1. Tests
1.1. Cognitive
1.1.1. Premorbid Intellectual Functioning: Measure of vocabulary knowledge, word reading ability
1.1.2. Achievement/Academic Abilities: Important for children; learning disabilities; school and placement issues
1.1.3. Wechsler Adult Scales of Intelligence
1.1.4. Cognitive Screeners
1.1.4.1. RBANS (Neuropsychological Status)
1.1.4.2. DRS-2 (Dementia Scale)
1.1.4.3. MMSE (Mental Status Examination)
1.1.4.4. MoCA (Cognitive Assessment)
1.2. Emotional
1.2.1. BDI-2 (Depression Inventory)
1.2.2. BAI (Anxiety Inventory)
1.2.3. GDS (Depression Scale)
1.2.4. MMPI-2 (Personality Inventory)
2. Causes
2.1. Genetics
2.2. Lifestyle
2.2.1. SDOH
2.2.1.1. Economic Stability
2.2.1.1.1. Income, Debt, Employment, Medical Bills, etc.
2.2.1.2. Education
2.2.1.2.1. Literacy, Language, Higher education, Early Childhood Education
2.2.1.3. Food
2.2.1.3.1. Hunger, Access to healthy options
2.2.1.4. Health Care System
2.2.1.4.1. Health Disparities: preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, and violence
2.2.1.4.2. Health Equity: No one is at a disadvantage of obtaining full health potential.
2.2.1.4.3. Health Coverage, Quality of Care, Provider availability
2.2.1.5. Community and Social Context
2.2.1.5.1. Social Integration, Stress, Support System, Community Engagement
2.2.1.6. Neighborhood and Physical Environment
2.2.1.6.1. Housing, Transportation, Parks, Safety, Walkability
2.3. Health
2.4. Cardiovascular Fitness
3. Senescence
3.1. Causes
3.1.1. Oxidative Stress
3.1.1.1. Telomere Dysfunction
3.1.2. Non-telomere DNA Damage
3.1.3. Oncogene activation
3.1.4. Senescence-associated secretory phenotype
3.1.5. Epigenetic Changes
3.1.6. Apoptosis Resistance
3.1.7. Cell-Cycle Arrest
4. Abnormal
4.1. Poor decision-making
4.2. Inability to manage a budget
4.3. Losing Track of date or season
4.4. Difficulty having a conversation
4.5. Being unable to retrace steps
4.6. Getting lost in familiar places
4.7. Dementia: term used to describe a range of symptoms associated with cognitive impairment.
4.7.1. Alzheimer's: Most prevalent neurodegenerative disease
5. Normal
5.1. Occasional bad decisions
5.2. Missing a monthly payment
5.3. Forgetting the day, remembering it later
5.4. Sometimes forgetting a word
5.5. Forgetting why they walked into a room
5.6. Making a wrong turn
6. Age Related Changes
6.1. Changes With Aging
6.1.1. Vision
6.1.1.1. Pupil size decreases as we age
6.1.1.1.1. Decreased ability to perceive light reflection
6.1.2. Learning
6.1.3. Motor Speed
6.1.3.1. Tests assess for presence of, and laterality and severity of motor/speed deficits
6.1.4. Auditory
6.1.4.1. Changes due to peripheral end organs and central loss of auditory processing
6.1.4.1.1. Results in a decline in gait speed and sit-to-stand time
6.1.5. Olfaction
6.1.5.1. Age related olfactory changes is due to less input going into the cerebellum
6.1.5.1.1. One of the earliest indicators of Dementia or Parkinson's
6.1.6. Cognition
6.1.6.1. Crystallized Intelligence do not diminish with normal aging
6.1.6.2. Fluid intelligence decreases with aging
6.1.7. 6 Domains
6.1.7.1. Language
6.1.7.1.1. Verbal fluency and visual confrontation declines
6.1.7.2. Attention
6.1.7.2.1. Attention Span: Maximum amount of info that can be attended to at one time
6.1.7.2.2. Directed Attention: Ability to detect target stimulus when present
6.1.7.2.3. More Complex
6.1.7.3. Memory
6.1.7.3.1. Short Term
6.1.7.3.2. Long Term
6.1.7.3.3. Procedural
6.1.7.3.4. Episodic
6.1.7.3.5. Semantic
6.1.7.4. Processing Speed
6.1.7.4.1. Declines starting in the 30s
6.1.7.5. Visuospatial/Constructional Ability
6.1.7.5.1. Pattern recognition, color perception, face perception, spatial relationships, visual attention/scanning, visual organization, visual spatial construction
6.1.7.6. Executive Functioning/Reasoning
6.1.7.6.1. Initiation/Self Regulation/ Inhibition, Planning and Organization, Conceptualization/Deductive and Inductive Reasoning, Abstraction, Problem Solving, Verbal and Visual Reasoning
6.1.8. Sleep
6.1.8.1. As an individual ages, they tend to get less sleep, affecting their ability to convert short-term memory into long-term