MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
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Memory Loss of Elder’s
Markeisha Stallion
Sociology 3230
Dr. Perry
November 29, 2017
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
INTRODUCTION
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A majority of the elderly in the community undergo memory loss or dementia at a point
in their lives. This is a very sad situation given the helpless state that the elderly who are mostly
abandoned in nursing homes find themselves in, without anyone to provide specialized care. The
elderly end up being polarized due to the memory loss and they are not understood at all since
everyone is always busy with their activities. That way, memory loss among the elderly has been
misunderstood for a long time with little effort being put into treating the condition with care.
This problem leads to the aged suffering immensely in their last few years of life due to
negligence and the lack of awareness of memory loss with age. Due to the increased number of
elder citizens and the general poor setup of many nursing homes, this research will help instill
hope and the courage to take action and save the ailing generation of the elderly.
This paper delves into the causes of memory loss with age and the expected effects on the
aged as well. It will assist in highlighting the causes, effects, and ways to deal with memory loss
among the aged as a means of solving the identified problem. The discussion will assist in
identifying signs of dementia or memory loss early and placing the necessary mitigation
strategies into place. Further, this discussion will allow the awareness on memory loss as in
senior citizens as a means of understanding the difficulties, and the strategies that people can
implement. The problem of memory loss is a serious one that needs discussion and sorting out
with the relevant forces. Therefore, engaging in the conversation will assist to learn more and
enhance the acceptability of the issue in the society.
EPISODIC MEMORY AND AGING
Allen Timothy, (2015) found, opined that typical aging is greatly linked to some sort of
reduced memory performance in human beings. Authors of this article define episodic memory
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
as that personal memory responsible for personal experiences. It is clear ‘events-in-context’ is
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the scientific laboratory approach used to test episodic memory in human beings. This approach
has justified the fact that memory complications in adults is caused by a range of factors and is
characterized by reduced ability of the aged to remember contextual details that are associated
with specific episodes in life. There have been some disparities in understanding underlying
background for age related deficits behind witnessed in adults (Allen et al. 2015).
Allen Timothy, (2015), found were of the idea that the ability to understand this
age-related memory deficit in adults is of great importance for effecting special forms of
treatment. The authors argue that dentate gyrus (DG) tend to be vulnerable to the effects
of aging on all primates. Since human beings are also primates, this drug is highly
applicable in this case. By adopting a cross-species sequence memory task they had
developed, they identified a range of issues associated with memory loss, especially in
adults. For example, adults impaired with dementia are linked to life history
psychological disturbances and are known to have succumbed to some detrimental events
which in turn affected their ability to remember context based issues (Allen et al. 2015).
In the last two paragraphs I’ve explained the authors reasecrh and input on
memory loss. The older an adult gets doesn’t necessary determine what they are more
likely to remember, but has a great effect on it. The drugs they take, as far as their
medicine for other health issues play an important role. Some drugs can be the root cause
to other health related issues, and sometimes can cause mental illness to one’s brain.
Throughout this I will have more information on these issues as well. There’s also the
amount of stress that is placed upon them.
SUCCESSFUL AGING AND MEMORY LOSS
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
Anton, (2015), found that there are numerous difficulties that are associated with
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definition of the concept of successful aging as applied in the community of scientists.
For example, one of the crucial points being raised is that walking speed is used as a clear
indicator of health status of the human being hence successful aging. This article provides
a clear overview of health conditions, behavioral factors and all mechanisms of biology
which are used by psychologists and health professional as markers for declining
mobility. These elements form a concrete base for developing informed medical
strategies of handling side effects of dementia that are evident in adults (Anton et al.,
2015).
Anton et al., (2015), found identified some specific factors that contribute to health
conditions having a significant impact in reducing physical function especially among the aged.
A number of cognitive functions tend to reduce with age which include but not limited to
memory, attention and executive functions. It is clear from the article that a number of functions
do retain stability despite the fact of increasing aging. Such factors are: individual vocabulary
and cognitive development among others. Obesity is one of the factors which have led to
increased incidences of physical instability that is characterized by memory loss among adults.
Statistics show that around 33% of the American adults who have succumbed to obesity suffer
from dementia. Increased obesity is associated with some form of muscle mass, having a
significant impact to the physical instability in adults. Memory loss is one the few physical
manifestations of obesity among the aged people (Anton et al., 2015).
Anton et al., (2015), found that sarcopenia is one of the factors having huge contribution
to physical instability among adults. Authors define this condition as medical complication of
age related muscles loss; especially type II muscles fibers and motor neurons. This is a critical
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
health care concern for the adults because it has been proved to be associated with the
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development of functional disability which tends to extend to dementia as a health condition.
Other factors that have been discussed as having an impact to physical disability include but
limited to dynapenia and chronic pain. Identified substantiated evidences of behavioral factors of
reduced physical stability are: some form of sedentary lifestyle, uncontrolled and poor sleep and
stress caused by environmental factors such as noise pollution (Anton et al., 2015).
FUNCTIONS
Healey and Michael, (2016), found that aging is related with changes in cognitive
functioning aspects of some people. Some of these changes revolve around, social skills, verbal
abilities and to some significant scale human wisdom. Almost all aspects of cognitive changes
tend to diminish with age as opposed to improvements. Healey and Michael 2016 appreciate the
fact that episodic memory in all aspects of human beings encompasses, autobiographical
recalling of context based events and to a large scale abstract reasoning. Declining of cognitive
elements with age is generally disturbing thus there is need to implement advanced approaches
of preventing factors that are associated with diminished memory ability especially among the
aged people in society (Healey and Michael, 2016).
Healey and Michael, (2016), found that the ability to develop and implement
interventions of curbing memory loss factors do require “detailed understanding of how
and why memory changes with age”. The authors have justified the fact that the field of
cognitive aging has been able to describe how aging is associated with changes in
memory. However, this field has not been able to define how and why notable changes of
memory with aging do occur. It is clear that not all memory change does occur uniformly
with age.
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
Healey and Michael, (2016), found opined that deficit in attention resources has a
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significant impact in impairing individual performance that requires effortful memory
such as free recall. The environmental support framework of Craik and colleagues has
numerous assumptions on some of the processes that underlie how encoding and retrieval
of cognitive resources is done. There are various theories and hypotheses that have been
developed by various scholars relating with memory loss and aging. For example,
Associative Deficit Hypothesis was suggested by Narvey Benjamin. According to this
hypothesis, “adults are selectively impaired in the ability to form (or use) new
association”. This hypothesis was based on findings suggesting that aging does not spare
all forms of recognition memory” (Healey and Michael, 2016).
YOUNG AND OLD DEMENTIA BELIEFS
Horhota et al., (2012), found that there are notable differences in the manner in which
young people and adults have developed beliefs on the best ways of mitigating age-related
memory loss. It is true that people tend to have their own beliefs on how to control their memory
loss. Participants in this research process were of the idea that controlling memory loss involves
approaches such as psychological and neurological interventions of controlling the disease
(Horhota et al. 2012).
Horhota et al., (2012), found there are age differences of personal beliefs on how to
control memory loss. For example, majority of young people focus on internal strategies of
controlling memory loss while the aged focus of cognitive aspect of controlling memory loss.
Cognitive exercise is associated with improving physical health thus an effective way of
optimizing memory ability. Both young and the aged view internal and cognitive approaches of
handling memory loss as effective thus end up staying healthy and focused. Therefore, memory
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
loss is one of the most chronic diseases that should be controlled early enough to avoid more
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healthy catastrophes in order to avoid succumbing to chronic physiological stress. Embracing
internal and cognitive approaches of avoiding stress is very paramount in life. There is need to
conduct more research to develop advanced strategies of rectifying this situation (Horhota et al.
2012).
