Fall 2024
Aging made easier
Washington State University researchers look for ways to help people live better as they grow older. » More ...
Dementia
Fall 2024
Healthy lifestyles protect brains
Although brains change as people get older, dementia isn’t an inevitable part of aging. » More ...
Fall 2024
How do we compensate for memory loss?
Remembering to perform a future action is a critical part of daily life.
Psychologists refer to this as our “prospective memory,” and some examples include remembering to pay bills on time, returning library books when they’re due, or getting to doctor’s appointments.
Brooke Beech is a Washington State University doctoral student specializing in clinical neuropsychology. She works with older adults to examine how aging affects thinking and everyday behavior.
“I have a particular interest in factors that relate to everyday memory,” Beech says.
During normal aging, most people will experience a mild, gradual decline in their prospective memory. But there are tools … » More …
Winter 2015
Still Time
Jean Hegland ’79
Arcade Publishing: 2015
Still Time, a new novel by Jean Hegland, explores dementia through the eyes of aging Shakespearean scholar John Wilson. Unsettled by life in a residential care facility and a surprise visit from his estranged daughter, Wilson finds solace and structure in the plays and poetry that so captivated his life.
Hegland, who shares poetry at a memory care center near her home in California, says she was inspired by … » More …
Winter 2011
Video: Smart Apartment Research
On-going research at Washington State University is exploring how homes can be built or retrofitted to make living a little bit easier. With the work of AI Lab Manager James Kusznir, doctoral student Aaron Crandall and other faculty and students, WSU’s Smart Apartment is exploring the practical applications of how to help elderly people stay in their homes, and to create more efficient living spaces.
From WSU News; video by Matt Haugen
Read more
When Memory Fades (Winter 2011)
Using technology to address the challenges of aging … » More …
Winter 2011
When Memory Fades
With memory notebooks and smart apartments that use motion technology to track their residents' daily behaviors, WSU neuropsychologists are exploring ways to help patients and their families cope with age-related memory loss. Meanwhile, two scientists have discovered a means to restore neural connectivity.
» More ...
Winter 2011
Outsmarting Dementia
We used to believe, says neuropsychologist Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe, that if a person lived long enough, he or she would develop dementia.
Now we know better, she says. Whether caused by Alzheimer’s or other disease, dementia is not a normal aging process. Many people, such as G. Roger Spencer and colleagues pictured here, remain completely alert and engaged well into their 80s and 90s and older.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the chance of someone over 85 having the disease is nearly 50 percent. Other dementia-causing diseases raise that risk even higher. So what is it that enables someone to escape the dementia odds?
Besides age, … » More …