UMaine Colloquium to Focus on ‘Extreme Longevity’ Jan. 23
Contact: Michael Robbins, (207) 581-2033; Len Kaye, (207) 262-7922; George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine’s Department of Psychology and the Center on Aging are sponsoring a colloquium Jan. 23 to explore what biological, social and other characteristics are shared by people who live to 100 years or older.
Keynote speaker Adam Davey, director of the Doctoral Program in Health Ecology at the College of Health Professions at Temple University in Philadelphia, will discuss findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study at the University of Georgia.
Titled “Should You Survive to 105? A Population-Based Perspective on Extreme Longevity in the Georgia Centenarian Study,” the colloquium, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in Room 115 of the Donald P. Corbett Business Building on the Orono campus, is free and open to the public. It should appeal to anyone involved with biological and social sciences, including gerontologists and healthcare professionals, in addition to the public, according to Psychology Department Chair Michael Robbins and psychology professor Merrill F. Elias, who is a consultant to the Centenarian Study and a collaborator on several research projects with Adam Davey.
The Georgia Centenarian Study assessed people who are at least 100 years of age on a very wide range of characteristics, from genetics to lifestyle.
“Some are not doing so well cognitively and others are as sharp as a tack,” say Robbins. “We thought this is a topic that’s interesting to everyone, looking at what characteristics and experiences these people have when they have lived to be 100 and beyond. Most importantly, it examines the health characteristics that lead to cognitive survival versus cognitive decline.”