Grant: CIHR Café Scientifique Program

Population forecasts suggest that the proportion of seniors in Canada will reach an unprecedented level in the coming years. By 2026, one in five Canadians will be age 65 or older. With the baby boomers entering their retirement years, there is a strong need for high-quality evidence to inform clinical, health and social policy decision-making directed towards improving the health and well-being of Canada's seniors. A strategic initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) has brought together a team of 160 researchers and collaborators from across the country to answer the most pressing questions on healthy aging. The goal is to develop a research platform that will enable state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary, population-based research and evidenced-based decision-making that will lead to better health and quality of life for Canadians. The CLSA collects information on the changing biological, medical, psychological, social, lifestyle and economic aspects of people's lives as they age. On area of focus is memory and cognition. Through this Café Scientifique, leading health researchers will explore what the research says about how our brains change as we get older and what can be done to maintain function and protect against cognitive decline. They will also open the floor to a lively discussion about what it means to get older and why keeping our minds sharp promotes long-term health and a greater sense of happiness and well-being.