LEARNING OBJECTIVES • How do we measure changes in the brain? • What major changes occur in neurons? How does the ability of neurons to communicate with each other change with age? What are the psychological effects of changes in the brain? • What major changes occur in the autonomic nervous system? J orge is […]

Older adults say that engaging in sexual behavior is an important aspect of human relationships through­out adulthood (AARP, 1999a; Jacoby, 2005). Healthy adults at any age are capable of having and enjoying sexual relationships. Moreover, the desire to do so normally does not diminish. Unfortunately, one of the myths in our society is that older […]

Unlike women, men do not have a physiological (and cultural) event to mark reproductive changes, although there is a gradual decline in testosterone levels (Seidman, 2003). Men do not experience a complete loss of the ability to father children, as this varies widely from individual to individual, but men do experience a normative decline in […]

Hormone Replacement Therapy There is probably no medical topic more controversial than hormone replacement therapy (HRT). For many years, women have had the choice of taking medications to replace the female hormones that are not produced naturally by the body after menopause. HRT may involve taking estrogen alone, or in combination with progesterone (or progestin […]

As Helen is beginning to experience, the major reproductive change in women during adulthood is the loss of the natural ability to bear children. Called perimenopause, this transition begins in the 40s, as menstrual cycles become irregular and some women experience things such as night sweats, and is generally complete by age 50 to 55 […]

LEARNING OBJECTIVES • What reproductive changes occur in women? • What reproductive changes occur in men? •What are the psychological effects of reproductive changes? H elen woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. She’d been feeling fine when she went to bed after her 48th birthday party, so she wasn’t sure […]

You probably don’t pay much attention to your breath­ing unless you’re gasping for breath after exercise— or you’re an older adult. Older adults tend to notice their breathing a great deal more. Why? With increas­ing age, the rib cage and the air passageways become stiffer, making it harder to breathe. The lungs change in appearance […]

The risk of a CVA increases with age; in fact, CVAs are among the leading causes of death and chronic disorders among older adults in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008a). In addition to age, other risk factors include being male, being African American, and having high blood pressure, heart disease, […]

Tune into your pulse. The beating of your heart is the work of an amazing organ. In an average lifetime, the heart beats more than 3 billion times, pumping the equivalent of more than 900 million gallons of blood. Two important age-related struc­tural changes in the heart are the accumulation of fat deposits and the […]

LEARNING OBJECTIVES • What age-related changes occur in the cardiovascular system? What types of cardiovascular disease are common in adult development and aging? What are the psychological effects of age-related changes in the cardiovascular system? • What structural and functional changes occur with age in the respiratory system? What are the most common types of […]