Final answer:
Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, leads to significant cognitive decline in older adults, affecting memory, reasoning, and other brain functions. Managing the condition and potentially mitigating cognitive decline can involve cognitive rehabilitation and maintaining an active lifestyle with physical and mental exercises.
Step-by-step explanation:
Dementia significantly impacts cognition in older adults, leading to a decline in both memory and other cognitive functions. Alzheimer's disease (AD), identified by Solomon Carter Fuller as a type of dementia with a genetic basis, exemplifies this with symptoms ranging from mild forgetfulness to severe memory loss and loss of bodily functions. AD is caused by the formation of plaques in the brain due to cell death. As AD progresses, it affects areas of the brain responsible for emotional regulation, language, and executive functions. Cognitive rehabilitation and engaging in physical and mental activities are some strategies that can mitigate cognitive decline.
Researchers continue to study the aging brain, comparing it with younger people to identify specific changes. The aging process involves a decrease in brain cells and fluid intelligence, which leads to slower information processing abilities, reasoning, and memory. Physical exercise is noted to have cognitive benefits, potentially preventing neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia.