Playing to Improve Memory: How Serious Games and Gamification Have Contributed to the Neurocognitive Rehabilitation of the Elderly

Population Aging

Society is experiencing a worldwide phenomenon of population aging. According to studies on population trends, the number of elderly people aged 60 years and older worldwide approached 1 billion in 2017 and is expected to double by the year 2050 (Gall et al., 2015; Lam et al., 2020). This phenomenon is due, among other reasons, to the fact that the elderly are increasingly educated and present increasingly healthy lives, which consequently leads to longer life expectancy and causes a change in the demographic and epidemiological profile of the population (Cochar-Soares et al., 2021).

It is possible to think of the study of aging in two major blocks: human aging and population aging. From the perspective of human aging, it is possible to say that it is individual, it is the sum of changes in the body as a whole, and it can be subdivided into three dimensions: biological, psychological, and social. Such process will be different for each individual, being based on their lived experiences and how they interpret them (Cochar-Soares et al., 2021; Rogers et al., 2013; Toledano-González et al., 2018). When we talk about population aging, we mean the process of demographic transition, related to the global phenomenon in which increased life expectancy and falling birth rates and fertility are key indicators (Cochar-Soares et al., 2021).