As people age their minds may decrease in memory and cognitive functioning. The decline of memory and functioning as people grow older can be linked to the declining in age and ability. Some questions has rose as to whether the race of a person has an impact on the aging process that memory faces. Or is aging different in each person due to their genetic and biological make-up.
A research article had studied this same concept of whether the aging process is related to the race of an individual, and if the individual’s memory decline has an impact on this factor. Analysis that have been tested towards the cognitive functioning and memory in Caucasian and African American people around the same age range. “Some researchers have come to the conclusion that there was an increase in cognitive decline in African American individuals” .
Some of the testing concurred that slower decline in cognitive memory was associated more towards the African American race than Caucasian individuals. Further testing and research studies showed that black individuals did not have significant reduction in cognitive memory but did have a higher result in working memory. The conclusion of the different testing of memory in blacks and whites showed that most of the decline or slower recollection of memory was in African Americans and not Caucasian people.
The aging process decreases the cognitive memory when people get older. Psychologists must take this into consideration when dealing with the elderly, and their mental state of mind. The decrease functioning with age occurs because of cells dying off and not reproducing as they would in a younger individual. Brain cells will die off which changes the functioning of the brain and how it operates. Blood flow can become restricted in the brain causing memory loss as people increase in age.
Reference
Wilson, R. (2015). Cognitive Aging In Older Black and White Persons. American Psychological Association, 1-7.
