About

The Healthy Aging Laboratory is directed by Dr. Corinna E. Loeckenhoff and located in the College of Human Ecology, Department of Psychology, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. 

Guided by the belief that the foundations for healthy aging are rooted in earlier life phases, our research examines the role of time horizons, stressful life events, and social relationships across the life span in order to gain a holistic view of everyday decision making and its implications for life-long health.

Research

Balancing present and future

In many situations, people are forced to trade off between present and future outcomes. How do people of different ages balance such situations — especially when important health consequences are at stake? Our findings suggest that self-continuity, a sense of connection with who we were in the past and will be in the future, can help to navigate difficult choices — in part, because it helps us predict our own future preferences.

Social relationships

As people get older, their social relationships change. In particular, close social ties to immediate family become more important in later life. We examine how this affects health-relevant contexts such as shared medical decision-making and caregiving.

Life events

How does our personality influence the way we deal with stressful life events, and how do relatively stable traits play out as we navigate dynamic experiences such as retirement, health problems and trauma? Across diverse groups of participants, we have found that stable personality traits can convey vulnerability or protection, but the specific mechanisms behind such effects vary across contexts and populations.

Perceptions of aging

Growing evidence suggests that our views of aging not only affect how we treat older people but also how well (or poorly) we age ourselves. Our laboratory has found that while some aspects of aging perceptions appear to be universal, others vary across cultures, and this may account for disparities in aging outcomes across the world.

Translational approach

Across the different research domains, our laboratory adopts a translational approach by which basic research conducted in laboratory settings is transferred into clinical and practice contexts with the ultimate goal of advancing public health. Strong ties with Weill Cornell Medicine allow us to examine how basic age-related changes play out in clinical populations, particularly with regard to managing pain in later life.

Members of the Healthy Aging Lab

People

Dr. Corinna Loeckenhoff is the Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and a professor of gerontology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. 

Dr. Loeckenhoff received her undergraduate degree from the University of Marburg, Germany, and her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the intramural research program of the National Institute on Aging before joining Cornell University.

Dr. Loeckenhoff is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and of the Association for Psychological Science. She was identified as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science and received the Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation Award in Behavioral and Social Gerontology from the Gerontological Society of America. Her efforts were recognized by SUNY Chancellors Awards for Teaching Excellence and Faculty Service. 

Tess Wild is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Healthy Aging Laboratory. Broadly, she is interested in how people adapt to aging and its concomitant changes. Her research focuses on the interactive nature of decision-making and the value of social relationships as a resource for healthy aging. Recent projects have examined life-span age differences in help seeking from social partners during decision-making.

Ruizeng Wang is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Healthy Aging Laboratory. His research broadly focuses on how individuals adapt to aging-related changes and sustain well-being and productivity across adulthood. He is particularly interested in decision-making and life planning during the transition from middle adulthood to older adulthood, the potential role of AI and emerging technologies in supporting healthy aging, and caregiving experiences across U.S. and Asian cultural contexts

Participate in the Healthy Aging Lab

Contact us today to participate in our research. Most studies take place on Cornell University's Ithaca Campus (free parking provided), but we occasionally gather data online as well. For more information on ongoing projects, call 607-255-2457 or email us.

pair of pictures of two women - one doing the other's hair. In one, both are young, in the other both are old