“Discuss the similarities in cognitive performance between patients with frontal lesions and older adults as described by West (1996).”

As the proportion of older people in the worlds population continues to escalate, cognitive psychologists cannot deny the importance of better understanding age-related changes in cognitive functioning which may seriously threaten the quality of life for so many (Stern & Carstensen, 2000).  Whilst the human brain is so staggeringly complex that the benefits of research into cognitive psychology continue to be inconclusive (Slater, 1995), the previous decade has seen the independent fields of cognitive science and neuroscience greatly contributing to the study of human cognition (Carlson, Martin & Buskist, 2004).

It is in the interest of this paper to highlight the recent work by West (1996) by both outlining and further discussing the findings of his review, namely his presentation of those studies which compare specific cases of prefrontal lobe insult with age-related decrease in c…(short extract)