Cognitive and Social Neuroscience of Aging Cambridge Fundamentals of Neuroscience in Psychology Series

Cognitive and Social Neuroscience of Aging is an introduction to how aging affects the brain, intended for audiences with some knowledge of psychology, aging, or neuroscience. The book includes figures illustrating brain regions so that extensive familiarity with neuroanatomy is not a pre-requisite. The depth of coverage also makes this book appropriate for those with considerable knowledge about aging. This book adopts an integrative perspective, including topics such as memory, cognition, cognitive training, emotion, and social processes. Topics include consideration of individual differences and the impact of disorders (e.g. Alzheimer's disease) on brain function with age. Although many declines occur with age, cognitive neuroscience research reveals plasticity and adaptation in the brain as a function of normal aging. This book is written with this perspective in mind, emphasizing the ways in which neuroscience methods have enriched and changed thinking about aging.

1. Introduction to the cognitive neuroscience of aging; 2. Brain mechanisms of aging; 3. Cognition and aging; 4. Memory and aging; 5. Emotion and aging; 6. Social cognition and aging; 7. Alzheimer's disease and age-related disorders; 8. Current and future directions.

Angela Gutchess is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Brandeis University, Massachusetts, with appointments in Neuroscience and the Volen Center for Complex Systems. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and her B.A./B.S. from Boston University. Her research investigates the influence of age and culture on memory and social cognition, using behavioral, neuroimaging (fMRI), electrophysiological (ERP), and patient (aMCI) methods. She has authored over sixty peer-reviewed papers on these topics. Her research has been funded by National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Science Foundation (NSF), American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), and the Alzheimer's Association. As a Fulbright Scholar, she had the opportunity to spend a research semester in Istanbul at Bogazici University. Dr Gutchess was elected to the Memory Disorders Research Society. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journals Memory and Memory & Cognition, is an incoming Associate Editor at the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, and serves as a Consulting Editor for Psychology and Aging and Culture and Brain.