Dartmouth Events

Psychological and Brain Sciences Colloquium

Craig Stark, PhD, University of California, Irvine

Friday, January 21, 2022
3:30pm – 4:30pm
Virtual
Intended Audience(s): Alumni, Faculty, Postdoc, Staff, Students-Graduate, Students-Undergraduate
Categories: Lectures & Seminars

Please join us on Friday, January 21, 2022, at 3:30 p.m. (EST), for a virtual colloquium given by Craig Stark, Professor, Neurobiology and Behavior School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine.  Title and abstract are below, and Zoom details will be provided at a later date.

Title:  Why does our memory decline with age (and can we do anything about it)?

Abstract: Memory complaints are the most common cognitive concern of individuals as they age, and it’s no wonder people are worried about it. Problems with memory are a hallmark feature of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. However, memory lapses are a normal part of memory, even when we’re young. What’s more, these lapses get more common as we age, even when there are no clinical signs of dementia. The first part of the talk will cover my laboratory’s research into these age-related changes and how we can use sophisticated neuroimaging and behavioral techniques to study the effects of aging on our brains and our memory. A question naturally arises from this work: Can we do anything to slow or reverse these changes? The second part of the talk will describe my lab’s recent efforts to adapt rodent studies on “environmental enrichment” to humans. These studies show how engaging in and exploring large virtual worlds can actually improve memory ability and may ameliorate age-related memory decline.

For more information, contact:
Michelle Powers
603-646-3181

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.