Question

What is one way in which older adults compensate for less efficient brain functioning?

   What is one way in which older adults compensate for less efficient brain functioning?

Biological Psychology

Biological Psychology

James W. Kalat 13th Edition

Chapter 4, Problem 27

Instant Answer

Solved by Expert Samia Islam

10/09/2020

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One of these changes is the loss of neurons or a decrease in neuronal activity in certain areas of the brain. This is a natural part of aging and can be seen even in healthy older adults. Show more…

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What is one way in which older adults compensate for less efficient brain functioning?

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Key Concepts

Cognitive Reserve

Cognitive reserve refers to the brain's resilience built up over a lifetime through factors such as education, occupation, and engaging in stimulating activities. This reserve allows the brain to cope with age-related changes and small amounts of damage by making more efficient use of existing neural networks or recruiting alternative pathways, thus helping to maintain cognitive performance despite the natural decline in brain efficiency.

Neural Compensation

Neural compensation is the brain’s ability to adjust by recruiting additional or alternative neural pathways to support performance when the usual pathways become less efficient. In the context of aging, this means that older adults may engage more brain regions than younger individuals, or shift activation to different areas, to perform the same cognitive tasks, thereby offsetting some of the age-related declines in specific brain functions.

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