Cognitive Plasticity in Adulthood: Theory and Data

According to Lövdén et al. (2010, Psychological Bulletin), adult cognitive plasticity, or the brain’s capacity for anatomically implementing reactive changes in the range of performance, is driven by a prolonged mismatch between functional organismic supplies and environmental demands, and may alter processing efficiency or representations. Based on this framework, I will evaluate the available evidence on cognitive plasticity in adulthood and old age, recommend design features for cognitive-training studies, and outline future research questions.