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PSY 204
Developmental Psychology II
Chapter 17
Physical Development in Late Adulthood
© 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom.
No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter Outline
 Longevity
 Health
 Life expectancy and life span
 The young-old and the oldest-old
 Biological theories of aging
 Health Problems
 Exercise, nutrition, and weight
 Health Treatment
 The Course of Physical Development in Late Adulthood
 Aging brain
 Sleep
 The immune system
 Physical appearance and movement
 Sensory development
 The circulatory and respiratory system
 Sexuality
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Longevity 1
•Late Adulthood: 60-65 years of
age to death
• Young-old: aged 65 to 84.
• Oldest-old: aged 85 or more.
• Important to consider functional
age rather than chronological
age
• In terms of the ability to function,
an 85 year old may be
psychologically and physically
more fit than a 65 year old
•
We should consider differences
in biological, chronological,
psychological and social age
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Longevity
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Life Span: the maximum number of years
an individual can live
• remained between 120–125 years
Across, all species females outlive males
• Women have more resistance to infections and
degenerative diseases
• E.g., estrogen production helps to protect from
arteriosclerosis
• The additional X chromosome may help woman to
produce more antibodies to fight off disease
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Longevity
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Life expectancy: number of years the average person born in a particular year will probably live
Differences in life expectancy across countries
•
Factors such as health conditions and medical care
•
Ethnic differences
Data from WHO
https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indic
ator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years)
Data from TUIK, 2020
•Cross-Cultural Differences (WHO 2020 Data):
https://turkstatweb.tuik.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=33711
–
Japan has the highest life expectancy at birth (84.26)
–
Some African countries have the lowest (e.g., Lesotho, Central African Republic, Somalia)-50-56 years)
–
Turkey (78.62 years) is the 39th among 182 nations
–
Differences in life expectancy across countries are due to factors such as health conditions and medical care
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Santrock, page 519
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Longevity 3
•Cross-Cultural Differences:
The Case of Okinawans
–
Living longer in Japanese island of Okinawa
–
Longevity may be linked to
•
Diet: heavy on fish, grains, vegetables; light on meat
and dairy products
•
Low-stress life
•
Caring community
•
Activity
•
Spirituality
–
The life expectancy of Okinawans who immigrated to
Brazil decreased 17 years
•
They changed their food habits in Brazil
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Longevity 3
Number of centenarians is increasing
• Getting older may not mean getting sicker
• Many centenarians are women
• But, men are more likely to be healthier than
women
•
For men to reach at that old age, they need to be exceptionally healthy
• Ability to cope successfully with stress
• Other important factors:
– Genes and family history
– Education, personality, and lifestyle
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Longevity
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Biological theories of aging
Evolutionary theory: natural selection has not eliminated
many harmful conditions and nonadaptive characteristics in
older adults
• Benefits conferred by evolution decline with age because
natural selection is linked to reproductive fitness
Genetic/Cellular Process Theories:
Cellular Clock Theory:
• cells can divide a maximum of 75-80 times
• with age, cells become less capable of dividing
• estimations based on cell-division: the
maximum human life span can be 120–125
years
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Longevity
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Biological theories of aging
•Cellular Clock Theory (cont’d):
Why do cells die?
•Telomeres are DNA sequences that cap chromosomes
– They get shorter each time a cell divides;
•
after 70-80 replications, their lenght is dramatically reduced; the cell can no
longer reproduce
•Injecting telomerase, an enzyme, can extend the life of a
telomere
– In 85 % of the cancerous cells the enzyme telomarese were
found
– Telomarese injection may not be producing a healthy life
extension
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Longevity
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Biological theories of aging
Free-Radical Theory: people age because when
cells metabolize energy, the by-products include
unstable oxygen molecules, or free radicals
• Free radicals are molecules that have a missing
electron ; they are ustable because they seek an extra
electron to become stable
• Free radicals damage DNA and other cellular structures
by ricocheting
• Overeating is linked with increase in free radicals
• Calorie restriction with adequate amound of protein,
vitamin and mineral intake reduces oxidative damage
• Exercise may help in reducing the oxidative damage
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Longevity
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Biological theories of aging
Mitochondrial Theory: aging is due
to the decay of mitochondria
•
Mitochondria: tiny bodies that supply energy for cell
function, growth, and repair
•
The decay is due to oxidative damage and loss of
critical nutritions
•
How does this damage and loss of nutritions occur?
