Integration of Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience in Studies on Aging and Other Research Fields

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to introduce the authors and the topics covered to the readership of the journal. One of the papers in this issue discusses a topic based on cognition in the preclinical phase of dementia, which is the period of transition from normal aging to dementia. Individuals who undergo this transition show certain cognitive deficits many years before the diagnosis of both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia can be made. Another article discusses that the current knowledge holds that the most pronounced prodormal impairment in performance is observed in data from task assessing episodic memory, cognitive speed, and executive functioning. Some articles also illustrate and discuss memory compensation in old adults, especially the issues of long-term stability and long-term variability. The research at the Center is guided by three propositions, namely (a) to study life span changes in behavior as interactions among maturation, learning, and senescence, (b) to develop theories and methods that integrate empirical evidence across domains of functioning, time scales, as well as behavioral neuronal levels of analysis, and (c) to identify mechanisms of development by exploring age-graded differences in plasticity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)