OTD-543: Cognition Across the Lifespan

All aspects of human memory and executive function are critical for navigating everyday life as well as sustaining quality of life. Memory and executive brain processing are critical cognitive functions to navigate everyday life. Lifespan research studies demonstrate that both exhibit relativel long developmental trajectories followed by stasis and a relative decline in old age. However, neither memory nor executive functions is a unitary construct. Both comprise separable brain structures and tend to change differently across the lifespan. Furthermore, memory is malleable and not an exact reproduction but a reconstruction of past experiences. The course will allow students to consider why this is important to occupational therapy practice and discuss, from a cognitive-neuroscience perspective, a range of topics related to the development, maintenance, and potential decline in memory and executive function from infancy through old age. Prerequisite: Admission to the OTD program. [ 2 credits ]