Life-span plasticity of the brain and cognition: from questions to evidence and back.

Experience-related changes induced by modification of environment, physical exercise, or cognitive training affect brain structure and function. Research on brain plasticity and its relationship to experiential changes gathers momentum and attracts significant public interest. This collection of papers is based on presentation at the First International Conference on Life-Span Plasticity of Brain and Behavior: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective that took place in Detroit, MI, on October 12-14, 2011. The conference honored Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes, the pioneers of life-span developmental psychology who initiated some of the first studies on experience- and training-related changes in cognition across the life span.