ABSTRACT
This introduction chapter presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents the concepts of international researchers on cognitive ageing who offer authoritative reviews and commentary on these major areas of debate, highlighting where there are popular myths, where there genuine advances in knowledge and equivocation remains. Cognitive changes with age occur along with reductions in the integrity of brain connectivity and brain structures. It considers in detail the specific issue of whether older people are more vulnerable than younger people to the cognitive cost of performing two tasks as the same time. The book addresses the highly controversial and contemporary topic of cognitive training and working memory capacity. In contrast the study of working memory between a focus on what drives differences between individuals in working memory capacity, and a focus on understanding the cognitive architecture of working memory in all healthy adults.
