Samanez-Larkin

Brain aging--and human aging more broadly--has long been seen as a process of slow, and inevitable, deterioration and decline. Today, this view has been challenged with research demonstrating a more complex set of changes - growth, decline, adaptation, selectivity, and reorganization - in brain structure and function across adulthood. In fact, research in both behavioral and brain science shows that not all cognitive processes decline with age, that in fact some improve over the course of adulthood, and those that improve can often compensate for those that decline. It turns out that the aging brain is very much alive, a remarkable example of life's ability to survive and adapt in increasingly challenging environments.

Chapters in this multidisciplinary volume examine structural and related functional changes in the aging brain, and the neural mechanisms underlying such changes; age-related changes in learning and episodic memory; risk and protective factors; and the assessment and prevention of cognitive decline.

Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University. His research examines how individual and age differences in motivation and cognition influence decision making across the life span. This research is at the intersection of a number of subfields within psychology, neuroscience, and economics including human development, affective science, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral economics, and finance. He uses a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging techniques ranging from detailed measurement of functional brain activity (fMRI) and neuroreceptors (PET) in the laboratory to experience sampling in everyday life. Greg lives in Durham, NC. Visit www.mcablab.science, and follow @GregoryRSL.