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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This work was supported by Task Order 55 under NIH Contract No. N01-OD-4-2139 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
Suggested citation: National Research Council (2000) The Aging Mind: Opportunities in Cognitive Research. Committee on Future Directions for Cognitive Research on Aging. Paul C. Stern and Laura L. Carstensen, editors. Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The aging mind: opportunities in cognitive research / Committee on Future Directions for Cognitive Research on Aging ; Paul C. Stern and Laura L. Carstensen, editors.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-06940-8 (pbk.)
1. Cognition—Age factors. 2. Ability, Influence of age on. I. Stern, Paul C. II. Carstensen, Laura L. III. National Research Council. Committee on Future Directions for Cognitive Research on Aging. IV. Title.
BF724.55. C63 A48 2000
155.67′13—dc21 00-008630
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COMMITTEE ON FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR COGNITIVE RESEARCH ON AGING
Laura L. Carstensen (Chair),
Department of Psychology, Stanford University
Paul B. Baltes,
Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin
Deborah M. Burke,
Department of Psychology, Pomona College
Caleb E. Finch,
Division of Neurogerontology, University of Southern California
Reid Hastie,
Center for Research on Judgment and Policy, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado
Richard J. Jagacinski,
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University
Hazel R. Markus,
Department of Psychology, Stanford University
Timothy A. Salthouse,
School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Larry R. Squire,
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego and Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Psychology, University of California, San Diego
Rudolph E. Tanzi,
Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Department of Neurology, Harvard University
Keith E. Whitfield,
Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University
William A. Yost,
Parmly Hearing Institute, Loyola University Chicago
Paul C. Stern, Study Director
Cecilia Rossiter, Project Assistant
BOARD ON BEHAVIORAL, COGNITIVE, AND SENSORY SCIENCES
Anne Petersen (Chair),
W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI
Linda M. Burton,
Center for Human Development and Family Research, Pennsylvania State University
Stephen J. Ceci,
Department of Human Development, Cornell University
Eugene K. Emory,
Department of Psychology, Emory University
Rochel Gelman,
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
Anthony Jackson,
Disney Learning Initiative, Burbank, California
Peter Lennie,
Department of Science, New York University
Marcia C. Linn,
Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley
Elissa Newport,
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester
Charles R. Plott,
Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology
Michael Rutter,
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Arnold Sameroff,
Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan
Edward E. Smith,
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan
Larry R. Squire,
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego and Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Psychology, University of California, San Diego
Robert J. Sternberg,
Department of Psychology, Yale University
James W. Stigler,
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
John A. Swets,
BBN Corporation, Belmont, Massachusetts
Esther Thelen,
Department of Psychology, Indiana University
Richard F. Thompson,
Neuroscience Program, University of Southern California
William A. Yost,
Parmly Hearing Institute, Loyola University Chicago
Christine R. Hartel, Director
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A Age-Related Shifts in Neural Circuit Characteristics and Their Impact on Age-Related Cognitive Impairments |
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B Homeostatic Processes in Brain Aging: The Role of Apoptosis, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress in Regulating Healthy Neural Circuitry in the Aging Brain |
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C The Bearable Lightness of Aging: Judgment and Decision Processes in Older Adults |
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D Cognitive Aging and Adaptive Technologies |
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E Health Effects on Cognitive Aging |
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F Cultural Variations in Cognition: Implications for Aging Research |
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G Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain in Nonhuman Primates: A Prospectus for Research on Aging |
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Preface
Over the past decade, the fields of cognitive science and neuroscience have made major contributions to the study of human cognition. In doing so, these fields have become increasingly interdependent. Arguably, nowhere have these gains been more relevant and substantial than in the areas of cognitive and neuroscience research on aging. Understanding how and why cognitive functioning changes with age offers great promise for improving the lives of older citizens in the United States, who are a growing segment of the population. Recognizing the urgency and the importance of these lines of research to a rapidly aging society, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) called for a "reappraisal of research opportunities that will further our understanding of how cognition develops and changes with age" (statement of Ronald Abeles, NIA, to the National Research Council Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, August 11, 1998).
In early 1999, the NIA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to evaluate the field of cognitive aging in order to identify areas of opportunity in which additional research would substantially improve basic understanding of cognitive functioning in aging, by drawing on recent developments in behavioral science, cognitive science, and neuroscience that are not yet fully applied to this subject area. The NRC, through the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, created the Committee on Future Directions for Cognitive Research on Aging to undertake this task. The committee, which I had the honor of chairing, was asked to identify a small number of significant and promising research opportunities in cognition and aging in neuroscience, cognitive science, and behavioral science, in some cases empha-
sizing research opportunities that would have the added benefit of linking these three approaches in new ways.
