This chapter introduces the idea of language as a means to communicate ideas to other people. The speech chain – following the path of language from the mind of the speaker through to an acoustic signal, eventually interpreted by the mind of the listener – is introduced as an organizational framework. Of special note, all of the stages between talker and listener can influence the effectiveness of communication. The chapter provides a summary of central challenges associated with spoken language, including categorical perception, time-constrained understanding, flexibility, and multimodal integration. It then introduces several “big picture” themes from the book: stability versus flexibility, the importance of context, bottom-up versus top-down processing, hierarchical organization, the role of task demands, and neuroanatomical considerations related to localization and lateralization.

This chapter provides an overview of how listeners’ brains process building blocks of speech: phonemes (that is, speech sounds) and word forms. Phonemes are processed bilaterally in posterior portions of the superior temporal sulcus. Compared to isolated phonemes, spoken words are acoustically more complex and associated with both grammatical status and meaning. Spoken word processing relies on bilateral temporal cortex, including portions of the superior temporal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus. The role of acoustic context on word recognition is also covered, including effects of speech rate and how listeners interpret speech sounds in relation to what surrounds them. Theoretical perspectives covered in the chapter include predictive coding (in which unpredicted sounds are associated with increased activity) and lexical competition (in which words with similar-sounding competitors are more difficult to understand). The hemispheric lateralization of these processes is also discussed, including the important historical development of the Wada test.

This chapter discusses some of the current trends and promising future directions in the field of cognitive neuroscience of aging. The chapter first discusses recent research investigating the contribution of individual difference factors related to identify, including race, culture, and sex differences. Next, the chapter reviews recent research on neuromodulation, including ways in which noninvasive brain stimulation (e.g., repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation [rTMS], transcranial direct current stimulation [tDCS], and transcranial alternating current stimulation [tACS]) has been used in an attempt to enhance cognition with age as well as with age-related disorders. This section also considers other approaches to neuromodulation, including deep-brain stimulation and neurofeedback. Finally, discussion of emerging directions considers the importance of investigating aging across the lifespan, studying the intersection of physical health with cognition, exploring the distinction of socioemotional and cognitive domains, and emphasizing the contribution of context with age.

This chapter considers the changes that occur with age-related disorders. For Alzheimer’s disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment, the chapter reviews structural changes that occur in the brain and then turns to functional changes. These include coverage of changes related to memory and cognition, attention, and self and emotion. Next, neuroimaging research on amyloid and tau are reviewed, and some literature on relevant genes is discussed. The chapter then reviews literature on other age-related neurodegenerative diseases, considering effects on cognitive and social functions. These include Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, frontotemporal dementias (including progressive nonfluent aphasia, semantic dementia, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

This chapter reviews findings about the effects of aging on memory. Coverage includes working memory, encompassing processes such as refreshing and inhibition, as well as explicit and implicit long-term memory, and prospective memory. Within the topic of explicit long-term memory, specific topics include the levels of processing framework, subsequent memory paradigms, recollection, source memory, associative memory and binding, semantic memory, false memory, autobiographical memory, memory and future thinking, reactivation, controlled processes in long-term memory, event boundaries, and pattern separation.

This chapter reviews changes to cognition with age. This includes sections on attention, executive function, motor control, and language. After reviewing cognitive aging and these basic cognitive functions, the chapter considers the burgeoning literature on training cognitive ability with age. This section includes review of intervention programs focused on physical activity, mediation and mediation, cognitive activities, working memory training, and long-term memory training.

This chapter reviews research on social cognition and age. This covers self-focused processes, including self-referencing and memory as well as own-age bias and stereotype threat and stigma. Processes focused on other people are also reviewed, including moral judgment, empathy, theory of mind, social interactions and impression formation, memory for impressions, and trust.

This chapter reviews findings about the structural changes to the brain, considering effects on both gray matter and white matter and relationships between these measures and behavior. It also reviews research on changes with age to the connectivity of the brain and the default mode network. Findings related to effects of aging on perception and sensation as well as neurotransmitters are presented. The chapter ends with extensive coverage of individual difference factors, including genetic influences, intelligence, cognitive reserve, bilingualism, personality, and stress.

This chapter reviews theories of cognitive aging, considering how those classic theories intersect with those informed by cognitive neuroscience methods. The chapter also reviews cognitive neuroscience methods, reviewing methods to study the structural integrity of the brain as well as those used to investigate brain function or the ways in which multiple measures can be combined. The chapter ends with discussion of recent methodological advances, including multivariate analysis methods and the study of beta-amyloid and tau.

This chapter reviews research on the effects of age on emotion as well as decision making. After reviewing the neural regions involved in emotion, the chapter delves into the topics of emotion identification, emotion regulation, life satisfaction, socioemotional selectivity theory, and emotion and memory. Turning to the research on decision making and reward, the chapter considers how age affects brain activity during tasks involving reward, economic decisions, and gambling. It also discusses economic decision making in a social context and future directions in motivation research.

Section 10.1 discusses patients with aMCI. These patients have long-term memory deficits due to atrophy of medial temporal lobe regions. Within a few years of being diagnosed with aMCI, about half of these individuals are diagnosed with AD, the topic of Section 10.2. Section 10.3 focuses on patients with mTBI, who typically perform normally on working memory tasks but have increased fMRI activity within the lateral prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex. In Section 10.4, patients with mTLE are considered. These patients can elect to have a region in their medial temporal lobe removed to reduce the frequency of their seizures. Section 10.5 discusses patients with TGA; these patients have a sudden onset of amnesia that lasts for less than 24 hours and is caused by a small temporary lesion to a specific subregion of the hippocampus.