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Updated: Sep 29, 2026

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
New visions of the aging mind and brain
1Dept of Psychology, University of Michigan, 525 East University, 48109-1109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Abstract:
Cognitive aging is widely viewed as a process of progressive mental loss. Compelling new evidence from functional neuroimaging urges a reconsideration of this pessimistic view. In the domains of working memory and episodic memory, older adults recruit different brain regions from those recruited by younger adults when performing the same tasks. Specifically, older adults show prominent changes in the recruitment of prefrontal regions, and a conspicuous increase in the extent to which activation patterns are bilateral. These results are stimulating new hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying age-related cognitive declines and the potential for compensation. By suggesting a life-long potential for reorganization and plasticity, these discoveries might revise long-held views of functional localization.
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