GRK 429:  Neuropsychiatry and Psychology: Psychic Potentials and Limits in Old Age

• Subject Area: Psychology
• Term: from 1998 to 2007
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272341

The program was designed to provide an opportunity for a select group of graduate post-diploma students in psychology and medical graduates to further their studies in gerontology and to complete a doctoral dissertation in an area of gerontological research. It is generally agreed that, in order to understand the many aspects of old age and aging (e.g., physical, psychological, and social), it is important to strive for a transdisciplinary perspective and systemic integration. To this end, two main goals of the graduate program on the psychiatry and psychology of aging are:1. to integrate medical-psychiatric and psychological questions in research on aging,2. to focus on issues of very old age.In addition, the program seeks to integrate gerontological research and themes with studies and theoretical frameworks from health psychology.Several topics serve as a forum for these integrative efforts. These include: the heterogeneity of aging, pathological versus normal aging, the gain-loss dynamics of aging, the potential and limits of old age, strategies of coping with age-related losses, the nature of resilience in old age, issues and determinants of longevity.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Isabella Heuser
• Participating Researchers: Professorin Dr. Heidi Danker-Hopfe; Professor Dr. Rainer Hellweg; Professor Dr. Norbert Kathmann; Professor Dr. Gerd Kempermann; Professorin Dr. Petra Klumb; Professor Dr. Friedel M. Reischies; Professor Dr. Hans Rommelspacher; Professor Dr. Arno Villringer