Memory and Aging (final Copy)

Memory and Human Aging​

By Andrew Finelli​

Did you ever notice that as people get older they start forgetting more and more things, like where they had just placed their keys or how many eggs are needed to make a cake batter? Minor memory loss may not be life-altering but what happens if you start forgetting important things like turning off the stove or locking your door at night? That could become a real problem. Since some memory-loss diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer’s present themselves most often in later life (Alzheimer's Association, 2008), we can infer that memory loss is somewhat age-related. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, life expectancy is continually increasing (U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services: Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, 2006) With a persistently aging society it is necessary to better understand limitations in a person’s ability to function as they age. For instance, the ability to perform everyday tasks such as cooking dinner or driving a car suddenly becomes a safety issue. For this reason it is important to find out if age itself has a negative affect on memory and if so, why. Then scientists can work to find ways to prevent and/or reverse the affects of the aging process. This experiment will attempt to isolate age as a determining factor in memory loss.

The organisms that will be used in this experiment will be ****-sapiens of varying ages and genders. My decision to use human test subjects is three-fold. First, they are readily accessible. Any person in the world can be a test subject for this experiment, as long as they have not been diagnosed with a memory impairment disease (perceived healthy). Secondly, the goal of my experiment is to test human memory, so any other organism would not be as relevant. Lastly, humans are communicative so it is easier for me to get results from them. A human possesses the ability to correspond directly and tell what they can and can’t remember. Other experiments using humans include one done on exercise affecting memory. Professor Nicola Lautenschlager found results that the more active you are the better your memory becomes. These results were attributed to several factors. One finding is that the more you exercise the less tissue you lose. Another finding is that the more weight you lose, the easier it is to regulate glucose levels, which also contributes to better memory (Nicola Lautenschlager, 2008). I am not overly concerned about the ethics surrounding humans as test subjects as my tests are non-invasive, do not compromise the subjects’ well-being and adhere to the regulations guiding scientific experiments on humans (University of California, Berkeley, 2008).

According to research done by Richard C. Mohs, Ph.D., Vice Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, it is not the brain or the nerve cells that control our memory retrieval. It is, in fact, the connections between those cells, called synapses, which begin to diminish and make us unable to recall our thoughts as we age. Also there are several vital parts of the brain susceptible to aging such as the hippocampus, which looses up to 20% of its nerve cells by the time your in your 80’s. In addition, your brain itself shrinks as you get older. There are also other factors which can contribute to memory loss such as genetics and/or exposure to specific drugs or alcholism (Richard C. Mohs, Ph.D., 2008). According to Margaret Winker, MD,(2008) several other things can make you susceptible to memory loss in old age including stroke, infection, thyroid disease, vitamin B12 deficiency and depression (Margaret Winker, MD,2008). Based on the findings of these medical professionals, my hypothesis is that age and the factors related to age are contributory to memory loss despite other lifestyle factors.
This experiment will be testing a total of 100 people. These test subjects will range in age between younger than 20, to 60 and over. The test subjects will be grouped into the following intervals according to age: under 20, 20 to 39, 40 to 59 and 60+. My procedure is as follows:
1. Identify 100 healthy people(25 people in each defined age segment)
2. Create a stable environment (I.e. No distractions) in which to test the subjects.
3. Create a list of 17 obscure facts.
4. Create a test about these facts.
5. Hand each person an identical list of obscure facts for review.
6. Allow the test subjects ten minutes to study the list.
7. At the end of the ten-minute interval collect fact sheets from subjects.
8. Administer test questions based on the fact sheet.
9. Give the test subjects a maximum of 10 min to take the test.
10. Collect the tests from the subjects
11. Score the test based on the number of questions answered correctly.
12. Chart the results of all test subjects
13. Calculate the average score by age segment as well as bottom line total average.
14. Compare the interval averages against that of the entire test group to identify the difference versus the “norm”.
The use of obscure facts ensures that the results are based on memory and not knowledge. The tests will be scored and the results will be based on the average correct answers of each of the age groups.

Data Analysis​

The conducted research produced findings that supported my hypothesis. The younger subjects, namely the under 20 group, produced very high results on the test. The older subjects, namely the 60 and older group, scored much lower than the younger age segment. The results also showed a correlation between the subject’s age and their memorization skills. As the age of the subjects increased, the amount of facts that they memorized decreased.

The research also indicated that as the age of the subject increased, the fluctuation between their tests scores increased. For example, the under 20 group reflected scores in the same basic area (ranging from 16-18 correct answers) while the age group 40-59 reflected more widely varying results (ranging from 9-18 correct answers).

Conclusion​

The results of my experiment were expected by my own predictions. For example, the twenty and under group had 24% higher scores than the Average, whilst the sixty and over group was 27% under the average. Despite my overall findings, some of the outliers surprised me. The transition from the age group of 20-39 to 40-59, produced a substantial change in findings. The scores dropped dramatically between these two groups. I also did not expect to so many high scoring subjects over the age of 40. Even some of the 60+ subjects got as many as 17 facts correctly memorized. These results may have been dependent on several variables that were not tested:

• Gender
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
• Frequency of intensive thought
• Regularity of challenging critical contemplation
• Ability to access knowledge

Data​

Download Data table and Graphs









Bibliography​

1. "Risk Factors." Alzheimer's Association. Alzheimer’s Association. 9 Oct 2008 <http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_causes_risk_factors.asp>.
2. HHS Study Finds Life Expectancy in the U.S. Rose to 77.2 Years in 2001." Department of disease control and prevention. Friday, March 14, 2003. U.S. department of health and human services, center for disease control and prevention. 9 Oct 2008 <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/03news/lifeex.htm>.
3. Lautenschlager, Nicola. "Walking away memory problems." The University of Melbourne. September 3, 2008. The University of Melbourne. 9 Oct 2008 <http://www.mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/news/walking_away_memory_problems>.
4. "Protecting human research subjects." University of California, Berkeley. University of California, Berkeley. 9 Oct 2008 <http://cphs.berkeley.edu/content/overview.htm>.
5. Mohs, Richard. "How human memory works." HowStuffWorks. 2008. Howstuffworks, Inc.. 9 Oct 2008 <http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-memory4.htm>.
6. Winker, Margaret . "Memory Loss- Should I be Concerned." The American Geriatric Society. 2008. American Geriatric society. 9 Oct 2008 <http://www.americangeriatrics.org/education/forum/memoloss.shtml>.

 

I actually conducted research and composed that report myself.

 

It was for school. I realized that my grandparents, who just turned 80, were starting to forget things more frequently. I knew that people say that as you get older you forget but i wanted to make sure that that was true. Makin sure that theres nothing wrong with my grandparents

Edit: Me too!