The increase in life expectancy and the prevalence of age-related cognitive disorders have led to great interest in studying normal and pathological ageing with the aim to individuate early predictors of degenerative disorders, differential diagnosis, and efficacies of pharmacological and cognitive approaches in the treatment of these disorders. Indeed, considering the great burden of degenerative disorders on national healthcare systems (i.e., in terms of cost and therapy), research aimed at improving the early diagnosis of these pathologies is mandatory.

Recent advances in functional imaging methods allow comparative investigation of neurobehaviour, neuroanatomy, and neurophysiology pertaining to cognitive and emotional processes in normal and pathological ageing.

A more advanced understanding of underlying mechanisms of ageing and neurodegenerative disorders (i.e., mild cognitive impairment, dementia with Lewy bodies, Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal lobe dementia, and so on) is desirable because it could afford knowledge of their real entity and could help determine whether the new methods could be exploited positively in early and accurate diagnoses and in developing goal-directed training as well as in preventing the phenomena through the study of normal ageing mechanisms.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Structural MRI changes related to normal and pathological ageing, results coming from fMRI regarding the neurodegenerative disorders, electroencephalography (EEG), and event-related potentials’ (ERPs’) studies, as well as changes induced by noninvasive brain stimulation techniques
• Behavioural studies aimed to individuate new tools sensitive to early and different diagnosis and new rehabilitation procedures
• Role played by cognitive and physiological features characterizing normal ageing
• Psychiatric and emotional changes underlying degenerative disorders
• Quality of life of caregivers and patients with neurodegenerative disorders and negative consequence on the patients’ rehabilitative outcome
• Rehabilitative outcomes: a comparison among different types of treatment
• Cognitive reserve on cognitive performance in normal and pathological ageing
• Sleep disorders in degenerative disorders
• Current concepts on genetic predictors in degenerative disorders associated with clinical and subclinical aspects of these illnesses
• Recent discoveries from preclinical models and pathophysiology
• Biomarkers and imaging for diagnosis, prognostication, and devising novel treatment strategies in neurodegenerative disorders
• Changes due to ageing in individuals with developmental disabilities (i.e., adults with Down's syndrome and other developmental disorders)