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Normal Aging

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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

Synonyms

Cognitive functioning in the elderly; Developmental psychology

Definition

The changes in functioning associated with age and not a specific disorder.

Current Knowledge

Despite the age of 65 years as being a common dividing age from adult to older adult, both physical and cognitive aging occur on an age continuum, with varying degrees of changes occurring across the upper end of the age spectrum. Changes in biological and psychological aging begin to accelerate with increasing age. Given these gradual and progressive changes, it is important to consider the effects of aging as reflecting a continuous process as opposed to a discrete or categorical phenomenon.

Individuals aged 65 years and older represent a segment of the population that is being increasingly referred for the evaluation of cognitive functioning for a variety of reasons. The increased rate of age-related medical conditions, dementia, and multiple medication use, together with an increase in frequency of physical...

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Correspondence to Bradley Axelrod .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Axelrod, B., Schutte, C. (2016). Normal Aging. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1225-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1225-3

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

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