A worry shared by many older adults

A worry shared by many older adults is that forgetfulness, which may feel increasingly pervasive as the years go by, will eventually lead to the loss of precious memories and the inability to remember new experiences in the future. The caricature of the older person as slow, rambling and confused is a familiar stereotype, reinforced by a media that often focuses on perceived age-related failings in public figures such as Ronald Reagan, Menzies Campbell and, more recently, Rupert Murdoch.
Evidence suggests that the stereotype of the forgetful older person can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, leading older adults to perform more poorly in memory tests. One recent study found that when older adults were read a paragraph describing research on age-related memory deficits, their subsequent memory was reduced for word lists they had learned previously. Thus, it is important to challenge the stereotype of inexorable age-related cognitive decline.
Instead, we should be focusing on scientific evidence which suggests that, while various components of memory are affected by age, other aspects can remain relatively well preserved. By capitalising on the cognitive abilities that are comparatively resistant to ageing, it may be possible for older adults to develop effective strategies to make the most of their memories.
Cognitive abilities
The ageing process is typically characterised by neural degeneration in a number of brain regions, most notably the frontal lobes. These areas, which comprise the front third or so of the brain, are associated with so-called "higher" cognitive abilities such as attention, planning, problem solving and processes that control how information is stored and retrieved from memory.
However, the brain may be more resilient to the ageing process than we previously thought. Studies have shown that the decrease in frontal-lobe activity may be accompanied by increased activation in other cortical regions. These changes may result in compensation (where preserved areas take over the function of declining regions), or might perhaps indicate a shift in the way older people perform some cognitive tasks.
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For example, older adults are less likely than younger people to use strategies that promote the formation of rich, elaborate memory traces. Much evidence suggests that the use of these strategies can boost memory significantly. Thus, when older adults are explicitly encouraged to think deeply and elaborately about the meaning of information they are learning, it often results in better recall of that material.
Age-related impairments tend to be greater when the person is trying to recall information than when recognising the previously learned information alongside alternatives. This means that you may be more likely to remember someone's name by saying various plausible possibilities to yourself and recognising the correct answer when you say it than if you try to pluck the person's name spontaneously out of thin air.
Attentional lapses
Another issue is that older people can be susceptible to attentional lapses, whereby a simple lack of attention during key moments can lead to forgetfulness. Failure to recall whether or not you switched off the gas before going to bed may not be due to a memory impairment, but to insufficient attention being paid when turning off the stove to successfully encode the action. Evidence suggests that such attentional lapses are an important contributor to the memory difficulties experienced by older adults. Studies have shown that when young adults are required to divide their attention between learning a word list and performing some other task, their ability to recall the list of words can resemble that of older adults who were paying full attention to the words.
Attentional lapses may be particularly likely to occur during the everyday activities that we tend to accomplish on autopilot. A useful strategy to counteract such absent-mindedness can be to develop a fixed method for performing such tasks: always place your keys in the same spot on the sideboard, always carry out the late-night errands in the same order (lock the back door, turn off the gas, turn off lights, etc).
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Attentional lapses are not only an issue during the encoding of information into memory. Retrieval factors can also play a role, as exemplified in "prospective memory" – the ability to remember to do something in the future.
We all experience the effects of unreliable prospective memory – forgetting a scheduled meeting or failing to buy milk as promised. Such lapses can become more noticeable as we age. Older adults may complain of going into a room and being unable to remember what they went there for (see panel, page 18) or, more seriously, failing to remember to take prescribed medication at the correct time.
Some evidence suggests that older people are less susceptible to prospective memory failures if the task involves carrying out an action when a specific exter

Результаты (русский) 1:

