The Aging Mind Opportunities in Cognitive Research (2000) / Chapter Skim
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5 Implementation
5 Implementation
Pages 54-63
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From page 54... ...
In other areas, it may be advisable to organize competitions that require applicants to work together across disciplines. For example, the NIA might ask cognitive psychologists and engineers to work together on proposals for research on technological supports for cognitive performance in older adults, or neuroscientists and behavioral scientists to work together to propose research linking neural and behavioral phenomena at high resolution.
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From page 55... ...
The investigation of the relationship between cognition and brain processes demands knowledge of behavioral techniques for identifying cognitive processes and architecture, as well as techniques for measuring structural and functional aspects of brain. This interdisciplinary approach is especially germane to cognitive aging research for which age-related changes highlight the dynamic relationship between brain and cognitive processes.
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From page 56... ...
They should be used to encourage applicants with graduate degrees in cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and the study of socioeconomic, educational, and cultural differences to strengthen their knowledge of brain structure and their ability to use techniques for investigating brain function. The NIA, perhaps in conjunction with other institutes, should organize a special competition that would provide multiyear support of a few small multidisciplinary research centers or teams focused on analytical problems posed by the research initiatives that require the simultaneous application of multiple perspectives (e.g., neurobiology of training or cultural difference, development of adaptive technology)
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From page 57... ...
The research community should be consulted for advice on which animal strains are most important to keep available for research purposes. The rest of this section discusses two major types of infrastructure that require support for the benefit of research on all the recommended initiatives: general-use databases, and brain imaging research capability.
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From page 58... ...
These should include a mixture of activities for which a neural substrate has been identified and others known to require cognitive activity, but for which the neural substrate remains unknown. Data should also be collected on life experience factors that may affect cognitive aging.
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From page 59... ...
Including measures of brain structure and function along with the cognitive and physical assessments would support the research initiatives on the structure of the aging mind and on neural health. Among the possibilities that might be considered are volume estimates from structural MRIs (e.g., Raz et al., 1998)
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From page 60... ...
The NIA and cooperating institutes should engage in structured discussions with the research community, perhaps through a series of workshops, to address the problems involved in using resources effectively to create a broadly useful base of longitudinal data on cognitive function and its neural, behavioral, physical, and experiential correlates. These discussions should address the following issues, among others: effective ways to combine large-scale and more focused research so as to continually strengthen the base and the value of general-use data; selection of which neural, behavioral, physical, experiential, and other variables to include in large-scale longitudinal studies and which to use in smaller, focused studies; assessment of the adequacy of particular measures or indicators for the variables selected for inclusion in longitudinal studies;
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From page 61... ...
To achieve this benefit, standard procedures would have to be developed for collecting and reporting such data, which would probably begin with records that contain structural brain imaging data, particularly MRI data, and behavioral characteristics of the same individuals. The NIA should support a consensus conference that would discuss limitations and concerns specific to functional imaging and aging and develop standard procedures for collecting and reporting human brain imaging data, specifically including MRI data, usable for studying brain-behavior relationships during the aging process.
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From page 62... ...
Adequate Access to MRI Physicists The rapidly increasing amount of MRI research underlines the shortage of qualified MRI physicists to work on research teams studying cognition in aging. Although this problem is broader in scope than the research concerns of the NIA, it is likely to slow research progress unless appropriate action is taken.
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From page 63... ...
Collaborations with other NIH institutes that deal with disabled populations (e.g., the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) would probably help advance research on adaptive technology.
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