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Investigating How Age and Health Affect Cognitive Skills
Belvalina Holmes
Psychology
28 January 2020
Belvalina Holmes Holmes 2
Mr. Harrell
Psychology
Word Count: 1302
There is a substantial amount of speculation surrounding the different
factors that play into the cognitive skills of humans. The speculating research has
narrowed the search down to a few main factors; mental health, childhood,
nutrition, and age. The two main factors that will be evaluated in this paper are age
and nutrition. What cognitive abilities are affected by age and nutrition and how
much? To answer this question this paper will use scientific research, professionally
made digital documents, web articles, and advertisements.
What are the cognitive abilities that are affected by age? There are not many,
in fact the number is so small that most studies tend to repeat each other when
talking about it. There is a common misconception that as one ages, they slowly
decline and lose all of their cognitive abilities. Crystallized intelligence or
knowledge acquired over time remains stable with age. (Facts, pg.1) That is
something that is not widely known about aging. Perhaps with this aging knowledge
out there perhaps researchers can use this knowledge to try to find a definitive list
of the causes for Alzheimer's and Dementia. However, that does not go to say that
there are not any other types of cognitive abilities that are lost. There is a decline of
processing speed which is a fluid cognitive ability of -0.22 standard deviation per
year. (Murman, pg. 5) This decline shows that though inconsiderable in amount the
Belvalina Holmes Holmes 3
Mr. Harrell
Psychology
Word Count: 1302
decline is still there. Some things that appear inconsiderable usually turn out to be
huge if you let them continue to manifest. Speaking of which, age can put you at
risk for many degenerative cognitive related diseases. Mild cognitive impairment
(MCI) is the stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the
more serious decline of dementia. It can involve problems with memory, language,
thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes.
(Impairment, pp. 1) This disease cannot technically be prevented, you cannot
reverse your age and the APOE-e4 gene is a gene you can only pray you don't get.
Age can also put many people at risk for certain mental disorders that can affect the
way someone thinks. Another peak, particularly among women, occurs in midlife:
about 23% of people with schizophrenia experience their first episode after the age
of 40. (Psychiatry, 286) Schizophrenia is a hazardous disease that can cause mental
ailments such as hallucination, memory loss, and disorderly behavior.
Schizophrenia is something that you also cannot control the genes or pretenses for
if you get them. It is something that only gets worse with age and can also leave you
at risk for more dangerous and degrading age-related cognitive diseases such as
Alzheimer's and dementia.
Another and more large-scale factor of cognitive quality is a person's
nutritional habits. There is an old saying that goes, "What you put into your body is
what you get out." High consumption of vegetables, particularly leafy greens may be
Belvalina Holmes Holmes 4
Mr. Harrell
Psychology
Word Count: 1302
correlated to slower age-related cognitive decline. (Jaffin, pg. 27) The document
also recommends to try to get started with the Mediterranean diet which
emphasizes vegetables. The above statement about food and productivity really
turned out to be true, perhaps it is not just an old quote without any real backing.
Sometimes what youeat will not just affect you suddenly down the road, there are
also warning signs. Folate deficiency substantially affects adult hippocampal
neurogenesis and depletes neurotransmitter concentrations in the hippocampus.
