Evolution of Brain Aging and Cognitive Decline: A Lecture by Bruce Yankner March 25, 2010

During the last century, treatments for the diseases of youth and middle-age adults have helped raise life expectancy. However, neurocognitive decline has emerged as one of the greatest health threats of old age, with nearly 50% of adults over the age of 85 afflicted by Alzheimer's disease. Meeting this challenge demands a greater understanding of the processes underlying normal and pathological brain aging. Dr. Bruce Yankner, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, will discuss how evolutionary studies are unexpectedly revealing new insights into age-related cognitive decline, suggesting that it may have appeared recently in the primate lineage. Free and open to the public. Part of the Evolution Matters lecture series.

Official Website: http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures_and_special_events/index.php