Olli, Angelu Noelle T.

BSN3-B
Changes in the Neurological Function of an Individual
Brain:
Difficulty learning something new: Committing new information to memory can take
longer as people age.
Multitasking: Slowed processing can make planning parallel tasks more difficult in
aging.
Recalling names and numbers: Strategic memory, which helps with remembering
names and numbers, begins to decline at age 20.
Remembering appointments: Without cues to recall the information, the brain may put
appointments into “storage” and not access them unless something jogs the person’s
memory.
Brain mass: Shrinkage in the frontal lobe and hippocampus, which are areas involved in
higher cognitive function and encoding new memories, starts at around the age of 60 or
70 years.
Cortical density: This refers to the thinning of the outer-ridged surface of the brain due
to declining synaptic connections. Fewer connections may contribute to slower cognitive
processing as we age.
White matter: White matter consists of myelinated nerve fibers that are bundled into
tracts and carry nerve signals between brain cells. Researchers think that myelin
shrinks with age, and, as a result, processing is slower and cognitive function is
reduced.
Neurotransmitter systems: Researchers suggest that the brain generates fewer
chemical messengers with age, and it is this decrease in dopamine, acetylcholine,
serotonin, and norepinephrine activity that may play a role in declining cognition and
memory and increasing depression.

Spinal cord:
As people age, the disks between the backbones (vertebrae) become hard and
brittle, and parts of the vertebrae may overgrow. As a result, the disks lose some of their
capacity to cushion, so more pressure is put on the spinal cord and on the branches of
the nerves that emerge from it (spinal nerve roots). The increased pressure may injure
nerve fibers at the point where they leave the spinal cord. Such injury can result in
decreased sensation and sometimes decreased strength and balance.

Peripheral nerves:
As people age, peripheral nerves may conduct impulses more slowly and release
neurotransmitters is impaired, resulting in decreased sensation, slower reflexes, and
often some clumsiness. Nerve conduction can slow because the myelin sheaths around
nerves degenerate. Myelin sheaths are layers of tissue that insulate nerves and speed
conduction of impulses (see figure Typical Structure of a Nerve Cell).
 Degeneration also occurs because as people age, blood flow decreases, nearby
bones overgrow and put pressure on the nerves, or both. Age-related changes in
function can become more noticeable when the nerves are injured by something else
(for example, by diabetes mellitus).

The peripheral nervous system’s response to injury is reduced. When the axon of
a peripheral nerve is damaged in younger people, the nerve is able to repair itself as
long as its cell body, located in or near the spinal cord, is undamaged. This self-repair
process occurs more slowly and incompletely in older people, making older people
more vulnerable to injury and disease.

References:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319185#Normal-brain-aging
https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/brain,-spinal-cord,-and-nerve-disorders/biology-of-
the-nervous-system/effects-of-aging-on-the-nervous-system