RESEARCH TRAINING IN COGNITIVE AGING

描述（由申请人提供）：佐治亚理工学院研究培训计划的目标是培养认知衰老基础和应用方面的研究人员，他们可以为扩展关于衰老和年龄相关变量对认知的影响的知识做出贡献。充分了解老年人在未来几十年的功能能力对于管理日益老龄化的人口至关重要，因为他们的功能能力可能与以前的老年人不同。它需要科学的理论和方法来分析认知结构变化作为衰老的功能，同时理解个体如何通过使用知识、专业知识和适应衰老对认知结构和机制的限制来创造自己的功能环境。佐治亚理工学院的培训项目强调对老年人功能性认知能力的不同生物、心理和社会影响的同时理解。该学院在不同的认知领域提供专业知识，包括记忆、语言、注意力、社会认知和解决问题的能力，以及用于表征实验和相关设计的先进方法，以及与理解成人认知发展相关的数据。该计划的一个特殊优势是专注于应用认知衰老，包括系统检查老年人如何看待和与技术，指导和辅助设备互动。受训者将学习认知和发展心理学的核心课程、方法和统计学的广泛课程、认知衰老的专业课程、每周的研究研讨会和访问科学家的座谈会。他们还直接参与了该领域一些顶尖科学家的研究项目。8名核心教师由培训资助导师组成，他们主要负责培训和指导博士前和博士后学员。佐治亚理工学院的这个项目在认知神经科学方面增加了新的力量，计划在不久的将来增加新的设施和新的教师招聘。申请培养博士预科生6人、博士后3人。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the Georgia Tech research training program is to produce researchers in basic and applied aspects of cognitive aging who can contribute to expanding knowledge about the effects of aging and age- correlated variables on cognition. A full understanding of the functional capabilities of older adults in the next decades is critical for managing a population that is increasingly older, and whose functional abilities may differ from older adults who have gone before. It requires scientific theory and method that can analyze structural changes in cognition as a function of aging, while at the same time understanding how individuals create their own functional context by use of knowledge, expertise, and adaptation to the constraints that aging places on cognitive structures and mechanisms. The training program at Georgia Tech emphasizes a concurrent understanding of the different biological, psychological, and social influences on older adults' functional cognitive capacity. The faculty provides expertise in a diverse set of domains of cognition, including memory, language, attention, social cognition, and problem solving, as well as advanced methods for characterizing experimental and correlational designs and data relevant to understanding adult cognitive development. A special strength of the program is a focus on applied cognitive aging, including systematic examination of how older adults view and interact with technology, instructions, and assistive devices. Trainees are exposed to core courses in cognitive and developmental psychology, extensive coursework on methods and statistics, specialty courses in cognitive aging, weekly research seminars, and colloquia by visiting scientists. They are also directly involved in the research programs of some of the leading scientists in this field. Eight core faculty members comprise the preceptors of the training grant who have primary responsibility for training and advising predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees. The program at Georgia Tech has added new strength in cognitive neuroscience, with new facilities and new faculty recruitment planned for the immediate future. Support for 6 predoctoral trainees and 3 postdoctoral trainees is requested. RELEVANCE: As older adults become an increasing proportion of the population, society needs to (a) draw on older adults' knowledge, wisdom, and experience, and (b) contain health care costs by maximizing adults' functional autonomy and competence. Training scientists how to do research on cognitive aging can increase rates of successful aging and prolong effective functioning in older adults.