What if aging were programmed into our genetic code? This possibility seems more likely as the explosion of knowledge about human genetics con­tinues to unlock the secrets of our genetic code. Even when cell death appears random, researchers believe that such losses may be part of a master genetic program that underlies the aging process […]

A second family of ideas points to causes of aging at the cellular level. One notion focuses on the number of times cells can divide, which presum­ably limits the life span of a complex organism. Cells grown in laboratory culture dishes undergo only a fixed number of divisions before dying, with the number of possible […]

LEARNING OBJECTIVES • How do rate-of-living theories explain aging? • What are the major hypotheses in cellular theories of aging? • How do programmed-cell-death theories propose that we age? • How do the basic developmental forces interact in biological and physiological aging? B efore he started selling his Lean Mean Grilling Machine, George Foreman was […]

On the one hand, the dismal thought that the human brain gradually loses tissue from age 30 onward and the projected rapid growth of an aging population present society with numerous public policy issues regarding the staggering costs of geri­atric care. On the other hand, the good news is that advanced research in neuroscience tells […]

We begin this section by examining what we know about the emotional memory network and the degree to which corresponding brain struc­tures decline or are preserved with increasing age. Interestingly, the regions implicated in emotional processing such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) undergo relatively modest struc­tural changes with aging, and the amygdala is relatively […]

Similar to the behavioral research on younger adults above, there is growing research indicating that older adults also detect emotional information (e. g., in visual search tasks; Leclerc & Kensinger, 2008) and remember emotional information (e. g., remembering emotional words; Kensinger, 2008) better than nonemotional information. However, despite this emotional enhancement effect on infor­mation processing, […]

Given the differences between cognitive and emo­tional aging, a number of questions have served to guide contemporary research in the area of emotional processing. Such questions include: what declines, what is preserved, and what improves? In addition, it is important to identify the conditions under which we observe decline, preservation, and improvement. The neuroscience approach […]

LEARNING OBJECTIVES • Are there differences in the brain for cognitive versus socio-emotional functioning? • What is the neural circuitry responsible for enhanced memory for emotional information? • What are the neural underpinnings of the positivity effect found in older adults? D uring a family squabble, Shelby chooses to focus her attention on reducing the […]

Who were the investigators, and what were the aims of the studies? Behavioral studies suggest that aerobic fitness training improves cognitive functioning in older adults and improves brain health in aging laboratory animals. In particular, research suggests that aerobic fitness may provide a means to improve brain health in aging humans. Erickson and his colleagues […]

LEARNING OBJECTIVES • How do animal models contribute to our understanding of neural plasticity and aging? • What evidence is there for neural plasticity in aging humans? • How does aerobic exercise influence cognitive aging? M arisa has been playing incessantly with her lat­est Nintendo Wii video game. Her grandmother, Leticia, became captivated by her […]