Although there are different classification systems, memory loss generally ranges from
associated memory decline to mild cognitive impairment and dementia (Horhota, Lineweaver,
Ositelu, summers, and Hertzog 2012). Age-associated memory loss is perceived as the mildest
form of impairment of the memory and is characterized by a little decline in short-term memory
whereby the visual-spatial and language abilities are slightly affected. Therefore, the issue of
memory loss is common among the elderly which makes it important for this study to examine
the evidence for the decline in the performance of memory in old age. Many elderly persons
endure the effects of memory loss as a result of early cognitive decline but rarely do they seek
medical attention (Rubin and Umanath 2015).
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN-ASSOCIATIONS AND WITHIN-PERSON FLUCTUATIONS
HülürGizem et al., (2014), found that memory loss in adults is typically associated with
compromised ability of human mind to function properly. Various scholars have justified the fact
that there is relationship between-associations and memory performance in aged people.
However, there is little information about within-person fluctuations and the symptoms
associated memory loss. It is clear that subjective memory is linked to both within-person
differences and between person differences (HülürGizem et al. 2014).
HülürGizem et al., (2014), found that the degree of subjective memory across persons
does vary with the level of memory performance and all associated symptoms. The authors
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
justified the fact that subjective memory ratings are more sensitive to within people’s alterations
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as compared to between person alterations. Individuals who are more sensitive to within-person
alterations do manifest a lot of depressive symptoms compared to those individuals who are
sensitive to between-person alterations. Normal perception that aging & memory decline has
formed a concrete foundation of understanding development of subjective perceptions and the
symptoms that are associated with dementia. Research has substantiated the fact that effective
memory performance is linked to appealing subjective reports. Numerous studies conducted on
the basis of cross-sectional studies have showed that human being manifesting depressive
symptoms are more prone to subjective complaints (HülürGizem et al. 2014).
Another type of memory which declines with normal aging is the source memory. This
makes it difficult for the elderly to recall the source from which they acquired information. This
is supported by studies which required the elderly to listen to different speakers reading different
declarative blocks of statements and found that the elderly have difficulties in recalling the
source of the declarative statements (Hülür, Hertzog, Pearman, Ram and Gerstorf 2014). The
implicit or non-declarative memory which facilitates learning beyond conscious awareness is
less affected by the normal aging process, especially in comparison to the episodic memory
which is affected the most by the aging process. Non-declarative memory is divided into priming
and procedural memory whereby some items of priming memory are vulnerable to the normal
aging process which lead to memory loss in the elderly.
Koen et al. (2014), found that any form of substantial decline in episodic memory is
characterized by occurrence of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Healthy aging is linked to moderate-to-large form of impairments especially among the aged.
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
There are number of factors which are linked with increased occurrence of such diseases such as
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Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease (Koen et al. 2014).
Koen et al. (2014), found opined that hippocampus is a special region in the
human brain that is responsible for all form of recollection but perirhinal cortex is
responsible for familiarity. Once these regions are affected, then higher chance of
occurrence of dementia are very high. It is such a comprehensive conclusion that
depreciations in individual familiarity are clear litmus paper tests of memory loss;
especially among the aged (Koen et al. 2014).
The loss of memory in the elderly is well documented and widely accepted (Koen
and Yonelinas, 2014). The basic idea is that the reduction in the speed of memory
performance underlies most of the age-related cognitive deficits both directly and
indirectly. Directly, the memory performance behavior in the elderly is inefficient and
slow while indirectly, the timing of a multiplex sequence of memory performance is
disrupted. So basically, the older a person becomes the fasters their memory, they slow
down. They’re not getting the same treatment as to when they were young in order to
keep up. Once you get older it’s hard to keep up with everyday life hobby’s or activities.
ROLE OF LOCUS COERULEUS
Mather and Carolyn, (20160, found that Locus Coeruleus do play a huge role of
maintaining perusal cognitive functions. The integrity of Locus Coeruleus does have a
significant role in determining cognitive abilities at late stage of life of human beings. This is
justified by the fact that this region is allergic to all sorts of toxins and all sorts of infection that
do happen. At the age of mid 20s, Alzheimer’s related pathology is evident in some people.