Беспокоиться, общими для многих пожилых людей является, что забывчивость, которые могут чувствовать себя все более широко распространенной, как лет ехать, в конечном итоге приведет к потере драгоценные воспоминания и неспособность вспомнить новый опыт в будущем. Карикатура пожилого человека как медленный, бессвязных и путать – знакомы стереотип, подкрепляется СМИ, которые часто фокусируется на воспринимается возрастные недостатки в общественные деятели, такие, как Рональд Рейган, Мензис Campbell и, совсем недавно, Руперт Мердок.Данные свидетельствуют о том, что стереотип забывчивых пожилого человека может стать накликать, ведущих пожилых людей для выполнения более плохо в памяти испытаний. Одно недавнее исследование показало, что, когда пожилые люди были читать пункт, описывая исследования по памяти, связанных с возрастом дефицит, их последующее память была уменьшена для списки слов, которые они узнали ранее. Таким образом важно вызов стереотип неумолимо возрастных когнитивными.Вместо этого нам следует сосредоточиться на научных доказательств, что свидетельствует о том, что, хотя различные компоненты памяти зависят от возраста, другие аспекты могут оставаться сравнительно хорошо сохранились. Основываясь на когнитивные способности, которые являются сравнительно устойчив к старению, возможно для пожилых людей для разработки эффективных стратегий, чтобы сделать большую часть их воспоминания.Когнитивные способностиПроцесс старения обычно характеризуется нейронной дегенерации в ряде регионов мозга, особенно лобных долей. Эти районы, которые составляют третий фронт или так мозга, связанные с так называемой «выше» когнитивных способностей, как внимание, планирование, решение проблем и процессов, которые управляют как информация хранится и извлекается из памяти.Однако мозг может быть более устойчивыми к процессу старения, чем мы полагали ранее. Исследования показали, что сокращение лобной доли активности может сопровождаться повышенной активации в других регионах кортикального слоя. Эти изменения могут привести к компенсации (где заповедники take over функция снижения регионов), или возможно указывать сдвиг в пожилых людей выполняют некоторые познавательной задачи.РекламаНапример пожилые люди реже, чем молодые люди использовать стратегии, которые способствуют формированию богатые, сложные следов памяти. Много доказательств свидетельствует о том, что использование этих стратегий может значительно увеличить память. Таким образом когда пожилые люди явно поощряются думать глубоко и детально о значении информации, что они учатся, это часто приводит к лучше вспомнить этого материала.Age-related impairments tend to be greater when the person is trying to recall information than when recognising the previously learned information alongside alternatives. This means that you may be more likely to remember someone's name by saying various plausible possibilities to yourself and recognising the correct answer when you say it than if you try to pluck the person's name spontaneously out of thin air.Attentional lapsesAnother issue is that older people can be susceptible to attentional lapses, whereby a simple lack of attention during key moments can lead to forgetfulness. Failure to recall whether or not you switched off the gas before going to bed may not be due to a memory impairment, but to insufficient attention being paid when turning off the stove to successfully encode the action. Evidence suggests that such attentional lapses are an important contributor to the memory difficulties experienced by older adults. Studies have shown that when young adults are required to divide their attention between learning a word list and performing some other task, their ability to recall the list of words can resemble that of older adults who were paying full attention to the words.Attentional lapses may be particularly likely to occur during the everyday activities that we tend to accomplish on autopilot. A useful strategy to counteract such absent-mindedness can be to develop a fixed method for performing such tasks: always place your keys in the same spot on the sideboard, always carry out the late-night errands in the same order (lock the back door, turn off the gas, turn off lights, etc).AdvertisementAttentional lapses are not only an issue during the encoding of information into memory. Retrieval factors can also play a role, as exemplified in "prospective memory" – the ability to remember to do something in the future.We all experience the effects of unreliable prospective memory – forgetting a scheduled meeting or failing to buy milk as promised. Such lapses can become more noticeable as we age. Older adults may complain of going into a room and being unable to remember what they went there for (see panel, page 18) or, more seriously, failing to remember to take prescribed medication at the correct time.Some evidence suggests that older people are less susceptible to prospective memory failures if the task involves carrying out an action when a specific exter