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Full-Text Articles in Cognitive Psychology

Nutrition As A Modifiable Risk Factor For Cognitive Decline: Associated Cognitive And Physical Health Changes, Taylor Mcmillan Aug 2023

Nutrition As A Modifiable Risk Factor For Cognitive Decline: Associated Cognitive And Physical Health Changes, Taylor Mcmillan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dementia is defined as gradual, progressive loss of cognitive functioning, greater than what is expected of normal aging, resulting in functional impairment. There are several types of dementia clinical syndromes that are accompanied by unique patterns of cognitive dysfunction and neuropathological changes. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of clinical dementia syndrome, accounting for approximately 60-70% of cases. Neuropathological mechanisms associated with AD include the disruption of the cholinergic system, accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau, as well as vascular pathology. Vascular pathology complicates the characterization of clinical and neuropathic changes in AD, as there becomes significant …


Cholesterol: A Possible Mediator Of Apoe Risk For Alzheimer's Disease, Michelle Marie Dunk Dec 2019

Cholesterol: A Possible Mediator Of Apoe Risk For Alzheimer's Disease, Michelle Marie Dunk

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the well-established link between the ε4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene and AD, the underlying mechanisms that mediate the risk of developing AD remain elusive. Literature on the role of APOE in cholesterol metabolism suggests that blood cholesterol may be a key factor in the development of AD pathology. Current study aims to investigate whether total cholesterol differs by APOE status and whether this relationship is predictive of AD diagnosis and its biomarkers. Baseline total cholesterol, APOE status, AD diagnosis, global cognitive function, brain Aβ, plasma Aβ40 and Aβ42, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ, tau, and phosphorylated …


Evaluation Of A Cognitive Training Program For Older Adults With Mild To Moderate Cognitive Decline, Kelly Bergstrom Jan 2018

Evaluation Of A Cognitive Training Program For Older Adults With Mild To Moderate Cognitive Decline, Kelly Bergstrom

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Older adults often experience varying levels of cognitive decline. Several interventions intended to help slow the effects of cognitive decline have been studied, including cognitive training. Cognitive training involves engaging individuals, typically in a group setting, in exercises that target specific cognitive domains, such as attention, perceptual speed, memory, language, and executive functioning. Literature on cognitive training provides mixed support for its efficacy. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether a manualized, in-person cognitive training program for individuals with mild to moderate cognitive decline would lead to an improvement in cognitive performance. The program targeted six cognitive …


Assessing Differences In Emotion Recognition, Non-Verbal Memory And Verbal Memory Between Young, Middle And Older Adults., Victoria Alexander, Richard Hicks, Mark Bahr Aug 2015

Assessing Differences In Emotion Recognition, Non-Verbal Memory And Verbal Memory Between Young, Middle And Older Adults., Victoria Alexander, Richard Hicks, Mark Bahr

Richard Hicks

Deficits in emotion recognition may provide a window into what is occurring in the ageing brain. We investigated whether changes in recognition of emotion could be attributed to a decline in memory processes. Sixty-two participants recruited from South-Eastern Queensland Australia divided into young (19-49), middle old (49-64) and old (65 and above) cohorts were administered computer administered tasks assessing emotion recognition, verbal and non-verbal memory. Emotion recognition declined in older adults for angry, surprised and fearful faces. Age related decline in verbal memory was also observed. This suggests some common element present in verbal memory may be involved in the …


Assessing Differences In Emotion Recognition, Non-Verbal Memory And Verbal Memory Between Young, Middle And Older Adults., Victoria Alexander, Richard Hicks, Mark Bahr Aug 2015

Assessing Differences In Emotion Recognition, Non-Verbal Memory And Verbal Memory Between Young, Middle And Older Adults., Victoria Alexander, Richard Hicks, Mark Bahr

Mark Bahr

Deficits in emotion recognition may provide a window into what is occurring in the ageing brain. We investigated whether changes in recognition of emotion could be attributed to a decline in memory processes. Sixty-two participants recruited from South-Eastern Queensland Australia divided into young (19-49), middle old (49-64) and old (65 and above) cohorts were administered computer administered tasks assessing emotion recognition, verbal and non-verbal memory. Emotion recognition declined in older adults for angry, surprised and fearful faces. Age related decline in verbal memory was also observed. This suggests some common element present in verbal memory may be involved in the …


Emotion Recognition And Verbal And Non-Verbal Memory Changes Among Older Adults: Is Decline Generalised Or Modular?, Victoria Alexander, Mark Bahr, Richard Hicks May 2015

Emotion Recognition And Verbal And Non-Verbal Memory Changes Among Older Adults: Is Decline Generalised Or Modular?, Victoria Alexander, Mark Bahr, Richard Hicks

Mark Bahr

Declines in cognitive abilities among ageing adults are observed phenomena. But are these declines ‘across the board’ or are they modular? The answer affects theory and practice, including potential treatments that may reduce the declines. Deficits in emotion recognition may provide a window into what is occurring in the ageing brain. We investigated whether changes in recognition of emotion could be attributed to a decline in memory processes. Sixty-two participants recruited from South-Eastern Queensland divided into young (19-49), middle old (49-64) and old (65 and above) cohorts performed computer administered tasks assessing emotion recognition, verbal and non-verbal memory. Older adults …


Emotion Recognition And Verbal And Non-Verbal Memory Changes Among Older Adults: Is Decline Generalised Or Modular?, Victoria Alexander, Mark Bahr, Richard Hicks Apr 2015

Emotion Recognition And Verbal And Non-Verbal Memory Changes Among Older Adults: Is Decline Generalised Or Modular?, Victoria Alexander, Mark Bahr, Richard Hicks

Richard Hicks

Declines in cognitive abilities among ageing adults are observed phenomena. But are these declines ‘across the board’ or are they modular? The answer affects theory and practice, including potential treatments that may reduce the declines. Deficits in emotion recognition may provide a window into what is occurring in the ageing brain. We investigated whether changes in recognition of emotion could be attributed to a decline in memory processes. Sixty-two participants recruited from South-Eastern Queensland divided into young (19-49), middle old (49-64) and old (65 and above) cohorts performed computer administered tasks assessing emotion recognition, verbal and non-verbal memory. Older adults …


Effects Of Age On Contextually Mediated Associations In Paired Associate Learning, Jennifer Patricia Provyn May 2007

Effects Of Age On Contextually Mediated Associations In Paired Associate Learning, Jennifer Patricia Provyn

Psychology - Theses

Older adults demonstrate an associative memory deficit that has been attributed to difficulty binding item information to contextual information (Naveh-Benjamin, 2000). Accounts of temporally-defined episodic associations that depend upon contextual retrieval (TCM Howard & Kahana, 2002) predict that a deficit in item-to-context binding will result in fewer backward (b-a) and transitive (a-c) associations. To measure group differences in backward and transitive associations, younger and older participants learned single function lists of paired associates with no contextual overlap (e.g., j-k, l-m) and double-function lists of paired associates consisting of chains of pairs (e.g., a-b, b-c). Although younger adults out-performed older adults …