Enhancing Cognitive Functioning and Brain Plasticity offers a synergistic view of the complex role of exercise, physical activity, and intellectual stimulation in the cognitive and brain functioning of older adults. Using the research and implications suggested by the text’s contributors, each an expert in his or her respective field, readers will deepen current knowledge and expand their perspectives regarding the influence of exercise and physical activity on the aging brain.
Chapter 1. The Use of Brain Imaging Measures to Assess the Cognitive and Physiological Effects of Aging
Monica Fabiani and Gabriele Gratton
Chapter 2. The Effects of the Cognitive Complexity of Occupational Conditions and Leisure Time Activities on the Intellectual Functioning of Older Adults
Carmi Schooler, PhD
Chapter 3. Enhancing Cognitive Function in Older Adults
Michelle L. Meade and Denise C. Park, PhD
Chapter 4. A Contextual Approach to Aging and Expertise
Daniel G. Morrow
Chapter 5. Exercise Effects on Learning and Neural Systems
Brenda J. Anderson, PhD; Daniel P. Mccloskey; Nefta A. Mitchell; and Despina A. Tata
Chapter 6. Physical Activity and Neurocognitive Function Across the Life Span
Charles H. Hillman, PhD; Sarah M. Buck; and Jason R. Themanson
Chapter 7. Effects of Acute Exercise on Event-Related Brain Potentials
Keita Kamijo, PhD
Chapter 8. The Effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy on the Brains of Postmenopausal Women: A Review of Human Neuroimaging Studies
Kirk I. Erickson, PhD; and Donna L. Korol
Chapter 9. Physical Activity Programming to Promote Cognitive Function: Are We Ready for Prescription?
Jennifer L. Etnier, PhD
Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, PhD, serves as both department head and professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He served on the World Health Organization Scientific Advisory Committee, which issued guidelines for physical activity for older adults. Chodzko-Zajko chairs the Active Aging Partnership, a national coalition in the area of healthy aging linking the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Institute of Aging, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Geriatrics Society, the National Council on Aging, the American Association of Retired Persons, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Arthur F. Kramer, PhD, holds the Swanlund endowed chair at the University of Illinois. Kramer is a fellow in the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society and is a member of the executive committee of the International Attention and Performance Society. He is also the director of the Biomedical Imaging Center, codirector of the NIH Roybal Center for Healthy Minds, and a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois.
Leonard W. Poon, PhD, is a professor of public health and psychology, chair of the faculty of gerontology, and director of the Gerontology Center at the University of Georgia at Athens. He received his PhD in experimental psychology in 1972 from the University of Denver and has studied aging and cognition for over 30 years with specific emphasis on environmental and lifestyle influences that enhance cognitive functioning in older adults.