Basic cognitive functions: Information processing, attention, and memory

“By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.” George Burns 1896-1996

AGEFEED

#braingames

1. Train your brain. Look for new challenges every day, from crossword puzzles to videogames to taking different routes to get to the same place.

2. Limit distractions. Easier said than done in this age of multitasking, but focusing on one task at a time boosts your memory (hint: stay off social media during class!)

3. Keep organized. Make lists, reduce clutter, and keep common items in the same location.

4. Practice mindfulness. Focus on your current inner state while you remain aware of your surroundings.

5. Stay healthy. Good physical health promotes mental agility. 6. Use mnemonics. Memory tricks can help you remember everything from gardening

advice (“leaflets of three, let it be” to avoid poison ivy) to people’s names (“Joy has a baby boy”).

7. Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water can help you avoid sluggishness and memory loss.

8. Use visualization. Ever go into another room to get something and forget what it was? Imagine that you’re picking the item up as soon as you decide to go get it.

9. Write things down. Like, with a pen or pencil. Handwriting outweighs typing on a computer or phone, in part because your brain is better activated when creating each letter’s shape rather than hitting keys that all have the same shape and feel.

10. Make new brainpaths. Use your fingertips to trace the outlines of objects. Each repetition will help you build new synapses.

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PROCESSING SPEED AND ATTENTION

Two approaches to understanding aging and attention

General slowing hypothesis: Fewer resources means slower and less efficient processing

Inhibitory deficit: Older adults can’t tune out irrelevant information

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Older adults respond at slower speeds than young adults

Brinley plot: Performance of older adults is plotted against performance by younger adults, revealing that as the task becomes more difficult (requires more time), older adults are disproportionately slower.

Incongruent sequence

Congruent sequence

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Stroop task of inhibitory control

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Videogames and attention

Training in videogames can boost attention under the right circumstances

MEMORY

Scaffolding theory of memory

According to the scaffolding theory, older adults can recruit alternate neural circuits as needed by task demands as shown by these potential routes.

Abilities that decline

Abilities that are stable

Episodic memory Semantic memory

Source memory

False memory

Retrieval failure

Prospective memory

Flashbulb memory

Implicit memory

Procedural memory

Long-term memory and aging scorecard

The “reminiscence bump” in early adulthood

Do older people just have more to remember?

Our brains get slower as we age not because of age-related cognitive decline, but because it takes longer to process the lifetime of experiences and knowledge we’ve acquired.

Michael Ramscar (2014)

Factors that can influence memory in

later life

• Psychosocial factors • Stress and depression • Memory “self-efficacy” • Stereotype threat

• Health-related factors • Smoking • Diet • Aerobic exercise • Strength training

Properly timed exercise aids memory Vigorous activity four hours after first learning something boosts recall

Specific ways to improve memory in later life

• Better encoding • Practice • Strategy use

Imagine a place you know well.

Mentally walk through each room, associating items you want to remember with that room.

To recall those items, retrace your steps.

The use of method of loci as a way to improve long-term memory (also called “Memory Palace”)

https://artofmemory.com/wiki/How_to_Build_a_Memory_Palace

Driving and Aging

Younger and older drivers

Younger drivers- highest crash rates

• Drink and drive • Distracted driving • Less experience • Driving cheaper, less safe cars

Older drivers- highest fatality rates

• Mobility limitations • Vision changes • Restricted UFOV • “Fear of driving”

The productivity illusion in distracted driving (Watson et al., 2016)

Lambert et al., 2016

Across all indicators, including subjective:

Nissan Rogue highest Kia Optima lowest

“Confusion Corner” in Manitoba

Limited UFOV

Healthier UFOV

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Reaction time and pedal error in older drivers

NHTSA, 2015: 12,000 accidents/year due to pedal error.

Another relevant design factor is stepover height, defined as the difference in height between the plane of the brake pedal face and the plane of the accelerator pedal face. Vehicles with little stepover height may cause the driver to inadvertently depress both pedals at the same time or be more likely to confuse the pedal location.

That is, if the force/displacement profiles of the brake and accelerator pedals are similar, the tactile feedback to the driver might cause a failure to properly identify the pedal being applied.

Age-related decline in detection of response error

Hasegawa et al.,2020, PLoSOne

Sample questions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra- tion’s self-test for older drivers

Steps Older Drivers can Take to Improve Their Driving

• Exercise to increase strength and flexibility

• Avoid drug-drug interactions

• Vision tests

• Drive during daylight and good weather

• Find safest routes (well-lit streets, arrows at lights, easy parking)

• Plan route before driving

• Leave enough room in front

• Avoid distractions (including food)

• Consider alternatives to driving, including online shopping

Rotaries or roundabouts

can help reduce

accidents

Reduction in collisions with roundabouts (percent)

• Reasons: • Low travel speeds • No light to beat • One-way travel

Acuity Night vision Headline glare

Anxiety Confusion

Social attitudes

Availability of other transportation

Mobility Strength Coordination Pain

Psychological

Biopsychosocial model of driving and aging