Integrating aging with social and affective… (R13AG104345) – Project Grant to Adelphi University

Abstract: While much research has investigated age-related cognitive and neural changes, less is known about how the aging brain is associated with social and affective phenomena. The goal of this proposal is to make aging a core area of investigation for the field of social and affective neuroscience. This proposal will accelerate the study of the social and emotional aging brain across three initiatives. For the first initiative, established investigators who examine aging in cognitive neuroscience and those who are beginning to bridge the GAP with social and affective neuroscience, will be invited to attend and present their work at a major societal conference at the social and affective neuroscience (sans) annual meeting. Sans includes over three thousand members on its mailing list. Over 350 members attend an annual conference of which about one third are principal investigators. A content analysis of past sans conferences shows that the community is conducting cutting-edge theoretical, methodological, and analytical work in social and affective neuroscience. However, research on age-related factors is not currently a topic in this community. Thus, this initiative will vastly increase the visibility and priority of aging content for understanding social and affective neuroscience. Long-term change to a field requires fostering the next generation of researchers to develop interdisciplinary expertise in aging and social and affective neuroscience. The second initiative will take a multi- pronged approach toward this development. The proposal will provide funding to attend the annual sans meeting for trainees who have an interest in aging research, including trainees who have economic barriers to attend the conference. Invited speakers who are experts in aging will also meet with students, trainees, and early career faculty in the field in roundtable discussions about aging in social and affective neuroscience. A formal mentorship program will also be established for trainees and junior faculty to facilitate networking specifically with established principal investigators who work in aging, in addition to an idea hackathon to foster new research ideas and collaborations for aging and social and affective neuroscience. The third initiative is to devote a special issue on the social and affective factors for aging brain in the field's primary journal, social cognitive and affective neuroscience (scan). This initiative will provide a unique opportunity to highlight the critical importance of aging in the social and affective neuroscience community. Contributions to the special issue will be solicited from speakers who attend the conference and also the broader social and affective neuroscience community. In SUM, these three initiatives will make aging a core focus for sans. IT will significantly impact the infrastructure and development of the community through conference programming, mentorship of trainees, and focused research contributions. In doing so, this proposal will lay a foundation for new scholars, grant submissions, and research directions on aging and social and affective neuroscience that will significantly speed our scientific understanding.

Integrating aging with social and affective neuroscience

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