Ageing: From Cognition to Cells

Are you concerned that one day your memory might start to slip, or that you won't always be able to solve problems as quickly as you once did? It's not uncommon to worry about changes in our thinking skills as we age. While some people do experience these changes, others do not. So how do thinking skills change through midlife and beyond, and do our lifestyles affect those changes? Join Alan Gow (Heriot-Watt University) to explore those changes, and importantly, examine what some of the protective (or harmful) lifestyle factors might be.

As many of us age, our hair turns a distinguished shade of grey, our skin takes on a rugged wrinkled appearance and our thinking and memory abilities change. These are normal features of growing old, but while we can see our hair change and our skin wrinkle, how can we tell what's happening to our brain? What changes occur over time and what's the difference between these changes and the development of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease? Join Chris Henstridge (Edinburgh University) as he discusses what we know about normal brain aging and the changes that occur in dementia.