vs. 23.2 percent). No differences in the incidence rates were found at six months; however, the experimental group had better maintenance activities. This intervention might be effective among older grownups suffering from other chronic illnesses whereby both disability and depression are common. Problem-solving therapy provided over a few weeks might have a long-term impact in preventing depression, especially among patients having medical comorbidity (Leggett & Zarit, 2014).

Conclusion

It is clear that the brain changes with age. However, what is not quite clear is the brains biological age, rate of age, and the involved processes. Brain changes that might affect behavior and cognition happen at molecular, intracellular, and intercellular aging levels. There are several areas f study under analysis to explain the aging mechanisms and attempt to reduce age-related disorders, especially dementias, which have the greatest impacts on the affected individuals. Concerning personal brain aging, studies insinuate that a healthy lifestyle that minimizes cardiovascular risks also benefits the human brain. It should be remembered that the brains of elderly individuals might display cohort impacts linked to broader environmental influences. It is also quite difficult to distinguish and gauge single processes…