Neuropsychology of Aging

Recommended Prerequisites

None

Teaching Methods

Teaching methods:

Lecturing;

Learning Outcomes

Objectives:

Knowing the main normative changes in cognitive processes of older adults in the context of brain aging;

Knowing cognitive changes in brain aging related pathologies.

Competencies:

Being able to discriminate normative changes from pathological ones in older adults’ cognition based on brain correlates.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Models in cognitive neuropsychology of aging: right hemiaging model, HAROLD (Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Older Adults), and PASA (Posterior-Anterior Shift in Aging); accounts for age-related hemispheric asymmetry reductions: dedifferentiation, competition, and compensation views.

Age-related changes in basic cognitive processes: attention (e.g., selective attention, sustained attention, divided attention); memory (e.g., episodic memory, working memory); executive functions; language.

Clinical neuropsychology of aging: dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, other dementias  Parkinson’s disease, progressive nonfluent aphasia; cognitive impairments occurring in non-degenerative pathologies with higher incidence in older people (e.g., aphasias due to stroke); neuropsychology of psychiatric disorders in aging.

Head Lecturer(s)

Maria Salomé Ferreira Estima Pinho

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Midterm exam or exam (50%) and an individual essay (50%); optional participation in cognitive aging research projects (in this case, the weight of midterm exam or exam is reduced to 30%).: 100.0%

Bibliography

Budson, A., & Kowall, N. (2011). The handbook of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell

Cabeza, R., Nyberg, L., & Park, D. (2005) (Eds.), Cognitive neuroscience of aging. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press

Code, C. (2006) (Ed.). The representation of language in the brain. Hove: Psychology Press

Craik, F. I. M., & Salthouse, T. A. (2008) (Eds.), The handbook of aging and cognition. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum

Daselaar, S., & Cabeza, R. (2008). Episodic memory decline and healthy aging. In H. Eichenbaum (Ed.), Learning and memory: A comprehensive reference (vol. 3, pp. 577-599). San Diego, CA: Acad. Press

Emre, M (2010) (Ed.). Cognitive impairment and dementia in Parkinson's disease. NY: Oxford University Press

Engle, R. W., Sedek, G. von Hecker, U., McIntosh, D. N. (2005) (Eds.), Cognitive limitations in aging and psychopathology. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press

Ravdin, L. D., Katzen, H. L. (2012) (Eds.), Handbook on the neuropsychology of aging and dementia. NY: Springer