The chapters in the first section of the book focus upon early signs of dementia, and consider several approaches to finding early cognitive signs and biological markers of dementia. The second section considers whether dementia is inevitable for people who become very old, and features chapters on risk factors and proactive influences, cognitive reserve and intervention. Each chapter in the final section describes phenomena which are related to differences in function between memory systems, including anterograde memory in fronto-temporal dementia, and the role semantic memory and semantic cognition may play in developing an understanding of the development of the degenerative processes in dementia.
With contributions from world-class researchers in this area, the volume offers a concise overview of key findings in recent research on dementia and memory. It will be of great interest to researchers and advanced students of cognitive psychology, and to those working in related fields, such as gerontology, rehabilitation sciences, and allied health.
Lars-Göran Nilsson is Professor of Psychology at Stockholm University, Sweden. His research concerns the development of cognitive functions across the life span, in particular the development of memory. Within the Betula Project he has conducted a longitudinal study of how memory develops in adulthood and old age, and within the project Brain Child at Stockholm Brain Institute he has been engaged in research on how memory develops in children and teenagers.
Nobuo Ohta
is Professor of Psychology at Gakushuin University, Japan. His research interests are in the psychology of memory, cognition and learning, especially in implicit memory. Topics of ongoing work include life span memory development, false memory and amnesia.