The committee was asked to work very quickly. It held three meetings in June, August, and November 1999, at which it identified a variety of possible research opportunities and considered the promise of each. Without exception, every member of the committee worked diligently toward the requested end. Through informal processes of consultation and deliberation, the committee arrived at its consensus recommendations to the NIA. As the committee considered priorities, it invited the input of a number of outside specialists representing critical areas to make possible a deeper discussion of the more promising areas of opportunity. Some of the guests of the committee discussed these areas at the August meeting and at a committee-sponsored workshop in November 1999. Committee members were, to a person, dedicated scientists concerned about the future of their fields and even more so about the future of the rapidly maturing population.
Richard J. Hodes, director of the NIA, deserves substantial praise for requesting this report. The committee thanks Ronald Abeles, now special assistant to the director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health, for his stewardship as the NIA project officer in support of the study. The committee is also grateful for their efforts and support to Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, NIA associate director for neuroscience and neuropsychology of aging, and Richard Suzman, NIA associate director for behavioral and social research as well as to Jared Jobe, Andrew Monjan, and Molly Wagster, program officers for the NIA's cognitive research programs.
The committee also received exceptionally wise counsel from Barbara Torrey, executive director of the National Research Council's Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, for which we are deeply grateful. Cecilia Rossiter, the project assistant for the committee, was not only efficient and considerate but went far above and beyond the call of duty by offering insights into the report as well. The committee also owes thanks to Christine McShane, who provided thorough, constructive, and efficient editing for the entire volume, and to Carrie Muntean, who readied the manuscript for publication.
However, there is one person and one person alone who made this report possible in the very short time frame allocated. That person is study director Paul Stern. His ability to listen astutely, to integrate committee generated ideas effectively, and to write skillfully and efficiently, allowed us to proceed within the time constraints of our task. Although I owe my deepest thanks to all of the committee members who took up this work, the report you read herein would not exist without Paul Stern.
We also owe special thanks to several experts from outside the committee whose input was valuable. Prominent among these individuals are the au-
thors of the seven background papers for the committee, which appear in Appendixes A-G: John Morrison of Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Carl Cotman of the University of California, Irvine; Ellen Peters, Melissa L. Finucane, Donald MacGregor, and Paul Slovic of Decision Research; Donald Fisher of the University of Massachusetts; Shari Waldstein of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Shinobu Kitayama of Kyoto University; and Thomas Albright of the Salk Institute. In addition, we benefited considerably from the comments and presentations by John Breitner of Johns Hopkins University, John Desmond of Stanford University, Roger A. Dixon of the University of Victoria, Ronald McKay of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, John Nesselroade of the University of Virginia, Christian Pike of the University of Southern California, Susan Resnick of the National Institute on Aging, and Esther Thelen of Indiana University, all of whom influenced the committee in important ways.
This report and the background papers in the appendixes have been reviewed by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review was to provide candid and critical comments that would assist the institution in making the published report as accurate and as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscripts remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report: Marilyn S. Albert, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Fredda Blanchard-Fields, School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology; Fergus Craik, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto; William Estes, Department of Psychology, University of Indiana; Donald L. Fisher, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts; John Gabrieli, Department of Psychology, Stanford University; Arthur Kramer, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois; Leah L. Light, Department of Psychology, Pitzer College; Richard Shiffrin, Department of Psychology, Indiana University; and Arthur Wingfield, Department of Psychology and Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University.
We also wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of the seven papers included as appendices in this volume: Merrill F. Elias, Department of Psychology, University of Maine; John Gabrieli, Department of Psychology, Stanford University; Andrea LeBlanc, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University; George Loewenstein, Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University; Denise Park, Institute for Social Research, Research Center for Group
Dynamics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; William Rouse, Enterprise Support Systems; and Wendy Suzuki, Center for Neural Science, New York University.
Although the individuals listed above provided constructive comments and suggestions, it must be emphasized that responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution; responsibility for the papers in the appendices rests entirely with their authors.
The committee has identified some key research directions that will, if vigorously pursued, lead to sharply increased understanding of cognitive change in older adults and new opportunities to improve their functioning and quality of life.
Laura L. Carstensen, Chair
Committee on Future Directions for Cognitive Research on Aging