The Gerontological Society of America has named Hebrew SeniorLife's Lewis Lipsitz, MD, to its board of directors. The Gerontological Society of America is the oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. Its principal mission — and that of our over 6,000 members — is to promote the study of aging and disseminate information to scientists, decision makers, and the general public.

An ongoing national teacher shortage has created a sense of urgency to better understand why educators choose to stay in their positions — and why they leave.

Jianli Pan, Associate Professor, Information Sciences and Technology, College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), and Md Arafin, Assistant Professor, Cyber Security Engineering, CEC, received funding for a project aimed at modernizing Internet of Things (IoT)/Edge cybersecurity research and curricula. 

How did students’ diets and behavior change after the expiration of a pandemic-era universal free school meal program in 2022? Researchers asked teachers for their observations on the impact on students, and found that teachers perceived more student hunger and stress, increased consumption of junk foods, and reduced focus in the classroom, among the negative outcomes.

Education, intellectually stimulating work, and an active lifestyle help preserve cognitive abilities in adults over 65, supporting more effective verbal expression and stronger cognitive performance. But emotions also play an important role: how we recognize and interpret them can influence cognitive processes as we age.

These findings emerge from two new studies conducted at SISSA in Trieste, Italy. Researchers examined how adults over 65 performed on different tasks, focusing in particular on the role of cognitive reserve—the mental resources accumulated throughout life through education, professional experience, and intellectually engaging activities.

The first study found that individuals with greater cognitive reserve performed better in language tasks, showing a stronger ability to express themselves and retrieve the right words. Positive emotions also contributed to better language performance. The second study showed that cognitive reserve supports working memory—the ability to temporarily retain and process information to complete a task. Emotional intelligence, too, influenced performance, particularly participants’ responses to emotional stimuli.

Overall, the findings suggest that cognitive and emotional resources work together to support healthier and more efficient cognitive ageing.

Six years after COVID-19 disrupted childhood around the world, new research following the same children from before the pandemic through today finds that the damage was far less widespread than early warnings predicted. A Special Section in the Society for Research in Child Development's flagship journal Child Development, synthesizing 17 long-term studies across six countries, finds that most children's health, learning, social development, and wellbeing recovered substantially. Setbacks that persisted were concentrated among children who already faced other risks before the pandemic began. This new research, tracking children over a longer period, tells a different story: pandemic impacts were real and wide-ranging, but not as severe as initially feared, and many effects weakened over time. The children who fared worst and recovered more slowly were disproportionately those shaped by pre-existing risks — not the pandemic alone.