PSYC 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Prefrontal Cortex, Semantic Memory, Neurodegeneration

• School: University of Illinois
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 210
• Professor: Galvez Roberto

Document Summary

Human behavior: slower, working memory, less flexibility, sensory decrements, semantic memory ok, better emotional regulation. Rat behavior: harder to motivate, poorer spatial abilities, working memory. Human neural aging: subcortex unknown, shrinkage of cerebral cortex. Neuron loss (10% between 20s and 90s cortex) Loss of dendrites, synapses in prefrontal cortex (0-50%: shrinkage of hippocampus. Neuron loss unknown: shrinkage of white matter. Dendritic spines: spines = excitatory synapses. Regional neuron loss in cortex (rats, monkeys) Loss of dendrites, dendritic spines, synapses (rats, monkeys: hippocampus (rats) Variable loss of dendrites, synapses: white matter: no loss in rats, rats have less neural loss during aging than humans. Dementia: global cognitive failure, behavioral disorganization, loss of memory, 50% of people over 85 years, types. Plaques (amyloid) and neurofibrillary tangles, especially in cortex and hippocampus. Starts with loss of cholinergic input: lewy body dementia. Starts with parkinson symptoms but degenerate quickly with dementia as well. Less obvious neural degeneration than alzheimer"s: vascular dementia.