It has been argued that age-associated diseases, rather than age on its own, determine longevity and ultimately, mortality. Numerous conditions are associated with old age, with affective disorders probably being one of the most significant. As a social species, humans devote substantial brain resources to process socially-relevant information. Importantly, sociality heavily contributes to our well-being, and modern social architecture actually hinders social intercourse among our elders. The time is ripe for social neuroscience to incorporate aging as a key nuance in understanding affective diseases. Despite recent efforts in this direction, more work and discussion around these issues is needed.
Social neuroscience examines brain function in relation to the processing of socially-relevant sensory inputs and the corresponding behavioral outputs. Affective disorders are prevalent in the modern world and hit our elders in greater proportion than the rest of the population. In the present collection, we aim to showcase the impact of sociality on affective disorders of the elderly, most prominently depression and anxiety, focusing on their cognitive co-morbidities, most prominently cognitive deterioration, and gender related issues. Indeed, not only aging, but gender needs much greater attention when dealing with affection and the social brain. Hopefully, pointing out these less explored issues in social neuroscience research will foster more ambitious approaches in the near future.
Without disregarding other aspects related to the relationship between social activity and affection during aging, in this issue we want to emphasize the following topics (including when possible, gender issues):
1) Association of depression with aging
2) Affective disturbances as co-morbidities of age-associated neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases
3) Chronic pain leading to mood disturbances common to aging-related diseases
4) Social life and mood homeostasis
5) Loneliness and aging.
We accept original work as well as short reviews commenting on novel or neglected aspects of these topics.
It has been argued that age-associated diseases, rather than age on its own, determine longevity and ultimately, mortality. Numerous conditions are associated with old age, with affective disorders probably being one of the most significant. As a social species, humans devote substantial brain resources to process socially-relevant information. Importantly, sociality heavily contributes to our well-being, and modern social architecture actually hinders social intercourse among our elders. The time is ripe for social neuroscience to incorporate aging as a key nuance in understanding affective diseases. Despite recent efforts in this direction, more work and discussion around these issues is needed.
Social neuroscience examines brain function in relation to the processing of socially-relevant sensory inputs and the corresponding behavioral outputs. Affective disorders are prevalent in the modern world and hit our elders in greater proportion than the rest of the population. In the present collection, we aim to showcase the impact of sociality on affective disorders of the elderly, most prominently depression and anxiety, focusing on their cognitive co-morbidities, most prominently cognitive deterioration, and gender related issues. Indeed, not only aging, but gender needs much greater attention when dealing with affection and the social brain. Hopefully, pointing out these less explored issues in social neuroscience research will foster more ambitious approaches in the near future.
Without disregarding other aspects related to the relationship between social activity and affection during aging, in this issue we want to emphasize the following topics (including when possible, gender issues):
1) Association of depression with aging
2) Affective disturbances as co-morbidities of age-associated neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases
3) Chronic pain leading to mood disturbances common to aging-related diseases
4) Social life and mood homeostasis
5) Loneliness and aging.
We accept original work as well as short reviews commenting on novel or neglected aspects of these topics.
