Aging is inevitable, but there is huge variability in how it affects different people. While advancing age could mean a relatively minor loss of function with little impact on daily life for one individual, it may present as a devastating and rapid deterioration of faculties and independence for another. This variability in age-related functional decline is apparent even in the absence of specific pathology but becomes more complex when changes due to ‘healthy aging’ are accompanied by pathologies common with advancing age. While advancing age is associated with alterations within many systems, deficits in the cognitive and motor domains collectively account for many of the reasons that older adults experience functional decline.
The factors that determine who will experience large functional decline and who will experience little functional decline with aging are complex and not well understood. However, growing evidence suggests that changes in the brain play a critical role in defining our aging trajectory. Understanding the neurophysiological and neuroanatomical changes that occur with aging, in addition to identifying ways in which aging trajectories can be modified, represent fundamental research priorities. This important area of research has been revolutionized by the use of brain stimulation and imaging techniques. The goal of this research topic is to bring together cutting-edge work from across cognitive and motor neuroscience that has used brain stimulation and imaging techniques to better understand age-related changes in the brain, and how these brain changes affect function.
We welcome the submission of all accepted article types (including original research, reviews and mini-reviews, editorials, commentaries, study protocols and case reports) that illuminate the neuroscience of advancing age. Work utilizing non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroimaging (either in isolation or conjunction) to understand cognitive and motor aging in both health and disease is particularly encouraged.
Aging is inevitable, but there is huge variability in how it affects different people. While advancing age could mean a relatively minor loss of function with little impact on daily life for one individual, it may present as a devastating and rapid deterioration of faculties and independence for another. This variability in age-related functional decline is apparent even in the absence of specific pathology but becomes more complex when changes due to ‘healthy aging’ are accompanied by pathologies common with advancing age. While advancing age is associated with alterations within many systems, deficits in the cognitive and motor domains collectively account for many of the reasons that older adults experience functional decline.
The factors that determine who will experience large functional decline and who will experience little functional decline with aging are complex and not well understood. However, growing evidence suggests that changes in the brain play a critical role in defining our aging trajectory. Understanding the neurophysiological and neuroanatomical changes that occur with aging, in addition to identifying ways in which aging trajectories can be modified, represent fundamental research priorities. This important area of research has been revolutionized by the use of brain stimulation and imaging techniques. The goal of this research topic is to bring together cutting-edge work from across cognitive and motor neuroscience that has used brain stimulation and imaging techniques to better understand age-related changes in the brain, and how these brain changes affect function.
We welcome the submission of all accepted article types (including original research, reviews and mini-reviews, editorials, commentaries, study protocols and case reports) that illuminate the neuroscience of advancing age. Work utilizing non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroimaging (either in isolation or conjunction) to understand cognitive and motor aging in both health and disease is particularly encouraged.