Beckman Researchers are Leaders in Understanding and Finding Solutions to Cognitive Decline
The Beckman Institute is home to some of the world’s leading researchers in the area of cognition and aging. Beckman researchers are frequently go-to resources for media and others interested in a topic that will become increasingly important in the next few years as average life spans increase and Baby Boomers reach retirement age.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the proportion of the U.S. population aged 65 years and over is projected to increase from 12.4 percent in 2000 to 19.6 percent in 2030, with the number of persons aged 65 and over expected to increase from approximately 35 million in 2000 to more than 70 million in 2030.
Stressing the vital role exercise and other interventions such as diet can play in maintaining health over a life span has been a goal for numerous governmental and private agencies concerned with health. The role that cognition plays in a healthy lifestyle is becoming increasingly important as an aging population deals with issues of cognitive decline and disorders like Alzheimer’s.
For Beckman researchers like Dan Morrow, Art Kramer, Ed McAuley, and Elizabeth Stine-Morrow, cognitive aging isn’t just a topic for study; promoting cognitive health for older adults is part of their research mission. Their research lines focus on issues such as the benefits exercise can provide older adults or the effects that factors like social engagement can have on older adults. Their projects include promoting cognitively healthy choices, finding ways to encourage those healthy choices, developing intervention programs, and creating technologies to aid those suffering from cognitive decline.
Kramer and McAuley have been collaborating for years, studying fitness training and other interventions aimed at preventing cognitive decline. Stine-Morrow has created a program for studying the effects of social engagement on cognitive aging. Morrow studies how external aids can help working memory in older adults. All of their projects include objectives aimed at helping study participants and others concerned about their cognitive health.
In their video clips, the researchers talk about the theories behind their work, the results of their research, and the ways in which older adults can prevent or even mediate cognitive decline.