Skip to main content

PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 16 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1484494
This article is part of the Research Topic Mental, Sensory, Physical and Life Style Parameters Related to Cognitive Decline in Aging View all 16 articles

Multidimensional relationships between sensory perception and cognitive aging

Provisionally accepted
Lakshmi Kannan Lakshmi Kannan 1Esteban Sebastian Lelo De Larrea-Mancera Esteban Sebastian Lelo De Larrea-Mancera 1Marcello Maniglia Marcello Maniglia 2Mariya Vodyanyk Mariya Vodyanyk 1Frederick Jerome Gallun Frederick Jerome Gallun 3Susanne M Jaeggi Susanne M Jaeggi 1*Aaron R Seitz Aaron R Seitz 1*
  • 1 Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • 2 University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, United States
  • 3 Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A growing literature suggests that declines in sensory/perceptual systems predate cognitive declines in aging, and furthermore, they are highly predictive for developing Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Related Dementias (ADRD). While vision, hearing, olfaction, and vestibular function have each been shown to be related to ADRD, their causal relations to cognitive declines, how they interact with each other remains to be clarified. Currently, there is substantial debate whether sensory/perceptual systems fail early in disease progression, are causal in their contributions to cognitive load and/or social isolation or are simply coincident declines due to aging. At the same time, substantial declines in any of these senses requires compensation, can strain other neural processes and impact activities of daily living, including social engagement, quality of life, and the risk of falls. In this perspective piece, we review literature that illustrates the different relationships between sensory/perceptual systems, cognitive aging and ADRD. We suggest that broadly administered and precise assessment of sensory/perceptual functions could facilitate early detection of ADRD and pave the way for intervention strategies that could help reduce the multifaceted risk of developing ADRD and to improve everyday functioning as people age.

    Keywords: Sensory processes, cognitive aging, Dementia, Dual sensory loss, Hearing, Vision, Perceptual processes

    Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 26 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kannan, Lelo De Larrea-Mancera, Maniglia, Vodyanyk, Gallun, Jaeggi and Seitz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Susanne M Jaeggi, Northeastern University, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, United States
    Aaron R Seitz, Northeastern University, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.