Spring Break
Prof awarded grant for memory research
Prof. Margie Lachman (PSYC) will continue her research on memory loss and methods for prevention.
by Matthew Brock
News | 3/4/08
Posted online at 4:29 AM EST on 3/4/08
/ Last updated at 7:04 PM EST on 3/4/08
Prof. Margie Lachman (PSYC), chair of the Psychology Department and director of the Lifespan Developmental Psychology Lab, was recently awarded a five-year, $1.45 million grant by the National Institute on Aging to continue her research on memory and aging.
Lachman's research focuses on "memory changes in adulthood and looking for ways to optimize memory functioning throughout the adult years," she said.
Lachman identified stress and anxiety as major factors in memory, and this will be the focus of her future research under the new grant. "In the first grant we mainly asked people about their anxiety, but now we're actually going to be using physiological assessments," she said. These assessments include measuring cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, in saliva and measuring heart rate using an electrocardiogram.
In her 25 years conducting research in the field, Lachman found that memory loss is one of the chief concerns for adults of all ages, but that it is an expected outcome of aging. The problem is less important for younger adults, said Lachman, and they are more likely to attribute memory loss to being too busy.
Her goals are to chart memory across adulthood, seeing what forms of memory change over time, and then to look for factors that can either prevent or slow memory changes. The memory changes that Lachman is researching are distinct from extreme memory decline. "This is not dementia per se that we are studying, but the more normative, common problems that we have with memory as people get older," she said.
Lachman is studying individuals ranging from ages 20 to 85. She looks at young adults to find early signs and causes of memory loss that can be corrected as a means to prevent or slow memory loss later in life. "If we can identify risk factors in younger and middle-aged for later life problems, then we think that's a really important way to go," she said.
Lachman said that people show different patterns of memory change, not just decline. "There are some people that expect their memory's going to go downhill and they basically give up, … and there's other people who say, 'Well yeah, my memory's not as good as it used to be, but there are still things I can do,'" she said. People who feel in control are more likely to use strategies, including mnemonics, and have better memory performance.
Lachman's research focuses on "memory changes in adulthood and looking for ways to optimize memory functioning throughout the adult years," she said.
Lachman identified stress and anxiety as major factors in memory, and this will be the focus of her future research under the new grant. "In the first grant we mainly asked people about their anxiety, but now we're actually going to be using physiological assessments," she said. These assessments include measuring cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, in saliva and measuring heart rate using an electrocardiogram.
In her 25 years conducting research in the field, Lachman found that memory loss is one of the chief concerns for adults of all ages, but that it is an expected outcome of aging. The problem is less important for younger adults, said Lachman, and they are more likely to attribute memory loss to being too busy.
Her goals are to chart memory across adulthood, seeing what forms of memory change over time, and then to look for factors that can either prevent or slow memory changes. The memory changes that Lachman is researching are distinct from extreme memory decline. "This is not dementia per se that we are studying, but the more normative, common problems that we have with memory as people get older," she said.
Lachman is studying individuals ranging from ages 20 to 85. She looks at young adults to find early signs and causes of memory loss that can be corrected as a means to prevent or slow memory loss later in life. "If we can identify risk factors in younger and middle-aged for later life problems, then we think that's a really important way to go," she said.
Lachman said that people show different patterns of memory change, not just decline. "There are some people that expect their memory's going to go downhill and they basically give up, … and there's other people who say, 'Well yeah, my memory's not as good as it used to be, but there are still things I can do,'" she said. People who feel in control are more likely to use strategies, including mnemonics, and have better memory performance.
Be the first to comment on this story