50 Years of Busting Myths About Aging in the Brain

When Carol Barnes turned 65 years old, she had a stunning realization: that she was now the people, 65 years and older, she had been studying for the past several decades – and – that she was “OK.” 

Reflecting several years later on that moment, Barnes, director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Arizona, said: “It’s quite fine to be older with more experience and more ability to take perspective, and it was quite shocking to be old and have it not be so bad, unlike the stereotypes.”

The recipient of the CNS 2026 Distinguished Career Contributions Award, Barnes has spent her career working to bust myths about age, the aging process, and memory – fighting against the stereotypes. At her award lecture in Vancouver in March, she will highlight just how much researchers have uncovered about aging and the brain since she started working in the field in the early 1970s. 

Barnes’ cross-cutting body of work reveals the importance of studying spatial memory across different species to understand cognitive changes in aging. I spoke with her about this work, her early research motivations, how technology has changed the field, and thoughts she has for early-career cognitive neuroscientists.

Read the entire story https://www.cogneurosociety.org/50-years-of-busting-myths-about-aging-in-the-brain/