ABSTRACT
The population of older adults in the United States was estimated to be 43.1 million in 2012 and is projected to almost double to 83.7 million by 2050. In late adulthood, family takes on new meaning and purpose. Individuals in late adulthood may be reviewing and making meaning of their lives. In late adulthood, individuals experience declines in each of the senses. Although many people of all ages fear cognitive declines with age as inevitable, the truth is much less daunting. Some cognitive tasks do get more demanding with age, such as the older adult's ability to keep several items in mind at the same time in working memory. Cognitive reserve refers to the brain's "ability to adapt to damage, such as via compensation and recruitment of alternative brain regions to perform tasks". In the social and emotional domains of development, older adults tend to fare well if they have adjusted to previous emotional and social challenges earlier in life.
