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" ... Provides a quantitative overview of the vast literature on aging and speeded tasks based on a large number of meta-analyses, many of them new to this book. This volume thus brings together, for the first time, almost everything we know about aging and processing speed"--Jacket, page [2].
First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Over a half-century of research has documented the fact that people of different ages perform at different levels on a variety of tests of cognitive functioning, and yet there are still no comprehensive theories to account for these phenomena. A Theory of Cognitive Aging is intended to begin intellectual discussion in this area by identifying major issues of controversy, and proposing a particular theoretical interpretation based on the notion that the rate of processing information slows down with increased age. Although still quite preliminary, the theoretical perspective is demonstrated to provide a plausible account for age-related differences in functioning on measures of memory, spatial ability and reasoning. The book has four aims: - To advocate a more explicitly theoretical approach to research in the area of cognitive aging. - To outline three important dimensions along which it is argued that any theory of cognitive aging phenomena must take a position. - To evaluate empirical evidence relevant to specific positions along those dimensions. - To summarize the major concepts of the current theory, and to describe its application to selected findings in the research literature.
This second edition of the popular Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging provides up-to-date coverage of the most fundamental topics in this discipline. Like the first edition, this volume accessibly and comprehensively reviews the neural mechanisms of cognitive aging appropriate to both professionals and students in a variety of domains, including psychology, neuroscience, neuropsychology, neurology, and psychiatry. The chapters are organized into three sections. The first section focuses on major questions regarding methodological approaches and experimental design. It includes chapters on structural imaging (MRI, DTI), functional imaging (fMRI), and molecular imaging (dopamine PET, etc), and covers multimodal imaging, longitudinal studies, and the interpretation of imaging findings. The second section concentrates on specific cognitive abilities, including attention and inhibitory control, executive functions, memory, and emotion. The third section turns to domains with health and clinical implications, such as the emergence of cognitive deficits in middle age, the role of genetics, the effects of modulatory variables (hypertension, exercise, cognitive engagement), and the distinction between healthy aging and the effects of dementia and depression. Taken together, the chapters in this volume, written by many of the most eminent scientists as well as young stars in this discipline, provide a unified and comprehensive overview of cognitive neuroscience of aging.
For most Americans, staying "mentally sharp" as they age is a very high priority. Declines in memory and decision-making abilities may trigger fears of Alzheimer's disease or other neurodegenerative diseases. However, cognitive aging is a natural process that can have both positive and negative effects on cognitive function in older adults - effects that vary widely among individuals. At this point in time, when the older population is rapidly growing in the United States and across the globe, it is important to examine what is known about cognitive aging and to identify and promote actions that individuals, organizations, communities, and society can take to help older adults maintain and improve their cognitive health. Cognitive Aging assesses the public health dimensions of cognitive aging with an emphasis on definitions and terminology, epidemiology and surveillance, prevention and intervention, education of health professionals, and public awareness and education. This report makes specific recommendations for individuals to reduce the risks of cognitive decline with aging. Aging is inevitable, but there are actions that can be taken by individuals, families, communities, and society that may help to prevent or ameliorate the impact of aging on the brain, understand more about its impact, and help older adults live more fully and independent lives. Cognitive aging is not just an individual or a family or a health care system challenge. It is an issue that affects the fabric of society and requires actions by many and varied stakeholders. Cognitive Aging offers clear steps that individuals, families, communities, health care providers and systems, financial organizations, community groups, public health agencies, and others can take to promote cognitive health and to help older adults live fuller and more independent lives. Ultimately, this report calls for a societal commitment to cognitive aging as a public health issue that requires prompt action across many sectors.
Cognitive aging is a flourishing area of research. A significant amount of new data, a number of new theoretical notions, and many new research issues have been generated in the past ten years. This new edition reviews new findings and theories, enables the reader to assess where the field is today, and evaluates its points of growth. The chapters are organized to run from reviews of current work on neuroimaging, neuropsychology, genetics and the concept of brain reserve, through the 'mainstream' topics of attention, memory, knowledge and language, to a consideration of individual differences and of cognitive aging in a lifespan context. This edition continues to feature the broad range of its predecessors, while also providing critical assessments of current theories and findings.
Given the global demographic shift towards an aging population, there is a pressing need to understand how aging affects cognition. This collection of articles, from across the globe, represents some of the diverse aspects of cognitive aging. These articles investigate the fundamental processes and mechanisms underlying the neural and cognitive changes associated with normal and pathological aging. They describe the many facets of cognition, memory, language and thinking that are affected by the aging process. The articles will hopefully fascinate readers, and entice them to learn more about how such research is conducted, as well as serving as avenues for exploration to compensate for deficits in cognitive function. The studies are cutting edge and offer insight into the development of the theories that best account for the changes in brain and behaviour that affect us all.
"The empirical study of aging and cognition has progressed tremendously over the past 50-plus years. Much of the original research had its roots in the medical realm as investigators sought to characterize cognitive deficits associated with aging. For the most part, this research adhered to a biomedical model, in which aging was considered akin to a disease, and the focus was on understanding patterns of decline that were assumed to be an inevitable part of getting older (Hess & Blanchard-Fields, 1996). Indeed, aging was often studied by comparing patterns of decline to those associated with atypical populations with specific diseases or cortical lesions/insults (e.g., West, 1996). The study of aging and cognitive change made its way into mainstream experimental psychology in the 1960s and 1970s as researchers focused more on understanding normal aging through the lens of verbal learning and cognitive psychology (for reviews, see Kausler, 1982, 1991). One of the great advantages of these perspectives was the availability of sophisticated models to characterize memory and cognitive functions, and associated methods for assessing specific processes within these models. In these traditions, aging was usually studied by introducing a two-level age variable into traditional experimental designs that consisted of groups of young and older adults. The former groups typically comprised university undergraduates, whereas the latter groups usually encompassed a much wider age range of community-dwelling volunteers"--
Possible new breakthroughs in understanding the aging mind that can be used to benefit older people are now emerging from research. This volume identifies the key scientific advances and the opportunities they bring. For example, science has learned that among older adults who do not suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, cognitive decline may depend less on loss of brain cells than on changes in the health of neurons and neural networks. Research on the processes that maintain neural health shows promise of revealing new ways to promote cognitive functioning in older people. Research is also showing how cognitive functioning depends on the conjunction of biology and culture. The ways older people adapt to changes in their nervous systems, and perhaps the changes themselves, are shaped by past life experiences, present living situations, changing motives, cultural expectations, and emerging technology, as well as by their physical health status and sensory-motor capabilities. Improved understanding of how physical and contextual factors interact can help explain why some cognitive functions are impaired in aging while others are spared and why cognitive capability is impaired in some older adults and spared in others. On the basis of these exciting findings, the report makes specific recommends that the U.S. government support three major new initiatives as the next steps for research.