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The life course method compares an individual's long-life and late-life behaviors to gauge one's mental decay. Arguing the life course approach is the best and simplest model for tracking mental development, Lawrence J. Whalley unlocks the mysteries of brain functionality, illuminating the processes that affect the brain during aging, the causes behind these changes, and effective coping strategies. Whalley identifies the genetic factors that determine the pace of aging and the behaviors, starting in childhood, that influence how we age. Through vignettes, charts, and tables, he composes an accessible book for patients, family members, and caretakers struggling to make sense of a complex experience.
How the brain ages -- and why -- and what we can do to forestall mental deterioration.
We joke about growing old. From the viewpoint of youth, old age holds few if any rewards - and at most those of increased dignity and wisdom. But as Lawrence Whalley shows in this fascinating overview of the ageing brain, we now have cause to be optimistic about old age - especially as mental and physical disability is much less common in old people than it was 20 years ago. In surveying the prospects of slowing or even preventing the worst effects of brain ageing, Whalley looks at the development of the brain and how this is influenced by environmental factors such as diet and stress; the biological and psychological mechanisms of brain injury and disease, and the range of possible treatments and preventatives; individual differences in brain ageing, and the relative roles of nature and nurture in determining our mental abilities; current strategies to slow brain ageing such as the 'use it or lose it' technique; and a look forward to the future of brain treatment, including gene therapy, virtual reality and intelligent environments.
"In two landmark and world-famous studies, over 150,000 eleven-year-olds participated in Scottish national intelligence tests, known as the Scottish Mental Surveys, which are the only studies to date to test an entire population. Over the past 10 years, Ian J. Deary, Lawrence J. Whalley, and John M. Starr have conducted follow-up studies with many of these now elderly participants. Using the latest testing assessments and technology, they have further investigated the roles of biological and sociobehavioral factors in cognitive aging." "This book is important to many fields and will surely become the source to consult on anything related to IQ and its effects on cognitive aging and physical longevity. It captures a lifetime of intelligence, from childhood to about age 80, and also explores general matters of intelligence. Does having a high childhood IQ affect one's likelihood of being ill later in life or surviving to old age? Does it affect happiness later in life? Does being a twin affect childhood intelligence? These questions and more are explored in depth in this book."--BOOK JACKET.
At a time when many people around the world are living into their tenth decade, the longest longitudinal study of human development ever undertaken offers some welcome news for the new old age: our lives continue to evolve in our later years, and often become more fulfilling than before. Begun in 1938, the Grant Study of Adult Development charted the physical and emotional health of over 200 men, starting with their undergraduate days. The now-classic Adaptation to Life reported on the men’s lives up to age 55 and helped us understand adult maturation. Now George Vaillant follows the men into their nineties, documenting for the first time what it is like to flourish far beyond conventional...
Many current public health actions and policies aimed at older people revolve around the often prevailing view that failing health is a consequence of ageing. It is now clear that it is possible to postpone or even prevent much of the age-related decline in health that was once thought inevitable. Future policies must recognise this changing paradi
The psychology of aging is an exciting and rapidly-developing field. This volume provides a collection of classic, original and often widely-cited papers, including some older papers which may be hard to find through conventional searches. Taken together, they help to address some key questions: what are the cognitive changes related to aging? Is mental exercise useful? To what extent might intelligence, education or stimulating mental activities delay or even reduce cognitive symptoms of dementia? However, the book goes well beyond cognition and addresses social and emotional changes in aging, as well as looking at how lifestyle factors may be influential in psychological functioning. The s...
Whatever you think about the widening divide between Democrats and Republicans, ideological differences do not explain why politicians from the same parties, who share the same goals and policy preferences, often argue fiercely about how best to attain them. This perplexing misalignment suggests that we are missing an important piece of the puzzle. Political scientists have increasingly drawn on the relationship between voters’ personalities and political orientation, but there has been little empirically grounded research looking at how legislators’ personalities influence their performance on Capitol Hill. With More Than a Feeling, Adam J. Ramey, Jonathan D. Klingler, and Gary E. Holli...
Now available in paperback from psychologist and award- winningcolumnistSusanPinker, the groundbreaking and contro- versial book that is “lively, well- written...important and timely” (The Washington Post). In this “ringing salvo in the sex-difference wars” (The New York Times Book Review), Pinker examines how fundamental sex differences play out over the life span. By comparing fragile boys who succeed later in life with high- achieving women who opt out or plateau in their careers, Pinker turns several assumptions upside down: that women and men are biologically equivalent, that intelligence is all it takes to succeed, and that women are just versions of men, with identical interes...
The book provides a unique and broad look at the history, power, duality, and promise of Spanish and English in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands--Provided by publisher.