Contents -- About the Editors -- Contributors -- Forthcoming and Previous Volumes in the Series -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 The Trials and Tribulations of Studying the Oldest Old -- Human Life Span and the Oldest Humans -- Data Sources -- Methodological Pitfalls -- Section I: Biomedical -- 2 Aging: A Genetic Balancing Act -- Aging as a Programmatic Response: Premature Senescence -- Stochastic Aspects of Aging -- Future Prospects -- 3 The Promise of Human Life Span Extension -- What Is Senescence? -- Antisenescence Therapeutic Approaches -- SENS -- 4 The Familiality of Exceptional Longevity -- The Nature Versus Nurture Debate -- A Proposed Multifactorial Model for Exceptional Longevity -- Summary and Conclusions -- 5 Centenarian Offspring: A Model of Successful Aging -- Benefits of Focusing on Centenarian Offspring for Longevity Research -- Comparison Groups Used in Centenarian Offspring Studies -- Advantageous Health Profiles in Centenarian Offspring -- Conclusions -- Section II: Psychosocial -- 6 Personality and Coping Among Centenarians -- Theoretical and Conceptual Overview -- Narrative Descriptions -- Personality and Events -- Personality and Biography -- Personality Traits in Centenarians -- Personality States and Coping Behaviors in Centenarians -- Personality as a Predictor of Adaptation -- Conclusions and Future Directions -- 7 Social Support for Centenarians' Health, Psychological Well-Being, and Longevity -- Background and Conceptual Overview -- Organization -- Descriptions of Centenarians' Social Support -- Theoretical Framework -- Impacts of Social Support on Centenarian Well-Being -- Social Support and Longevity -- Conclusion -- 8 Cognitive Function of Centenarians and Its Influence on Longevity -- Review of Supportive Evidence -- Reality of Cognitive Function in Centenarians.

Characteristics of Brain-Cognition Relationship in Centenarians -- Summary, Conclusions, and New Directions -- Section III: Methodology -- 9 Extreme Longevity and Data Quality -- Population-Level Data Quality -- Change Over Time -- Individual-Level Data Quality -- 10 Living Past 100 Years: Perspectives From Anthropology of Longevity -- Serendipitous Discovery as Methodology -- Case Studies From Asia and Europe -- Wisdom Learned From the Centenarians: Comparisons After Interviews -- Concluding Remarks: Toward an Anthropology of Longevity -- 11 Developing Models of Longevity -- Background -- Issues -- Models Predicting Longevity and Survival -- Tentative Aging Mechanisms -- Outcome Variables in Aging Models -- Model Construction -- A Psycho-Physiological Model of Aging -- Empirical Support for a Psychosomatic Unity -- Complementary Models to Be Considered When Predicting Aging, Longevity, and Well-Being -- Empirical Support for Time-Related Differences in Predictors of Longevity and Survival -- Conclusions and Remarks -- Discussion -- 12 Methodological Considerations in Studying Centenarians: Lessons Learned From the Georgia Centenarian Studies -- The Georgia Centenarian Studies -- Methods -- Procedures -- Genetic Contributions to Longevity -- Neuropathology of Dementia in Centenarians -- Neuropsychological and Health Predictors of Functional Capacity -- Adaptation and Resources in Centenarians -- Summary -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y.