PSYC 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Donepezil, Twin Study, Habituation
28 Jun 2018
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Dementia
Negligible before the age of 65
1-2% prevalence at age 65 and by the age 80, 30% prevalence
DSM criteria for Dementia (NCD)
Significant cognitive decline from prior level of functioning
Evidence for decline found either by self report or during testing
Cognitive decline interferes with independence or daily living - certain amount of impairment
Is not better explained by another disorder
Early signs of decline before functional impairment - mild cognitive impairment
Common clinical sequelae for NCD
Mood disturbances common - high lability
Increased anxiety
Unpredictable periods of intense agitation and frustration
Paranoia and delusional beliefs may emerge, but without disorganization symptoms - brain tries
to fill in gaps when it doesn't remember things which leads to emergence of delusions, stems from
general anxiety and not knowing what's going on and coming up with a story to balance the
anxiety and not knowing
Categorized by
Known pathology
Biologically informed diagnosis
Neurocognition:
Working memory: Anything going on when you're trying to hold information so your neurons
are working harder to keep it in mind
Attention/cognitive control: direct your mind towards holding something in working memory
and not be distracted by other things
Cognitive flexibility: to approach a problem in a different way, if the way you've learned to solve
a problem doesn't work in this situation then you need to approach it differently
Abstract representation: Represent information in non concrete ways
Screening Tests: People with high IQ and dementia can talk around their deficits and fool family and
physicians so the screening tests helps to reveal how well they actually function
MoCA
Mini-Mental State
oOriented x3 - who you are, where you are, and what time is it
oCan follow basic commands - sit down, stand up, raise a hand
oSimple working memory; comprehension and calculation
Full Batteries:
CANTAB Battery - widely used tasks for cognition in different domains
oWorking Memory
N-Back task - you have a target and you have to remember if the target
occurred how many numbers back
Digit span - how many numbers read aloud can you hold in your memory and
say back out
oAttention/Cognitive Control
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
1-2% prevalence at age 65 and by the age 80, 30% prevalence. Significant cognitive decline from prior level of functioning. Evidence for decline found either by self report or during testing. Cognitive decline interferes with independence or daily living - certain amount of impairment. Is not better explained by another disorder. Early signs of decline before functional impairment - mild cognitive impairment. Unpredictable periods of intense agitation and frustration. Working memory: anything going on when you"re trying to hold information so your neurons are working harder to keep it in mind. Attention/cognitive control: direct your mind towards holding something in working memory and not be distracted by other things. Cognitive flexibility: to approach a problem in a different way, if the way you"ve learned to solve a problem doesn"t work in this situation then you need to approach it differently. Abstract representation: represent information in non concrete ways.