•
Mitochondrial activity produces free radicals---free
radicals impairs mitochondrial activity---mitochondria
generates even more free radicals and less nutritions
A human cell
Decay in mitochondrial activity is associated with dementia,
cardiovascular diseases, and decline in liver functioning
•
Exercise helps to maintain mitochondial activity
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Longevity
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Biological theories of aging
Hormonal Stress Theory: aging in the
body’s hormonal system increase the
likelihood of disease
• Hormonal system becomes inefficient to
regulate stress hormones
• Prolonged, elevated levels of stress
hormones are associated with increased
risks for many diseases
• Diminished restorative processes increase
the effects of aging on immunity
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
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The aging brain
The brain shrinks about 5-10% bw. ages of 20 -90
– Volume decreases -especially in frontal lobes & hippocampus
• Linked to decreased working memory and other cognitive functioning
•
Shrinkage of neurons
•
Reduced tree-like branching in dendrites
•
Lower numbers of synapses
•
Reduced length and complexity of axons
Slowing of function in the brain & spinal cord
• begins in middle adulthood and accelerates in late adulthood
• affects physical coordination and intellectual performance
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The Course of Physical Development in Late Adulthood 3
The aging brain
A reduction in certain neurotransmitters
•
dopamine –
• normal level reduction: problems in
planning, carrying out motor activities
• severe level reduction: loss of motor
control and diseases such as Parkinsons
•
acetylcholine—
• normal level reduction: decline in
memory
• severe level loss is associated with
Alzheimer’s disease
•
GABA—decline in preciseness of neural
communication
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
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Adapting brain
Aging brain adapts in several ways:
• Neurogenesis: the generation of new neurons
• Experiments with animals (e.g.,rats): exercise and
environmental stimulation produces new neurons
• Neurogenesis in humans only in two regions:
•
hippocampus & olfactory bulb
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©James Balog
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
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Adapting brain
•
Dendrite growth increases from the 40’s through
70’s
• After 90’s dendritic growth no longer takes place
• May be linked to lack of enough stimulation in the
environment
•
Older brains rewire to compensate for losses
•
Hemispheric lateralization can decrease; may be a
way of compensation to improve cognitive
functioning
Aging Brain and Exercise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iprmHygMX8Y
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©James Balog
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
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Sleep
50 percent of older adults report having difficulty sleeping
• Linked to health and mental health problems
• Linked to lower level of cognitive functioning
• Sleeping too much predicts earlier all-cause mortality
Strategies to help older adults sleep
better at night include
• Avoiding caffeine
• Avoiding over-the-counter sleep remedies
• Staying physically active during the day
• Staying mentally active
• Limiting naps
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
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The immune system declines in functioning
• Extended duration of stress; diminished restorative processes
• Malnutrition involving low levels of protein ---decreases T-cells
Exercise improves the immune system
Influenza vaccination is very important for older adults
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
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Physical appearance and movement
Most noticeable changes: wrinkles and age spots
Shorter with aging due to bone loss in their vertebrae
Weight drops after age 60
• Muscle loss
• Exercising is beneficial for overall health and fall risk reduction
Older adults move more slowly than young adults
Exercise and appropriate weight lifting can help
reduce these declines
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The Course of Physical Development in Late Adulthood
Sensory Changes
Vision:
•
•
Decline in vision becomes
more pronounced
Adaptation to dark and driving
at night becomes especially
difficult
• May be the result of a reduction
in the intensity of light reaching
the retina
•
Visual field becomes smaller
•
Color vision declines as a
result of the yellowing of the
lens
•
Depth perception declines
Diseases of the Eye:
•
Cataracts: thickening of the lens; cloudy, opaque,
and distorted vision
•
By age 70, 30 % of adults develop cataracts
Glaucoma: damage to the
optic nerve because of the
pressure created by a
buildup of fluid in the eye.
