Neuroscience Seminar: The power of brain plasticity: Insights from the ageing brain

Healthy ageing is characterized by changes in brain volume and connectivity corresponding to cognitive changes, especially diminished memory and attention processing. I will present evidence to complement this view and demonstrate that, instead, some cognitive abilities and brain structures can be resilient to ageing. I will use numeracy skills as an example of a cognitive ability that is maintained in ageing adults, and I will further demonstrate that elderly can also improve their performance in numeracy and attention following training, or training coupled with brain stimulation. Using data from a large neuroimaging study, I will propose that resilience to ageing may be explained in terms of complex alterations in the microstructure of myelin and iron content. Based on this evidence, I suggest that resilience to ageing is an example of brain plasticity, and that the ageing brain can still be malleable.

Hosted by Roi Cohen Kadosh