Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group
Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group on Plasticity of Brain and Behavior in Adulthood and Old Age
This Research Group was led by Martin Lövdén and dealt with the following topics: Aging-related reductions in abilities, such as working memory, reasoning, episodic memory, and spatial orientation, begin roughly around the age of 65, but different individuals perform at different levels and change at different rates. Epidemiological work suggests that individuals with a lifestyle rich in mental, physical, and social stimulation experience less cognitive decline in old age. However, we know little about the mechanisms through which experience modulates cognitive aging. For example, we do not know whether the favorable infl uences of an enriched lifestyle on cognitive change come from direct effects of mental stimulation on cognitive performance or through indirect routes, such as avoidance of negative effects on cognition (e. g., depression, stress, or vascular conditions). The goal of the Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group on the Plasticity of Brain and Behavior in Adulthood and Old Age was to fill this research lacuna. The studies conducted as a part of the Research Group are briefly described below.
Sofja Kovalevskaja
Sofja Kovalevskaja was born in Moscow on January 15, 1850 and died on January 29, 1891 in Stockholm. Sie was a major Russian mathematician who earned her doctorate in 1874 at the University of Göttingen. In 1889 she was the first woman to be appointed to a full professorship in Northern Europe. The prize named after her is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and awarded to young scientists every two years by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
SPACE
COGITO
Swedish Military School of Interpreters
Background
In 2006 Martin Lövdén received the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's Sofja Kovalevskaja Prize. Financed by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research, the one million Euro Award enables young scientists from outside Germany to finance their own research groups at a German university or other research institution of their choice. The funding period of the Award extended over 4 years (2007–2010).
New Project
Recently established: Mechanisms and Sequential Progression of Plasticity
References
Lövdén, M., Bäckman, L., Lindenberger, U., Schaefer, S., & Schmiedek, F. (2010). A theoretical framework for the study of adult cognitive plasticity. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 659–676. doi: 10.1037/ a0020080
Lövdén, M., Bodammer, N. C., Kühn, S., Kaufmann, J., Schütze, H., Tempelmann, C., et al. (2010). Experience-dependent plasticity of white-matter microstructure extends into old age. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3878–3883. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia. 2010.08.026
Lövdén, M., Ghisletta, P., & Lindenberger, U. (2005). Social participation attenuates decline in perceptual speed in old and very old age. Psychology and Aging, 20, 423–434. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.20.3.423
Lövdén, M., Schaefer, S., Noack, H., Kanowski, M., & Kaufmann, J. (2011). Performance-related increases in hippocampal N-acetylaspartate (NAA) induced by spatial navigation training are restricted to BDNF Val homozygotes. Cerebral Cortex, 21, 1435–1442. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhq230
Mårtensson, J. & Lövdén, M. (2011). Do intensive studies of a foreign language improve associative memory performance? Frontiers in Psychology, 2: 12. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00012
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