Figure 4. Scatterplot showing the correlation between age and performance in healthy subjects on the attention domain for men and women. Figure 5. Sex differences

by function in the computerized battery. ABF, abstraction/flexibility; ATT, attention; VMEM, verbal memory; FMEM, facial memory; SMEM, spatial memory; LAN, language; SPA, spatial; SEN, sensory; MOT, motor. Less is known about age effects on emotion processing. Perceiving, experiencing, and expressing emotions seem essential capacities, and more recently the study of emotion has benefited from converging methodologies in animals and humans.26,27 The face has been the main target of study in humans, and methods were applied to quantify Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical expression of emotion with cross-cultural consistency28-31 Standardized tools have been developed for measuring emotion discrimination,32 mood induction,33,34 affective valence, and arousal.35 Emotional displays that, can be reliably coded in the face are happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust (surprise is more controversial). There is also increased agreement that, emotion Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical processing is not. restricted to the ‘limbic system” and involves cortical regions, where it. seems to be organized, perhaps parallel

to the “cognitive” system, along laterality and anterior-posterior dimensions.36-38 ‘ITtiere is controversy about whether emotional expression is lateralized, although a meta-analysis Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical by Borod et al39 seems to confirm that negative emotions are expressed more intensely on the left side of the face, whereas the opposite holds for positive emotions:40 There is more agreement, though fewer data, that, receptive, experiential, and expressive Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical aspects of emotion processing can

be mapped to frontal, temporal, and parieto-occipital involvement, respectively. This interaction between the emotion and cognitive systems,“41-43 particularly as it applies to memory, is an issue of current interest.44-52 Large-scale studies Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical with standardized measures53 have indicated that elderly people are in better mood than their young counterparts.54,55 Nonetheless, studies measuring emotion processing suggest some deficits.56 Gross et al57 examined cross-cultural samples for age differences and concluded that older adults reported fewer negative emotional experiences and greater emotional, control. However, findings regarding emotional expressivity were less consistent, with older participants reporting isothipendyl less expressivity. There is also evidence that the elderly are more vulnerable than the young to adverse effects of negative emotional states on memory58 and other cognitive abilities. Indeed, it has been learn more suggested that depressed mood is the strongest predictor of health decline in the elderly.59 Sex differences were observed in affect, and emotion processing.60-62 Women perform better in speeded emotion recognition tasks63 and in tasks requiring facial expression of emotions.