Cognitive Changes Due To Aging Essay

Throughout this module, I learned that cognitive changes due to aging happens to everyone. The changes affect people at different points in their life, but it is a normal process.

Cognitive changes in elderly adults affect the message sent from the brain to the five senses. The messages that five senses receive from the brain can be changed, making it harder to recover a name, word, memory, or to perform a task. Some examples of cognitive changes due to aging decrease their reaction time. It will take an elderly adult longer to give an answer when they are asked a question or to move after they have been asked to do something. The reaction time starts to slowly decrease after the age of 60 and, the speed and degree of the decrease will vary from person to person. Another area that changes due to aging is mild, short-term memory loss where people cannot remember names, where they placed an item, and the inability to recall a conversation. Also, in an elderly adult, the size of the brain cells or neurons will progressively decrease along with the total brain mass.

While reading this module I found interesting is that healthy elderly adults do not have a noticeable decrease in cognitive change. For them, their cognitive
Rushing the elderly adult can have a negative effect on them both mentally and physically, and can also cause social breakdown syndrome. I think that not rushing an elderly adult is important because they are still able to perform tasks and learn new things, though it may take them a little longer. When you rush an elderly adult they may become frustrated quiet feeling bad about not being able to keep up society around them. Ultimately, they may stop engaging in activities which allow them to stay independent and slow the decreasing cognitive