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Geriatric malnutrition
Research proposal on stress and memory loss
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Interference in memory recall can be affected by nutrition deficiencies and stress. Korsakoff’s syndrome which is as a result of a lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine, does adversely affect memory in some patients with alcoholism (Carlson, 2010). Stress has also been found to interfere with recall in people when faced with the stress of surviving a natural disaster. Usually Korsakoff’s syndrome is found in older patients who have drunk alcohol for decades, but the thiamine deficiency can cause cognitive impairments in younger patients also (Terry, 2009).
Seniors with memory recall difficulties are often thought to be suffering dementia, when in some cases as in those with Korsakoff’s syndrome, the cause can actually be that of inadequate diets. Thiamine is not only essential to cognitive functions but also for the “metabolism of carboxylation of pyruvate, an intermediate product in the breakdown of carbohydrates, fats, and amino acids” (Carlson, 2010, p. 550). When “severely malnourished individuals are given intravenous glucose, the sudden availability of glucose to the cells of ...
Kish, Stephen J. et. al. Cognitive Deficits in Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy: Implications for the Cholinergic Hypothesis of Alzheimer’s Dementia. Annals of Neurology: 24 (2), 200-206, 1988.
This investigation looks at retrieval failure in the long-term memory, particularly context-dependant forgetting. The theory behind retrieval failure is that available information stored in the long-term memory cannot be accessed because the retrieval cues are defective. Cue-dependant forgetting theory focuses on the assumption that the context in which we learn something is significant when we come to recall the information. Recall is better if it takes place in the same context as the learning. Research conducted on retrieval failure includes Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) who studied intrinsic cues by asking subjects to learn a list of words from different categories.
The article “How Our Brains Make Memories” explains how traumatic events and the memories they hold can become forgotten over time. Karim Nader recalls the day that two planes slammed into the twin towers in New York City and like almost every person in the United States he had vivid and emotional memories of that day. However he knew better than to trust his recollections of that day because he was an expert on memory. He attended college at the University of Toronto and in 1996 joined the New York University lab of Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist who studies how emotions influence memory. Fast forward to 2003, Nader is now a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, where he says “his memory of
Deficiency of vitamin B12 raises the level of homocysteine in the body which in turn has a negative effect on brain function, memory and ability to think. Homocysteine decreases acetylcholine, a vital brain chemical that acts as a messenger and assists in carrying signals to other cells. Imbalances in acetylcholine lowers the ability to form memories.
“Dementia is the progressive deterioration in cognitive function - the ability to process thought” (Nordqvist, 2009, para. 1) and can be separated into two main categories: cortical and subcortical, physically speaking; for example, Alzheimer’s disease is a type of cordical dimentia, while Parkinson’s disease is classified as subcortical in nature. Many of the people suffering from these afflictions, which are usually middle-aged and older, appear to lose the ability to recall particular events, time of day, or in more advanced stages, the identity of their friends and family. Other symptoms of this condition have been reported as difficulty with speech, depression, balance issues and general disorientation.
Memory plays a significant role in the everyday lives of people of all ages. It allows them to recall information and remember skills that were learned in the past. Memory also organizes past information to help people make current and future decisions. However, imagine forgetting the names of close family members or not having the ability to find your keys every time you want to leave the house. These are some of the struggles that people with Alzheimer’s disease face daily. Alzheimer’s disease was first identified by German neurologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906, and was discovered to have an overpowering effect on explicit memory loss (Gruetzner, 1988). There are two types of Alzheimer’s disease – early onset and late onset. Early onset occurs in patients who are diagnosed before the age of 65 whereas late onset occurs in patients who are diagnosed after the age of 65. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, short-term memory is often lost. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, problems with long-term memory begin to develop, in addition to short-term memory impairments. Although a lot is known about the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, the cause has not been conclusively identified. However, as research continues, new theories about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease are being proposed. This has led to a controversy over whether Alzheimer’s disease is caused by genetics or environmental influences (Gruetzner, 1988).
Korsakov's syndrome is a devastating impairment of recent memory that is caused by a thiamine deficiency which can result from alcohol abuse, mal-absorption, hyperemesis or starvation. Furthermore, other causes of Korsakov's syndrome also include heavy metal poisoning, head injury and tumors. A patient suffering from Korsakov's syndrome will most likely have an extensive pathology in the bilateral hippocampus and will actively exhibit confabulation. Confabulation occurs when a patient creates pseudo-memories about what happened during a forgotten episode. Also, during confabulation the patient's recall of the events of the past seem more imaginative than logical. Fortunately, although the patient may exemplify confabulation there are still certain perceptions and other cognitive functions that remain intact and are known to function normally. Korsakov's syndrome is also known to cause retrograde amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is amnesia that occurs before the trauma or disease that caused the condition and thus, individuals lack the ability to recall events prior to the traum...
management of real-world memory demands despite profound anterograde amnesia. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 30(8), 931-945.
