Normal Age-Related Changes in Cognitive Functioning
Strange as it may seem, our cognitive functions don't suddenly begin declining when we hit 50 or 65 or 80 years of age -- though it's at those ages that we may start noticing changes. Actually, a number of our cognitive abilities actually start declining about the time they stop developing!
For example, young adults as a group are generally quicker thinkers than older adults (again, as a group)... however, lots of other factors may also make a difference to a particular adult's quickness with certain tasks -- at any age! Experience is certainly one factor ("Practice makes perfect", as the saying goes!). Physical abilities, such as vision and manual dexterity, are another -- and those can change with age, of course. Education may have a very notable effect, as may motivation. Still, any of us can find ourselves processing things more slowly than we used to, as we get on in years...
Some attention skills also tend to change with age. We may get distracted from tasks more easily, or have more trouble filtering out background noise. We may find we need things repeated, not because we can't hear or weren't trying to listen, but because some of what was said sort of "fell out" before it got processed, so we couldn't follow all of what was said. Mental multi-tasking may feel harder -- we may not be as good at mental math as we used to be, we may have more trouble listening and taking notes at the same time, and -- here's a big one -- we may be more vulnerable to mistakes when driving than we used to be, due to all the things good drivers must always be monitoring (traffic, road signs, our speed, navigation, our own operation of the vehicle, etc.).
Among most annoying and worrisome changes older adults encounter are those having to do with retrieval of information. These are things you know you know, but in the moment, for the life of you, you can't think of them. This could be the name of a well-known actor, the street address of a friend, the name of your boss' spouse, a particular word you need to describe something, the lyrics of a favorite song, a poem you once memorized, or the name of a medication you've taken for years. You know you know what it is, and sure enough, at some point, sooner or later, the bit of information you were trying to drag out of your brain floats to the surface -- usually after it's no longer needed!
Other types of memory glitches can happen, also. We can lose track of episodes in our lives -- like a life partner asking us to buy some particular thing while we are at the store, the general content of last Sunday's sermon, or whether we have already shared this particular story with this particular friend. Forgetfulness can be prospective, also, causing us to temporarily forget that we had planned to water the plants, what it is that we went into the kitchen to look for, or that we have an appointment for a haircut later in the day.
Older adults typically don't forget other things, however, such as how to perform familiar tasks and operate familiar equipment, important information we have learned along the way, the people who are most important to us, the words and languages we know, or the skills we have developed over time, whether at school, at work, or in our personal lives. When memory issues do show up in these important areas, it is critical to seek medical attention.
Strange as it may seem, our cognitive functions don't suddenly begin declining when we hit 50 or 65 or 80 years of age -- though it's at those ages that we may start noticing changes. Actually, a number of our cognitive abilities actually start declining about the time they stop developing!
For example, young adults as a group are generally quicker thinkers than older adults (again, as a group)... however, lots of other factors may also make a difference to a particular adult's quickness with certain tasks -- at any age! Experience is certainly one factor ("Practice makes perfect", as the saying goes!). Physical abilities, such as vision and manual dexterity, are another -- and those can change with age, of course. Education may have a very notable effect, as may motivation. Still, any of us can find ourselves processing things more slowly than we used to, as we get on in years...
Some attention skills also tend to change with age. We may get distracted from tasks more easily, or have more trouble filtering out background noise. We may find we need things repeated, not because we can't hear or weren't trying to listen, but because some of what was said sort of "fell out" before it got processed, so we couldn't follow all of what was said. Mental multi-tasking may feel harder -- we may not be as good at mental math as we used to be, we may have more trouble listening and taking notes at the same time, and -- here's a big one -- we may be more vulnerable to mistakes when driving than we used to be, due to all the things good drivers must always be monitoring (traffic, road signs, our speed, navigation, our own operation of the vehicle, etc.).
Among most annoying and worrisome changes older adults encounter are those having to do with retrieval of information. These are things you know you know, but in the moment, for the life of you, you can't think of them. This could be the name of a well-known actor, the street address of a friend, the name of your boss' spouse, a particular word you need to describe something, the lyrics of a favorite song, a poem you once memorized, or the name of a medication you've taken for years. You know you know what it is, and sure enough, at some point, sooner or later, the bit of information you were trying to drag out of your brain floats to the surface -- usually after it's no longer needed!
Other types of memory glitches can happen, also. We can lose track of episodes in our lives -- like a life partner asking us to buy some particular thing while we are at the store, the general content of last Sunday's sermon, or whether we have already shared this particular story with this particular friend. Forgetfulness can be prospective, also, causing us to temporarily forget that we had planned to water the plants, what it is that we went into the kitchen to look for, or that we have an appointment for a haircut later in the day.
Older adults typically don't forget other things, however, such as how to perform familiar tasks and operate familiar equipment, important information we have learned along the way, the people who are most important to us, the words and languages we know, or the skills we have developed over time, whether at school, at work, or in our personal lives. When memory issues do show up in these important areas, it is critical to seek medical attention.