1. Cognitive Disorders and Aging
PSY 436
Instructor: Emily E. Bullock, Ph.D.

2. Cognitive Disorders and Aging
Delirium
Dementia
Mental Health Issues and Aging

3. Delirium
Disturbance of consciousness with reduced ability to focus, sustain, or shift attention
Change in cognition
The disturbance develops over a short period of time and tends to fluctuate during the course of a day
Evidence from the history that the disturbance is caused by the direct physical consequence of a general medical condition
Can be superimposed on dementia
Can be due to substance intoxication or withdrawal

4. Dementia Development of multiple cognitive deficits manifested by both
Memory impairment
One of more of the following cognitive disturbances
Aphasia
Apraxia
Agnosia
Disturbance in executive functioning
Cognitive deficits listed above cause significant impairment and represent a significant decline from a previous level of functioning

5. Types of Dementia Dementia of the Alzheimer’s type Vascular Dementia
Substance-induced persisting dementia
Dementia due to
HIV disease
Head trauma
Parkinson’s disease
Huntington’s disease
Pick’s disease
Cruetuzfeldt-Jakob disease
Other general medical conditions

6. Dementia Dementia of the Alzheimer’s type Vascular Dementia
Diagnosis of exclusion
Tends to have a gradual course
Vascular Dementia
Neurological signs and laboratory evidence of vascular disease
Course is variable and tends to be step wise in progression

7. Pet Scan of Normal Brain
Images of Alzheimer’s Disease From Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center, a service of the National Institute on Aging."
                
               
Pet Scan of Normal Brain
Pet Scan of AD Brain
An AD Plaque
Mild AD
Severe AD
PreClinical AD

8. Treatment of Alzheimer’s
Drug therapy
Memory Training
Participation in intellectually challenging tasks in older age

9. Mental Health Issue and Aging
Anxiety
Most commonly diagnosed mental illness for older adults
Depression
Suicide more common among the older adult population
Higher incidence of depression among those with chronic physical illnesses
Reminiscent Therapy

10. Suicide Rates According to Age