Can be treated with eye
drops
Cataracts vision
– Decrease in contrast sensitivity
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
Diseases of the Eye (cont’d):
• Macular Degeneration: deterioration of the macula of the retina, the
focal center of the visual field
• Laser surgery may help
• Difficult to treat
• Major cause of blindness in old age
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The Course of Physical Development in Late Adulthood
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Hearing:
• Hearing impairments are typical in late adulthood
• Usually due to degeneration of the cochlea
• Some problems can be corrected by hearing aids
Smell and Taste:
• Losses begin about age 60
• Decline in smell is pronounced more in older adults
• Decline in taste often leads to a desire for more seasoned foods
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
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Touch and Pain:
60 to 75 percent of older adults report some persistent pain
Detect touch less in the lower extremities
Lower pain sensitivity (but only for lower pain intensities)
Decreased sensitivity to pain can help adults to cope with disease and injury
• However, masks injuries and illnesses that need to be treated
Perceptual motor coupling declines
Can be improved with:
• Cognitive training
• Education
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The Course of Physical Development in Late Adulthood
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Circulatory system and lungs
Increase in cardiovascular disorders
High blood pressure more common in men than women
High blood pressure can be linked to
• Illness
• Obesity
• Anxiety
• Stiffening of blood vessels
• Lack of exercise
Lung capacity drops 40 percent between ages 20 and 80
Lungs lose plasticity, the chest shrinks, diaphram weakens
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The Course of Physical Development in Late
Adulthood
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Sexuality and older men
• Orgasm becomes less frequent in males
with age
• Many are sexually active as long as they
are healthy
• Therapies have been effective in
improving sexual functioning
Sexuality and older women
Challenge to find a partner
• By age 70, about 70 percent of women don’t have a
partner versus 35 percent of men
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Health
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Health problems
• Probability of having some disease or illness
increases with age
• Chronic diseases with slow onset and long duration
are common in late adulthood
• Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, stroke
2020 Elderly Statistics in Turkey (TUIK, 2021)
https://turkstatweb.tuik.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=37227#:~:text=The%20me
dian%20age%2C%20one%20of,2060%20and%2045.0%20in%202080.
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Health
2
•Arthritis: an inflammation of the joints;
– causes pain, stiffness, and movement problems
•Osteoporosis: extensive loss of bone tissue
– Women are affected more
– Linked to calcium and vitamin D deficiency; reduction in
the levels of estrogen; lack of exercise
– Calcium-rich foods and vegetables and a regular exercise
program can prevent
– Accidents: One of the prominent causes of death in older
adults
• Recovery is slower; exercise reduces the risks
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Health
4
Exercise, nutrition, and weight
Exercise: A matter of life and death especially
in old adulthood!!
• Active adults are healthier and happier
• Benefits:
• Increased longevity
• Prevention of common chronic diseases
• Improvement in the cellular functioning,
treatment of many diseases, immune system,
brain and cognitive functioning
A longitudinal study:
• Optimized body composition and less decline
in motor skills as aging occurs
Followed three groups of people
for 8 years
• Reduced the likelihood of developing mental
health problems
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Low-fit individuals were more
likely to die
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Health
5
Nutrition and weight
•
Being «overweight and not fit» is a risk factor, but
being «slightly overweight yet fit» may be a
protective factor: a controversial topic!
•
Calorie restriction has been proven to extend the life
span of certain animals,
•
not known if this works in humans
Controversy over vitamins and aging
Balanced diet and appropriate vitamins necessary to maintain health while aging.
Antioxidants:
• Theorized to slow the aging process by neutralizing free-radical activity.
• Still many uncertainties about role of antioxidant vitamins in health.
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Health
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Health treatment
Need to expand disease management programs
•
Older adults with health problems receive
necessary recommended medical care only half the
time.
•
Geriatric nurses: helpful in treating the health care
problems.
Development of alternative home and
community-based care
• Decreased percentage of older adults who live in
nursing homes.
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Perceived Control and Mortality
Factor related to health and survival in a
nursing home is patient’s feelings of
control and self-determination.
• 15 percent of residents who had more
choices and felt more control were more
likely to be alive 18 months later than the
30 percent who felt less control and more
dependent on staff.
Lodin & Langer (1977)
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