Research has shown that the moment LC is aroused, all form of mental challenges does protect
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
neurons against any form of mental damage. This is a clear indicator as to why being enrolled in
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academic related course do reduce chances cognitive decline at late stages of human life (Mather
& Carolyn, 2016).
Mather and Carolyn, (2016), found I have indicated that decline in cortical and
hippocampal regions do influence cognitive abilities in human beings. On the other hand,
modularity roles do depend on the brainstem of the human brain. As already opined in the
previous articles, the ability to maintain healthy life styles do ensure that human memory is kept
secure from any form of external interference. It is important to ensure that regions of the brain
are not affected in any way to ensure that human memory is kept constant (Mather & Carolyn,
2016).
Another major framework for memory loss and aging proposes that the elderly is less
efficient when it comes to inhibiting the partially activated representations (Mather and Harley,
2016). The inhibitory function is important in providing control when accessing the working
memory and thus restricting the access to information relevant to perform a task. It also
facilitates the deletion of information which is not relevant in the working memory while still
restraining the inappropriate responses. Since the elderly are less efficient in this function, the
performance of their memory tends to be reduced.
Mendonca and Alves, (2015), found that the aged are more vulnerable to cognitive
complications. Such individuals are at the risk of progressing to objective cognitive
complications as compared to individuals without cognitive complications (Mendonca and
Alves, 2015). Memory is a critical part of human beings whereby it is the adaptation aspect that
makes one responsive, sentient, and interactional. The loss of memory in the elderly causes them
great worry because it diminishes their consciousness due to the loss of social and psychological
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
self. The elderly has a poor performance on short-term and long-term memory tasks in
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comparison to the younger adults whereby the loss of memory is a component of the normal
aging process (Mendonca and Alves, 2015). There is increasing evidence based on longitudinal
and cross-section studies which support that memory loss in the elderly is inevitable even in the
normal aging process.
Mendonca and Alves, (2015), found subjective cognitive complaints are at high risk of
succumbing to memory loss as compared to those individuals without such complications. This
is caused by the fact those individuals having constant complaints overwork their brains ending
up affecting region that is concerned with memory (Mendonca and Alves, 2015).
Most of the research I’ve found is on older male adults, not so much women. Although
women suffer from this as well. One of my friend’s grandfathers worked his entire life, first as a
navy sharp shooter, and second as a plumber. He worked so hard that he got tired mentally, and
would always forget to take care of something or what he was telling someone. In this case he
needed some extra help around the house to ensure he takes his medicine, and other things get
done on time. Every time I would visit him he’d tell me how tired he was and his head was
hurting. The headaches could be a part of the memory loss.
CARING FOR MEMORY LOSS PATIENTS
Parsons et al., (2015), found that it is of great importance for the aged people suffering
from mild memory loss to have access to necessary resources. This will help them to be in the
better position of understanding their compromise condition in order to be accorded necessary
support (Parsons et al., 2015). Non-declarative memory is divided into priming and procedural
memory whereby some items of priming memory are vulnerable to the normal aging process
which lead to memory loss in the elderly. Since the different types of memory combine to yield
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
an effective performance of the memory system, the vulnerability of some types of memory
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tends to affect the mental processing of information in old age and hence resulting in memory
loss in the old age. (Parsons, Surprenant, Tracey and Godwin 2013). This further supports that
there is a decline in cognitive tasks among the elderly.
Parsons et al., (2015), found that a good number of elders are living with memory loss on
their own without any form of assistance. Age memory is loss is perceived to be mildest form of
memory complication. This poses a stressing scenario thus there is need to accord such people
necessary support to enable them stay healthy (Parsons et al., 2015).
I believe this theory is important because if a person is isolated and never socializes with
others it can affect their memory. `As I stated earlier in this essay my grandmother had a problem
with her memory. Most of the time she was alone and hardly heard from anyone, and had no
treatment. If a person doesn’t have conversations to exercise the brain, it is easy to say the brain
can loss cells. At a point before she was taken to the nursing home, she had a hard time
communicating with my aunts and uncles.
