Toward a functional future for the cognitive neuroscience of human aging

Affiliations

¹ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5Eh, UK. Electronic address: mooraj@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.
² Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm University, 17165 Stockholm, Sweden; Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden; Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden.
³ Department of Psychology, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada.
⁴ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5Eh, UK; Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
⁵ Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, 6525 GD Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
⁶ Robert J. & Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, 185 Meeting Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
⁷ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, Toronto, ON M6A 2E1, Canada.
⁹ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5Eh, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, McGill University Montreal, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada; Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada.
¹² Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
¹³ Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Diagnostics and Intervention, Diagnostic Radiology, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden.
¹⁴ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5Eh, UK. Electronic address: garrett@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.

PMID: 39788085
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.12.008

Free article

Review

Toward a functional future for the cognitive neuroscience of human aging

Zoya Mooraj et al. Neuron. 2025.

Free article

. 2025 Jan 8;113(1):154-183.

doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.12.008.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5Eh, UK. Electronic address: mooraj@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.
² Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm University, 17165 Stockholm, Sweden; Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden; Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden.
³ Department of Psychology, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada.
⁴ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5Eh, UK; Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
⁵ Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, 6525 GD Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
⁶ Robert J. & Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, 185 Meeting Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
⁷ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, Toronto, ON M6A 2E1, Canada.
⁹ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5Eh, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, McGill University Montreal, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada; Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada.
¹² Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
¹³ Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Diagnostics and Intervention, Diagnostic Radiology, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden.
¹⁴ Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5Eh, UK. Electronic address: garrett@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.

PMID: 39788085
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.12.008

Abstract

The cognitive neuroscience of human aging seeks to identify neural mechanisms behind the commonalities and individual differences in age-related behavioral changes. This goal has been pursued predominantly through structural or "task-free" resting-state functional neuroimaging. The former has elucidated the material foundations of behavioral decline, and the latter has provided key insight into how functional brain networks change with age. Crucially, however, neither is able to capture brain activity representing specific cognitive processes as they occur. In contrast, task-based functional imaging allows a direct probe into how aging affects real-time brain-behavior associations in any cognitive domain, from perception to higher-order cognition. Here, we outline why task-based functional neuroimaging must move center stage to better understand the neural bases of cognitive aging. In turn, we sketch a multi-modal, behavior-first research framework that is built upon cognitive experimentation and emphasizes the importance of theory and longitudinal design.

Keywords: EEG; PET; aging; behavior; brain; cognition; fMRI; multimodal; neurochemistry; neuroimaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests.

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Toward a functional future for the cognitive neuroscience of human aging

Affiliations

Toward a functional future for the cognitive neuroscience of human aging

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical