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- Persson, Jonas, et al.
(author)
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Cognition and Aging : Typical Development
- 2008
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In: Handbook of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. - : The MIT Press, Cambridge, US, and London, UK.. - 9780262141048 ; , s. 591-606
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Declining cognitive functions are a normal and inevitable part of healthy aging. Some changes may stem from global alterations in brain functions, including metabolic changes; others may result from localized decline of specific neural circuits. Current research on cognitive aging aims not only to identify the mechanisms that underlie cognitive change, but also to understand and harness the genetic, experiential and environmental factors that promote the preservation of cognitive abilities. Recent technological advances are leading to new breakthroughs in cognitive aging research, while also posing new challenges to understand the relation between genetic, anatomical, physiological, and cognitive factors and to integrate these levels of analysis. Moreover, the availability of high-resolution neuroimaging methods is revising our perspective on aging and giving way to new ideas about the aging mind and brain. We now know that the aging brain is not simply a depleted and reduced version of the younger brain. Instead, recent cognitive neuroscience evidence points to patterns of preservation and decline, along with functional reorganization and plasticity.
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