Rubin and Sharda, (2015), found defines event memory as ability to recall simple
occurrence of a scene. Important regions of the brain which ensure that this is made possible are
hippocampus and ventral visual stream. The issue of memory loss is common among the elderly
which makes it important for this study to examine the evidence for the decline in the
performance of memory in old age. Many elderly persons endure the effects of memory loss as a
result of early cognitive decline but rarely do they seek medical attention (Rubin and Umanath
2015). This is because most of the older adults might not be aware that their memories are
having problems and the possibilities of seeking a medical diagnosis of dementia might frighten
the elderly making them avoid seeking medical attention.
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
Rubin and Sharda, (2015), found that inability to recall simple scene occurrence is an
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indicator of decline in individual memory. Rubin and Sharda, 2015 found that inability to recall
simple scene occurrence is an indicator of decline in individual memory. This has nauseating
impact especially among the aged. Suggested event theory forms a concrete foundation of
understanding ability of remembering scene events can be fine tuned (Rubin and Sharda, 2015).
Despite the failure of the elderly to seek medical attention, they recognize that the problem of
memory loss and the health-related needs they have. Therefore, this research will be important in
addressing the self-identified health-related needs of the elderly which are associated with agerelated memory loss.
This theory is important because not all elderly people suffer from the same memory
related illnesses. My grandmother was a victim of memory loss. This came about when she was
placed in a nursing home. She had little to no social contact with people other than the nurses
and her one roommate. She had a hard time remembering which one of her children were still
alive. In the (MCI) is an intermediate stage between normal age-related cognitive changes and
the more serious symptoms that indicate dementia. MCI can involve problems with memory,
language, thinking, and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes, but the line
between MCI and normal memory problems is not always a clear one.
CHRONIC PAIN AND MEMORY LOSS
Varvana, (2015), found that patients who experience chronic pain have been linked with
dementia. Such dysfunctional observations are associated with compromised efforts of the
working memory and long-term memory to functioning in a smooth way (Varvana, 2015). This
can affect the human brain, and cause severe memory loss. With age comes the stress of losing
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
parents, and other family members. Including the stress from everyday life, work, money issues
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and more. This can cause the brain to stress and stuffer from things like headaches.
Varvana, (2015), found chronic pain do affect most attention demanding processes and
all forms of biaseazs should have eliminated from society with the intention of helping patients
with chronic pain stay a normal life. This is driven by the fact that memory maladaptive
consequences are linked to chronic pain ((Varvana, 2015).
Since the various studies conducted have different perspectives and conclusions, it is
usually vague following the finding from every researched field. Therefore, literature review
assists in comparing and contrasting a variety of research findings and recommendations and use
them in coming up with updated and practical recommendations and conclusions. This method
will be helpful in this research in reviewing and appraising the published peer-reviewed journals
and newsletters on old age and memory loss and provide manageable data as findings from the
reviewed literature. This method is also beneficial because of the challenges related to ethical
dilemmas that might arise from the use of primary tools of data collection. The use of the
literature review method in collecting data will also facilitate the research to use the latest
possible literature on memory loss in the elderly from peer reviewed and diverse sources which
are more reliable.
SUMMARY/CONCULSION
The paper presents the findings of different researchers in three main categories; the
causes of memory loss with age, its effects, and the necessary mitigation steps. These three
categories allow a reader to understand the link between dementia, old age, and treatment
strategies. Therefore, the findings are critical in the everyday use when dealing with the aged
regarding memory loss. Regarding the causes of dementia and general loss of memory with age,
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
the authors find out that aging is linked to reduced memory performance. This finding pointed
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toward the conclusion that aging is associated with high risks of memory loss. Therefore, the
memory loss with age may not be induced by external factors rather it comes naturally in many
cases. Sarcopenia was also found to be related to changes in cognitive functioning. Therefore,
the causes of memory loss with age were found to be the aging itself and associated muscle loss.
