Summary
The article titled “Alzheimer’s disease and modern lifestyle: what is the role of stress?” written by Marcello et al. (2015) gives an account of how stress and modern lifestyle increases the chances of prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. While evidence suggests that Alzheimer’s disease contributes to over half of dementia cases, the disease has been expected to increase at a rapid rate in the next few decades. The authors suggest that the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is not only difficult, but also dependent on various functional and cognitive assessments. Initially, the onset of Alzheimer’s could be identified by moderate cognitive impairment and deficit in short-term memory and spatial memory; however, the symptoms of the disease become severe with the progression of the disease, thereby ending the loss of executive function . The article mentions that there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease in spite of great efforts invested by researchers.
The article asserts that modern-life stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Stress has been entailed to the pathophysiology and etiology of chronic mental health conditions as the brain is the fundamental organ of stress. The article explains that the ability of changing neuronal activity in the brain in response to challenges is essential for the survival of human beings, thereby leading to a complex and highly coordinated stress-response system . The influence of stress on cognition is not only complex, but also dependent on certain factors, such as the nature, timing and duration of stress. The authors provide the example of how chronic stress impairs the memory and learning processes, thereby contributing to Alzheimer’s disease. Evidence shows that patients experiencing higher levels of distress are 2.7 times more likely to develop the disease when compared to others . Furthermore, higher levels of distress are also responsible for the rapid progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
The article further emphasizes on how various psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety are responsible for the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Experiments conducted on rodents determine how adverse stress exacerbates neural impairments in memory and learning, thereby causing neurological symptoms at an earlier age. They have also conducted a research to examine how stressful events contribute to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, thereby creating a better understanding of the role of environmental factors on the pathogenesis of the disease. The article focuses on how spinal morphology accounts for structural and functional differences at the synaptic level, thereby causing changes to the memory and learning in the brain and resulting in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease .
Application of Terminology
According to Hockenbury, Nolan and Hockenbury (2016), the terms spatial memory and neurological processes are the terms that relate to the article. The authors in the article identify the reasons responsible for modern-life stress and its role in the manipulation of neurological processes in the brain. The neurological processes of brain offer insight into the complications of biological basis with regards to human behavior. On the other hand, spatial memory refers to the memory responsible for registering information about an individual’s environment and spatial orientation.
Conclusion
Works Cited
Hockenbury, S. E., S. A. Nolan and D. H. Hockenbury. Discovering Psychology. London, UK: Worth Publishers, 2016.
Marcello, E., F. Gardoni and M. Di Luca. "Alzheimer's disease and modern lifestyle: what is the role of stress?" Journal of Neurochemistry 134.5 (2015): 795–798.
