@ARTICLE{10.3389/fnins.2011.00025, AUTHOR={Eckert, Mark}, TITLE={Slowing Down: Age-Related Neurobiological Predictors of Processing Speed}, JOURNAL={Frontiers in Neuroscience}, VOLUME={5}, YEAR={2011}, URL={https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2011.00025}, DOI={10.3389/fnins.2011.00025}, ISSN={1662-453X}, ABSTRACT={Processing speed, or the rate at which tasks can be performed, is a robust predictor of age-related cognitive decline and an indicator of independence among older adults. This review examines evidence for neurobiological predictors of age-related changes in processing speed, which is guided in part by our source based morphometry findings that unique patterns of frontal and cerebellar gray matter predict age-related variation in processing speed. These results, together with the extant literature on morphological predictors of age-related changes in processing speed, suggest that specific neural systems undergo declines and as a result slow processing speed. Future studies of processing speed – dependent neural systems will be important for identifying the etiologies for processing speed change and the development of interventions that mitigate gradual age-related declines in cognitive functioning and enhance healthy cognitive aging.} }