Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understan ....Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of how decision-making evolves in healthy ageing, and a tool based on genetic scores and computational modelling to predict an individual's trajectory of cognitive function. This could help identify individuals who are at risk for cognitive decline, which could then inform better interventions.Read moreRead less
Language typology and cognitive effects of language learning. This project aims to map, in older adults and preschool-age children, the extent and nature of cognitive benefit from training in a foreign language. Learning a language is recognised to be beneficial in various ways, but this project investigates whether it matters which language one learns. The project will compare the resulting cognitive changes to language learners across different languages to test whether the benefit is uniquely ....Language typology and cognitive effects of language learning. This project aims to map, in older adults and preschool-age children, the extent and nature of cognitive benefit from training in a foreign language. Learning a language is recognised to be beneficial in various ways, but this project investigates whether it matters which language one learns. The project will compare the resulting cognitive changes to language learners across different languages to test whether the benefit is uniquely effective. It will also gauge whether these changes occur when learning is easier in childhood compared to when it is harder later in life. The project findings will inform the development of linguistic, social, and educational programs to optimise cognitive function both for childhood development and healthy ageing, especially in Australia where second language acquisition is lower compared to other countries.Read moreRead less
Is it better to remember with others or to remember alone, especially as we age? This project aims to investigate if remembering with a long-term partner, recalling daily tasks, or reminiscing about their shared past, benefits memory in younger and older adults. This project will identify the strategies that spouses use to help each other remember and minimise memory loss, especially as they age and their memories start to fail.
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL110100199
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,529,601.00
Summary
Responding to the challenges of identity change: an advanced social identity approach to issues of leadership, health and well-being. This project develops an integrated framework for understanding how changes to identity that are associated with the changing fabric of the modern world impact on Australians' health and well-being. The project will develop and test strategies for tackling these challenges and minimising their negative consequences.
Ageing, trust, and financial exploitation: social, emotional and cognitive mechanisms. This project aims to understand how age-related differences in the processing of social and emotional information contribute to the exploitation of older adults' trust. This research will examine deception detection during financial negotiations and provide new strategies for ensuring the financial independence and well-being of older Australians.
Ageing, trust, and financial exploitation: social, emotional and cognitive mechanisms. This project aims to understand how age-related differences in the processing of social and emotional information contribute to the exploitation of older adults' trust. This research will examine deception detection during financial negotiations and provide new strategies for ensuring the financial independence and well-being of older Australians.
Episodic foresight and ageing. Episodic foresight refers to the capacity to imagine future events, and consequently often involves the prediction of future needs based on hypothesised possible outcomes. It is therefore unsurprising that episodic foresight has been consistently linked to independent living and many functional behaviours. The aim of the project is to test the hypothesis that psychological changes brought about by ageing decrease the likelihood of acting prudently with the future i ....Episodic foresight and ageing. Episodic foresight refers to the capacity to imagine future events, and consequently often involves the prediction of future needs based on hypothesised possible outcomes. It is therefore unsurprising that episodic foresight has been consistently linked to independent living and many functional behaviours. The aim of the project is to test the hypothesis that psychological changes brought about by ageing decrease the likelihood of acting prudently with the future in mind. By advancing conceptual understanding of how, and under what circumstances, episodic foresight is affected in late adulthood, the proposed research has important implications for finding ways to help older adults maintain a productive and independent life. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100396
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$342,000.00
Summary
What are the active ingredients of successful shared remembering? Older couples remember more together than apart, but little is known about mechanisms underlying such collaborative benefits. Collaborative remembering may have therapeutic value in age-related cognitive decline and dementia, providing cost-effective, readily-available memory support. However there are several 'active ingredients' that may underlie collaborative benefits and not all of these will be equally effective or translatab ....What are the active ingredients of successful shared remembering? Older couples remember more together than apart, but little is known about mechanisms underlying such collaborative benefits. Collaborative remembering may have therapeutic value in age-related cognitive decline and dementia, providing cost-effective, readily-available memory support. However there are several 'active ingredients' that may underlie collaborative benefits and not all of these will be equally effective or translatable into therapy. This project aims to identify and evaluate these active ingredients, teasing apart 'what', 'who' and 'how'. Testing younger and older couples, healthy and in early stages of decline, this project aims to generate new knowledge and provide a basis for future therapies utilising collaborative remembering.Read moreRead less
Social perception in late adulthood. Social perception refers broadly to the ability to decode and react appropriately to the social signals sent out by other people, and is a critical predictor of social competency and wellbeing. The aim of this project is to gain a clearer picture of when and why older adults experience social perceptual difficulties, as well as any consequences of these difficulties. A key prediction is that those older adults who have most difficulty with social perception w ....Social perception in late adulthood. Social perception refers broadly to the ability to decode and react appropriately to the social signals sent out by other people, and is a critical predictor of social competency and wellbeing. The aim of this project is to gain a clearer picture of when and why older adults experience social perceptual difficulties, as well as any consequences of these difficulties. A key prediction is that those older adults who have most difficulty with social perception will also have lowest wellbeing. Identifying which older adults are most likely to experience social perceptual difficulties, as well as which aspects of social perception are relatively intact, are expected to help to guide interventions on how to maintain wellbeing in old age.Read moreRead less
Speech production in language-impaired speakers: Informing theoretical models and clinical practice regarding grammatical processing. This research examines how language is stored and processed in our minds and the ways this can go wrong. By improving our theory of language processing, the research will result in improved diagnosis and treatment for the ten per cent of Australians who suffer from communication impairment.