James Howard's interests are in the cognitive neuroscience of aging. He and his research team are interested in understanding how the ability to learn and remember changes in the course of healthy aging and in understanding the brain basis of these changes. They also investigate the factors that contribute to successful cognitive aging--why do some healthy people maintain high function well into old age whereas others do not? To investigate these issues, he and his colleagues carry out cognitive studies of contextual learning in young and elderly adults as well as in various neuropsychological populations.