Welcome to the Ageing Research Unit - The Science of Ageing Well The Ageing Research Unit (ARU) encompasses a range of research projects concerned with ageing and development over the lifespan that are conducted in The Australian National University's Centre for Mental Health Research. Most of the researchers in ARU have a background in psychology, however we work across disciplines, with strong collaborations in neuropsychiatry, medicine, epidemiology, biostatistics, optometry and computer science. Our main research areas include: cognitive ageing and dementia, late life transitions, driving and functional capacity, and wellbeing and mental health. See recent and upcoming events     Event Highlight The Ageing Research Unit recently held a symposium entitled: Psychology and Ageing: Clinical & Research Perspectives. The symposium was an event of the Ageing Interest Group of the Australian Psychological Society and sponsored by the ARC/NHMRC Research Network in Ageing Well. For more information click here.

Mission statement: "To discover how to optimise wellness over the lifespan, through innovative, high quality psychological and epidemiological research, so that individuals may age well with their families and communities."

Congratulations to Professor Kaarin Anstey Professor Kaarin Anstey, Director of the Ageing Research Unit at the Centre for Mental Health Research, has been awarded the Busse Award in the Social and Behavioural Sciences. The Busse Award is a highly competitive international award for research in Gerontology that is conferred every 4 years at the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics Congress. Professor Anstey received the award and presented a lecture titled “Primary Aging, Secondary Aging and Social Context as Influences on Cognitive Ageing Through the Life-Course” at the IAGG conference in Paris, July 2009.

Image: The Nautilus shell, lined with mother-of-pearl, grows into increasingly larger chambers throughout its life, starting from the middle and wrapping around into a beautiful spiral. The spiral pattern of the Nautilus shell is commonly found in nature such as in the development of a human embryo, in cloud patterns, and star clusters.