Learn how aging affects the brain

The brain is the control center and handles all human activity like thoughts, feeling, emotions and behaviors.

 

People experience lots of changes when they get older, especially with mental clarity and memory. Knowing you may be losing brain power or losing cognition can be unsettling. Cognition, the mental processes needed for learning and understanding, drives thinking, making decisions and solving problems.

 

Over time, the brain changes and you may notice differences. Here are ways the brain changes with age and may affect you:

 

• Certain types of memory decline
• It may take longer to process information
• Speed of learning decreases
• Your reaction time increases
• It may be harder to do more than one task at a time

Let’s look at the brain’s anatomy to learn how it works. Each part of the brain is responsible for specific activity.

 

Frontal lobe – Controls thinking, planning, problem solving, reasoning, and motor skills

 

Temporal lobe – This part of the brain holds the hippocampus that helps with memory and understanding sounds

 

Brain stem – Controls vital functions like heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure

 

Parietal lobe – Controls sensory information like taste, touch, and pain

 

Occipital lobe – Receives and interprets information from the retinas

 

Cerebellum – Helps control balance and posture and coordinates voluntary movements

 

Dementia isn’t really a disease, it’s a cluster of symptoms of a disease. Dementia is defined as a loss of cognitive ability that affects your daily life. Cognitive ability is how well your brain works to do a certain job – like thinking, remembering, or using information. Dementia may occur due to family history, genetics, a head injury, cardiovascular risk factors, or an unhealthy lifestyle.

 

Here are some other facts about dementia:

 

It is not a normal part of aging. However, the risk of developing dementia does increase as a person gets older.

 

Dementia gets worse over time. The speed of progression varies from person to person – some stay the same for several years, others quickly decline over weeks or months.

 

Dementia can take several forms. It can be a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and Lewy body dementia.

 

1. Severe memory loss. It’s normal to sometimes forget names or appointments, but remember them later, but it’s not normal to have memory loss that disrupts daily life.
   
2. Problems with planning or solving problems. You should worry if you can’t follow a recipe or series of tasks.
3. Difficulty performing familiar tasks. People with dementia may have a hard time with daily tasks like driving to a familiar location or remembering rules for a favorite game. 
4. Problems with language. People with dementia may have a hard time finding words or feel lost in the middle of a conversation.
5. Confusion with time or place. It’s not normal to lose track of dates, seasons or the passage of time.
6. Loss of good judgment. Everyone makes a bad decision sometimes, but people with dementia may have bad judgment.
7. Misplacing things. You should worry if you often lose things but can’t retrace your steps to find them.
8. Personality changes. People with dementia may become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful, anxious and upset, especially when out of their comfort zone.
9. Trouble with visual images and spatial skills. For some people, vision problems are a sign of dementia – e.g. trouble reading, judging distance and determining color.
10. Withdrawing from others. A person with dementia may begin removing themselves from hobbies and social activities.

Diagnosing dementia is the first step in finding help. Your primary care physician can conduct tests to find if you’re suffering from dementia. If you or a loved one have concerns about brain health or behavior, talk to your physician about any of the following.

 

• Medical history
• Physical exam
• Neurological exam
• Brain imaging
• Mental status exam

Dementia can be treated in several ways.

 

Medications. Cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine may help slow the progression of dementia. Other medicines may help manage mood changes and sleep problems.

 

Therapies. Occupational therapy may help people with dementia continue dressing, bathing and feeding themselves for as long as possible.

 

Making modifications. Making changes to a person’s environment – including taking certain safety precautions – and creating a routine may help, too.

 

You can also follow a brain-healthy lifestyle to help support brain function. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain. Try moderately intense exercise 2 to 3 hours each week, eat a healthy diet like a Mediterranean style, and do brain games like puzzles or games.

 

At Conviva Care Centers, our physicians and care teams work with seniors everyday who may have concerns about dementia. Contact a center near you to learn more.

 

If you’d like to learn more about healthy aging, visit our Conviva Online Programs library and enjoy a wide variety of videos.

 

Sources:

Brain lobes

Dementia

Nutrition and healthy eating

Inside the Brain

What Is Dementia?

Causes and Risk Factors for Alzheimer's Disease

10 Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer's and Dementia

Medical Tests for Diagnosing Alzheimer's

Can Alzheimer's Disease Be Prevented?

Older Adults

Understanding aging brains, how to improve memory and when to seek help

Mind and memory supplement scorecard

 

Dougherty RJ, et al. (2017). Moderate physical activity is associated with cerebral glucose metabolism in adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 58:1089–1097.

 

1Staubo S, et al. (2016). Mediterranean diet, micronutrients and macronutrients, and MRI measures of cortical thickness. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2016.06.2359.  

2Rebok G.W., et al. (2014). Ten-Year Effects of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Cognitive Training Trial on Cognition and Everyday Functioning in Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 62 (1):16-24.