Our Focus: Successful Cognitive and Emotional Aging

Most studies of aging emphasize the negatives: disability, dementia, depression. At the UCSD Stein Institute for Research on Aging researchers are focused on studying successful or healthy aging. From the lab to the individual, these studies are focusing on what goes right in the aging process, particularly pertaining to the brain.

Aging, in general, and successful aging in particular, is a complex, multifactorial phenomenon that seems to be partially regulated by our genes and also influenced by the environment. Much of the earlier research on longevity studying large groups of older adults over time has focused on physical or biological aging. Understanding what defines and predicts successful or healthy aging requires contributions from basic sciences like neurobiology and genetics, along with input from clinical and social scientists, such as physicians and medical anthropologists. Large-scale investigation of successful cognitive aging using state-of-the-art methodology and investigators from various related disciplines has been a relatively recent phenomenon.

It is the specific aim of the Stein Institute to study the predictors / associations of successful cognitive and emotional aging among independently-living adults over age 50. Why? The future of aging will increasingly depend on brain health, much of what we know about successful aging depends on the brain, and UCSD is a worldwide hub for cognitive neuroscience. To learn more about the Stein Institute's interest in successful cognitive and emotional aging, click here .