The effects of the memory loss are regarded moderate to highly adverse. For instance, the
researchers find out that placing the elderly in a nursing home presents a high risk of dementia.
Further, they also found out that chronic pain in the elderly may worsen the situation. Therefore,
the authors provide an overview of how the elderly may be affected in the daily activities that
may increase the memory loss symptoms. Stress has specifically been identified as increasing the
likelihood of dementia. The authors further propose different means of mitigating the memory
loss and advise on the management of the condition as opposed to seeking treatment which may
be non-existent. The elimination of stressors, understanding the probable causes in the patient’s
environment, and also increasing attention resources are some of the recommendations.
Essentially, managing the condition through the identification of triggers and enablers and
eliminating them is the most proposed.
The research highlights a common problem in the society. Reviewing what researchers
have made of the problem of dementia presented an opportunity to understand the scope of
memory loss among the aged and how it may be mitigated. Finding out that the health problem
has no permanent solution, it is necessary to provide special care to the elderly who start
showing such symptoms. This research is important because it serves as a guide to the public on
how to treat the elderly, as opposed to dumping them in nursing homes or neglecting them.
Personally, I think dealing with the problem of dementia needs the acceptance of responsibilities
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
and the informed approach to the probable causes and factors that may accelerate it. This
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research provides a good basis for educating the public on the issue since it is evident that it is
very common in the society.
MEMORY LOSS OF ELDER’S
REFERENCES
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Allen Timothy, Morris Andrea, Stark Shauna, Fortin Norbert and Stark Craig. 2015. “Memory
for Sequences of Events Impaired in Typical Aging.” Learning and Memory 22(3):138
148.
Anton, Stephen, Adam Woods, Tetsuo Ashizawa, Diana Barb, Thomas Buford, Christy Carter
2015. “Successful Aging: Advancing the Science of Physical Independence in Older
Adults.” Ageing Research Reviews 24(0): 304–327.
Healey Karl, and Michael Kahana. 2016. “A Four–Component Model of Age–Related Memory
Change.”Psychological Review 123(1): 23–69.
Horhota Michael, Lineweaver Tara, Ositelu Monique, Summers Kristi, and Hertzog Christopher.
2012. “Young and Older Adults’ Beliefs about Effective Ways to Mitigate Age-Related
Memory Decline.” Psychology and Aging 27(2): 293-304
Hülür Gizem, Christopher Hertzog, Ann Pearman, Nilam Ram, and Denis Gerstorf. 2014.
“Longitudinal Associations of Subjective Memory with Memory Performance and
Depressive Symptoms: Between-Person and Within-Person Perspectives.” Psychology
and Aging, 29(4): 814–827.
Koen, Joshua. D., and Yonelinas, Andrew. P. 2014. “The Effects of Healthy Aging, Amnestic Mild
Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer’s Disease on Recollection and Familiarity: a MetaAnalytic Review.”Neuropsychology Review 24(3): 332-354.
Mather Mara and Carolyn Harley. 2016. “The Locus Coeruleus: Essential for Maintaining
Cognitive Function and the Aging Brain.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 20(3): 214-226.
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Mendonca Marcelo and Alves Luisa. 2015. “From Subjective Cognitive Complaints to
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Dementia. Who Is at Risk?” A Systematic Review, 31(2): 105-114.
Parsons Karen, Surprenant Aimee, Tracey Anne, and Godwin Marshal. 2013. “CommunityDwelling Older Adults with Memory Loss: Needs Assessment.” Canadian Family
Physician, 59(3):278–285.
Rubin, David, and Sharda Umanath. 2015. “Event Memory: A Theory of Memory for
Laboratory, Autobiographical, and Fictional Events.” Psychological Review, 122(1): 1–
23.
Varvana Myllärniemi. 2015. “Literature Review as a Research Method”. A Comprehensive
Literature Review of Chronic Pain and Memory, (8):707-712
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