Heterogeneity in Cognitive Aging: From Healthy Aging to Neurodegenerative Disease

Dear Colleagues,

Human cognitive aging is characterized by considerable heterogeneity across individuals. While some maintain cognitive resilience well into their late adulthood, others experience age-related cognitive decline due to complex interactions between genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. Heterogeneity in the type and severity of cognitive impairment also exists among those individuals who report subjective cognitive decline or who develop the initial symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, highlighting the need to develop tools with improved diagnostic and prognostic utility. Understanding the factors that can predict and potentially modify the course of brain and cognitive aging across the continuum from healthy aging to neurodegenerative disease remains a major goal in neuroscience research. This Special Issue invites original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that explore the multifaceted nature of cognitive aging through the lens of biomarker assessments (e.g., neuroimaging, CSF, blood-based), novel experimental paradigms, digital assessments, and other aspects of within- or between-individual variability in affective, social, behavioral, or clinical measures. We particularly encourage submissions that advance our understanding of diverse aging trajectories and inform therapeutic interventions aimed at promoting healthy cognitive aging and mitigating neurodegenerative disease risk through a variety of methods, including neuromodulation, neurofeedback, cognitive training, or disease-modifying therapies.

Dr. Yuta Katsumi
Dr. Deepti Putcha
Dr. Bradford C. Dickerson
Guest Editors

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