Cognitive Function and Memory in Aging: Strategies and Techniques

Posted on Dec 14, 2024 in Psychology and Sociology

Assessment of Cognitive Functions

Old age often brings a decline in cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, perception, and language. Biological aging affects not only the physical functioning of the body but also the mental, such as in Alzheimer’s disease. These deficiencies can be managed by delaying their onset through techniques, strategies, and exercises that stimulate cognitive abilities. The role of a coach is essential to implement these strategies and techniques.

Cognitive Functions

Elderly

From 60 years old, a gradual decline begins, which is not constant until the age of 80. To determine if this is normal cognitive impairment or a sign of dementia, a neuropsychological assessment is necessary. This assessment determines the level of impairment and helps adapt appropriate measures in each case. Assessment instruments include:

  • Pfeiffer’s Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ): A quick and easy test consisting of 10 questions.
  • Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE): The most commonly used diagnostic test worldwide, especially for dementia. It assesses orientation, memory, attention, the ability to follow oral and written commands, and visuoconstructive skills.
  • Mini-Mental State Examination of Lobo: An adapted version of the MMSE.
  • Clock Drawing Test: This test requires the coordination of complex skills, sensory perception, and motor function.
  • Global Deterioration Scale of Reisberg

Intervention in Cognitive Functions

Use different programs and intervention techniques to stimulate and maintain the skills that the person retains. Some exercises include:

  • Vision training: Decorate the house.
  • Auditory stimulation: Use relaxing music.
  • Touch: Analyze all the properties of objects.
  • Smell: Distinguish the different aromas of food.
  • Taste: Distinguish the different flavors of food.

Cognitive Training Techniques

Cognitive capacities benefit from training. The goal of coaching is to stimulate and maintain cognitive skills and promote greater autonomy. Some exercises include:

  • Working memory: Play matching games.
  • Temporal-spatial orientation: Walk forward and backward.
  • Visuospatial ability: Copy a drawing.
  • Language: Complete sentences.

Techniques for Mobility and Motor Skills

Biological aging causes physical problems that reduce mobility and motor skills in older people. Psychomotor skills, understood as the union of physical and mental development activities in the body, provide:

  • Expression and body language communication.
  • Improved knowledge and personal identity.

Psychomotor training works on muscle tone, rhythm, balance, and movement.

Therapies Targeting Reality

These are a set of strategies that provide the user with information for spatial and temporal orientation, as well as information about their surroundings.

Target Population: People with memory loss, disorientation, and other disorders.

Objective: To activate cognitive functions to determine their deterioration or preserve them and improve self-esteem.

These techniques are combined with workshops, games, and memory exercises. This therapy can be done in two ways:

  • 24-Hour Reality Orientation: All individuals in contact with the user continuously and informally stimulate their memories throughout the day.
  • Reality Orientation Sessions: Group sessions conducted for an hour a day in a specific location to establish routines. It is important to group people according to their abilities.

Memory

Memory is the faculty by which the mind records, retains, and recalls the past. There are three types of memory:

  • Sensory: Visual, auditory, spatial, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory.
  • Short-Term: An analysis of sensory information and its immediate playback during a short period.
  • Long-Term: Unlimited storage containing all of a person’s knowledge.

Memorizing

Memorizing consists of three phases:

  • Acquisition or Entry of Information: Information is captured by the perceptual apparatus. A certain degree of attention is essential for later recall. Lack of attention, interest, or sensory deficits can hinder this phase.
  • Storage, Retention, or Conservation Phase: Optimal information processing is necessary for retrieval.
  • Evocation or Information Retrieval: Successful completion of the previous phases is crucial for retrieving information.

Factors Influencing Memory Loss

Memory loss does not affect everyone equally. Influencing factors include:

  • Age: From 20 years old, neurons begin to produce fewer neurotransmitters, gradually affecting memory. Between 25% and 50% of those over 60 have reduced memory capacity.
  • Psychological Problems: Lower interest rates, motivation, and use of faculties.
  • Personal Variables: Occupation, cultural background.
  • Sociocultural Aspects: Isolation, retirement.

Cognitive Memory

Alterations in the Elderly

  • Age-Associated Disorders:
    • Benign Senile Forgetfulness: Omissions that appear frequently and fluctuate.
    • Malignant Senile Forgetfulness: Memory loss beyond what would be expected. 10-15% develop into Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Alterations Associated with Other Diseases: Dementias are diseases that cause cognitive impairment interfering with daily living activities. They often manifest with memory disorders (especially immediate and recent), difficulty in orientation, and language problems.

Counseling

Cognitive Interventions

  • Social integration through social participation and interaction with family and friends improves cognitive function and provides emotional support.
  • Physical activity improves relationships with family and provides emotional support.

Reminiscence

Reminiscence is the recall function that allows for thoughts, stories, events, or experiences from the past.

Salvarezza stated that reminiscence is an organized and complex mental activity that allows the individual to reaffirm their self-esteem when their psychophysical and relational skills begin to lose vitality. It can be recalled in two ways:

  • Promotes Integrity: Finding meaning and purpose in life.
  • Reinforces Identity and Raises Self-Esteem: Identity is the experience of self, making us unique and strengthening self-esteem.
  • Allows Resignification: Reinterpreting a painful event to make it less painful.
  • Stimulates Mourning: Mental work needed to face a significant loss, accompanied by feelings of sadness and pain.
  • Triumph of Longevity: Survival indicates a triumph over death.
  • Helps Keep Collective Memory: Transmitting past events to new generations.