The Aging Mind Group is a coalition of faculty from across the Programs in Psychology (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) and Clinical and Health Psychology (College of Public Health and Health Professions), who are all members of the Network for Biobehavioral and Social Research and Training in Aging, http://agenetwork.phhp.ufl.edu/. A common denominator among the members of this group is that they study how optimal psychological functioning and well-being can be maintained into late life. This includes a focus on the preservation of the cognitive skills and abilities (e.g., memory, intellectual abilities) required to perform everyday tasks and to live independently in the community. In addition, some members of this group examine how the aging self and personality serve as resources for coping with the declines and losses that are inevitable as people age. Finally, another commonality is that we are interested in designing interventions to improve behavioral and functional aging (e.g., sleep, memory), and in understanding how such interventions might transfer to other domains of functioning.
The Aging Mind Group is a very research-active group. We share a strong commitment to graduate mentorship and training, and a strong interest in attracting energetic, ambitious doctoral students who want to pursue a career in aging research. Both as a group and individually, we maintain strong collegial connections with researchers and funding agencies that share our enthusiasm for and commitment to understanding the various patterns of human aging. These connections include national and international colleagues and institutions.