A Closer Look at How Cognitive Decline Happens

Decline is inevitable in normal aging: Live long enough, and you’ll probably notice thinner hair, saggier skin, weaker muscles, creakier joints, reduced balance, and hearing and vision changes. You’ll also likely observe a notable decline in thinking abilities.   

As a board-certified internist specializing in dementia, Dr. Garrigos and our team at Socrates A. Garrigos, MD, PA, offer a full scope of geriatric care services for aging adults in McAllen, Texas. Assessing cognitive decline is a central part of this care. 

Here, we look closer at age-related cognitive decline, including what’s typical and what may cause concern.

How aging changes your thinking ability

Your cognitive abilities include everything from concentrating, learning, memory, and recall to reasoning, judgment, planning, and completing complex tasks. Some of these abilities peak around age 30, then subtly and gradually decline as time goes on.

As you continue to age beyond your mid-sixties, you’re more likely to experience:

• Noticeably slower thinking
• Trouble sustaining attention
• Word-finding challenges 
• Difficulty holding information
• Reduced ability to multitask

As you get older, you may notice that it takes you longer to learn and recall new information, you have trouble finding the right word occasionally, or you sometimes struggle to remember the names of those who aren’t part of your inner circle.

You can expect these cognitive changes and attribute them to normal aging.

Contributing causes of cognitive decline 

Many factors can contribute to the kind of typical cognitive decline that occurs with age; these same factors also play a role in abnormal cognitive decline or neurodegenerative disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Let’s take a closer look:

1. Brain aging 

Typical age-related changes in brain structures — including a tangible decrease in the volume of your hippocampal, frontal, and temporal lobes — are responsible for some of the thinking ability changes that occur in later adulthood. 

2. Genetics

Studies suggest genetics may control up to 70% of age-related cognitive changes. The genes you inherit strongly influence sustained brain plasticity and neuron excitability — key characteristics of the healthy neural networks that support normal thinking, memory, and learning.  

3. Lifestyle habits 

Healthy lifestyle habits, including good nutrition, regular exercise, stress management, consistent sleep, mental engagement, and social activity — support continued cognitive function as you age. Unhealthy habits like inactivity, poor nutrition, smoking, drinking, and lack of social connection have the opposite effect on cognition. 

4. Chronic disease 

Chronic illness can negatively influence cognitive decline, causing it to emerge earlier, accelerate faster, or be more pronounced. Medical conditions that can contribute to worsening cognitive decline include obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and depression. 

5. Other factors

Other factors can contribute to increased cognitive decline as you age, including untreated hearing loss and vision loss, medication side effects, air pollution, vitamin B12 deficiency, and a history of traumatic brain injury (i.e., concussions). 

When mental decline seems concerning 

Specific age-related cognition changes qualify as subjective cognitive decline (SCD). This medical term describes thinking abilities that have noticeably declined but not enough to interfere with daily function. SCD doesn’t affect intelligence, long-term memory, or recognition. 

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), on the other hand, causes slightly more dire memory and cognition issues than those that you expect with older age. 

With MCI, you may forget conversations, repeat the same stories often, get distracted more easily, get momentarily lost in familiar places, have trouble coming up with the right words, and find it harder to carry out complex tasks like parking the car. 

MCI doesn’t interfere with your ability to carry out everyday tasks but can be a risk factor for (or precursor to) dementia — or more severe cognitive decline that does interfere with daily life. 

Benefits of early cognitive assessment

Whether you’ve noticed signs of cognitive decline in yourself or a loved one, seeking early assessment is the next step. If an evaluation reveals SCD or nothing out of the ordinary, you have a baseline for future assessments; we can offer strategies to help support continued brain health.  

If early cognitive assessment is positive and calls for further evaluation, we identify the underlying cause of impairment. Then, we develop a multi-level treatment plan to address the cause (if appropriate) and manage any contributing factors.  

Are you worried about age-related cognitive changes? We can help. Call us today, or use our easy online scheduler to book an appointment at Socrates A. Garrigos, MD, PA, in McAllen, Texas.