Amnesia, a severe long-term memory loss disease, is caused by damaged brain tissue. There are two different types of amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is also known as backward moving. This is when you have a hard time remembering the past, especially episodic memories. This occurs because of memory consolidation. Memory consolidation is the process of a new memory setting until it becomes permanently in the brain. If this process is disrupted, the memory may be lost (Hockenberry and Hockenberry page 265). Anterograde amnesia is also known as forward moving. This is when you are unable to form new
Dementia is a term that covers more than 100 diseases that have similar effects on the person (The Department of Health 2014). The symptoms shown are known to affect the proper functioning of the brain, thought, behaviour, bodily actions that are required for daily tasks and one’s normal social and working life (Fight Dementia 2012). Dementia is becoming more prevalent in Australia and globally. With factors such as increased life expectancy having an effect on the brain and nervous system that is still not something that modern medicine can control the degradation of. “While not a consequence of ageing, the prevalence of dementia is increasing as people live longer and the proportion of older people in the population rises” (Hartwell 2014, p. 134). There have been many people researching different factors in one’s lifestyle that can help decrease the chance of developing a form of dementia at or even postpone it until a later age. Even if someone is genetically prone to getting dementia, or is a part of an ethnic group with a high prevalence with dementia, for example Australian Aboriginals, factors such as nutrition, diet, exercise and new medical treatments may help them.
Understanding how the brain processes and stores memories has important implication. Dementia is a liberal term that refers to the decline and impairment of speech communication, abstract thought, memory and other cognitive functions. This cognitive disruption occurs to such an extent that they interfere with daily activities Dementia is not a disease itself. Instead, it depicts it describes a group of symptoms that frequently accompanies a disease or a condition. Although, it might initially seem disturbing to consider that half of the adult population will experience the symptoms of a mental disorder. Psychological symptoms without becoming completely debilitated and needing professional intervention most people clearly seem to manage
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most prevalent diseases in America and in the world at this point in time and the number of cases is only increasing. Symptoms of Alzheimer’s might include a decline in mental capacity, confusion, and forgetting how to do simple tasks. The disease in not limited to the older generation but is far more prevalent. There is no existing cure for Alzheimer’s and only a few medications that can mildly treat the disease but they vary from patient to patient and are not very affective. Many people are now trying to focus on preventing the disease in its early stages. Some ways in which people do this is by pairing a healthy diet with both cognitive and physical exercises.
It is said that memory declines as people age, and this can be just a natural part of life. However, in many cases as people grow older, they develop a mental disorder known as Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is a disease that causes problems with memory, thinking, and overall behavior, and progressively becomes a bigger problem. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and is a very common disease in people over the age of 65. This terminal disease puts tremendous stress on the victim and the victim’s family. A cure for Alzheimer’s has yet to be discovered; however, through healthy and constant use of the brain and the aid of certain drug treatments, Alzheimer’s disease can be both naturally and medically prevented.
In daily life, memory is used all the time. When we go to buy things, we would remember the list of items what we are going to buy. At school, we would also need to have revision in order to remember the materials for examination. Or even, when we meet friends, we would also need to recall their names. Thus it is important to know and understand how we remember such things so that we can effectively recall them when necessary. Obviously, we do not need to remember the exact position or order of things in daily life. We would have our own pattern for remember and retrieve information (Ashcraft, 2010). This is named as free recall, which items recalled in any order (Francis, Neath, MacKewn and Goldthwaite, 2004). However, many researchers found that the probability of recalling items (such as words, letters, or numbers) does in fact depend on the items position in a list. The most striking finding is that words at the beginning and end of the list are often easier to recall than those words in the middle of the list. Thus, when the results of a free recall experiment are plotted on a graph; a u-shaped serial position curve can be obtained. This is often referred to as the serial position effect that is affecting our memory (Smith, n.d.).
Kamphuis, P. H., & Scheltens, P. (2010). Can nutrients prevent or delay onset of alzheimer's disease?. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 20(3), 765-775. doi:10.3233/JAD-2010-091558