(Poluse, pg. 8) The way these warning signs affect a person show how serious the
aftermath could particularly be and yet people still chose to ignore them. There
used to be a long-standing belief that the healthiest diets must avoid too much
consumption of omega-3 and fish oils, however that may not be a good idea to
maintain mental stability and avoid depression. That shows you just how much fish
— salmon, tuna, halibut — or flax seeds and walnuts we need to consume to be at an
optimal level. These essential minerals reduce inflammation and play a critical role
in brain function, especially memory and mood. (Borchard, pp.1) Though what you
eat may not always play a role in how you feel, if you continue to eat a diet that
lacks nutrients your mood will become more and more lackluster. Moreover, if you
are in a bad mood all the time because of what you eat it will start to show in your
cognitive performance abilities. Diseases caused by what you eat can also put you
at risk for cognitive decline. Their results found that the presence of hypertension
or obesity in midlife may exacerbate subtle cognitive decline associated with
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Mr. Harrell
Psychology
Word Count: 1302
increased production of beta amyloid (Clark, p.3) The production of beta amyloid
can also cause tangled neurons which externally can lead to forgetfulness, limited
movement and ability and worse, inability to perceive using the 5 senses. What your
nutritional values are is not just limited to what you eat at meal times, it also
includes what is in your medicines and supplements. Some brands add artificial
fillers to cut cost to offer cheap products. Some of these cheap fillers that were
found were titanium dioxide and artificial coloring. Artificial coloring is known to
contain lots of fillers such as silicone and cyanide that can both harm brain function
and stop some types of brain function entirely. Brain functions and diseases have
not only an underlying cause of age, but also eating related disorders. Interestingly,
such brain dysfunction most often co-occurs with metabolic disorders (e.g.,
obesity) and/or poor dietary habits; obesity and poor diet can lead to negative
health implications including cognitive and mood dysfunctions, suggesting a strong
interaction between these elements. (Spencer, 2) Diabetes can lead to depression
which can deplete a person's mood and also their work ethic. Also, what someone
eats has the ability to clog their nervous system which can in turn can disrupt
oxygen flow to the brain which can also limit brain function and possibly kill a
person.
In the end, there are two factors that affect cognitive abilities, age and
nutrition. Age does not have as large of an efect on cognitive skills as much as
Belvalina Holmes Holmes 6
Mr. Harrell
Psychology
Word Count: 1302
nutrition does but it is still an important factor. Hopefully, in the future with this
knowledge there will be further research into other life experiences and their many
different cognitive connections. It appeared like every paper was tending to repeat
itself so it was quite hard to find a good piece of information to match each of the
covered points.
Belvalina Holmes Holmes 7
Mr. Harrell
Psychology
Word Count: 1302
Works Cited
“2020 Brain Supplements Guide: Benefits, Uses, Side Effects and Scams.”
Consumers Health, Consumer Health Research and Advertising Team, 8
Jan. 2020, consumershealth.org/brain-supplements-guide/.
Borchard, Therese. “10 Nutritional Deficiencies That May Cause Depression.”
EverydayHealth.com, 14 Nov. 2014,
www.everydayhealth.com/columns/therese-borchard-sanity-break/nut
ritional-deficiencies-that-may-cause-depression/.
Clark, L R. “Hypertension and Obesity Moderate the Relationship between
b-Amyloid and Cognitive Decline in Midlife.” Alzheimer's and Dementia,
Yale University, 2018, pp. 1–11.
Jaffin, Dianna Purvis. “PPT.” Univeristy of Pittsburgh Brain Health Institute, 13
Mar. 2017.
“Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical
Education and Research, 23 Aug. 2018,
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mild-cognitive-impairment/s
ymptoms-causes/syc-20354578.
Belvalina Holmes Holmes 8
Mr. Harrell
Psychology
Word Count: 1302
Murman, Daniel. “The Impact of Age on Cognition.” Seminars in Hearing, vol.
36, no. 03, 2015, pp. 111–121., doi:10.1055/s-0035-1555115.
“PDF.” Emory University Center for Alzheimer's Research, 12 Jan. 2016.
Poulose, Shibu M, et al. “Nutritional Factors Affecting Adult Neurogenesis and
Cognitive Function.” Advances in Nutrition: An International Review
Journal, vol. 8, no. 6, Nov. 2017, pp. 804–811., doi:10.3945/an.117.016261.
Rajji, T. K., et al. “Age at Onset and Cognition in Schizophrenia: Meta-Analysis.”
British Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 195, no. 4, 2009, pp. 286–293.,
doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.108.060723.
Spencer, Sarah J., et al. “Food for Thought: How Nutrition Impacts Cognition
and Emotion.” Npj Science of Food, vol. 1, no. 1, 2017,
doi:10.1038/s41538-017-0008-y.