UNI NOVA – Research Magazine of the University of Basel

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  Dossier

  The challenge of old age.

  Text: Reto W. Kressig / We are not only getting older, but also increasingly doing so in good health. Aging can therefore be seen as both an opportunity and a challenge.

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  Dossier

  Progress in the gait lab.

  Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Discrete irregularities in gait can point to cognitive deficits later in life – even years in advance. The University Center for Medicine of Aging at the Felix Platter Hospital in Basel is involved in cutting-edge research in this area.

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  Dossier

  Old age underestimated.

  Interview: Iris Mickein / Psychologist Jana Nikitin has spent 15 years studying the ways in which people establish and maintain relationships. She recently concluded a number of studies on social approach and avoidance motivation across the life span, with an emphasis on old age.

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  Dossier

  With age comes knowledge.

  Text: Yvonne Vahlensieck / We learn new facts and concepts well into old age. Psychologists at Basel University are investigating how, over the course of our lives, our memory adapts to this expansion in knowledge.

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  Older women and hormones.

  Text: Irène Dietschi / When it comes to women’s health, geriatric medicine has been focusing on reproductive organs and hormonal aspects for decades. Yet healthy aging is first and foremost a mental and psychological process, according to Professor of Gynecology Johannes Bitzer, former chief physician at the Women’s Health Clinic, University Hospital Basel.

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  Dossier

  Demographics and the labor market.

  Text: Jörg Becher / What effect does an aging society have on the labor market? Instead of simply speculating, economics professor Conny Wunsch wants to deliver concrete answers – using a realistic model.

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  Dossier

  Combating muscular atrophy.

  Text: Martin Hicklin / Even in older individuals, strength training helps to combat the loss of muscle mass. Known as sarcopenia, this “curse of old age” is the focus of a research project at the Biozentrum.

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  Bridging the generation gap through exercise.

  Text: Céline Eugster / Children and older people alike often get less exercise than they need. Sports researchers in Basel are tackling this problem with projects aimed at getting the two groups moving – together.

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  In conversation

  “Humanities for the 21st century.”

  Interview: Samuel Schlaefli / The humanities of the 21st century will be computer-based, believes Gerhard Lauer, Professor of Digital Humanities. Digitalization is about more than just facilitating access to research material, he explains – it brings completely new analytical methods to the humanities.