The article "Aging Cognition: From Neuromodulation to Representation" by Shu-Chen Li, Ulman Lindenberger, and Sverker Sikström explores the decline of basic cognitive functions such as information activation, representation, maintenance, focus, and processing with age. The authors advocate for a cross-level approach to understand cognitive aging, integrating neural, information-processing, and behavioral perspectives. They review empirical data and computational theories to highlight the link between deficient neuromodulation and noisy information processing, which can lead to less distinctive cortical representations. These representations are implicated in working memory and attentional functions, which underlie behavioral manifestations of cognitive aging deficits. The article discusses the limitations of resource-reduction theories and proposes that deficient dopaminergic modulation, a key neurochemical correlate of cognitive aging, may be a central mechanism. Recent computational theories are reviewed, showing how deficient neuromodulation can lead to increased neural noise and less distinctive cortical representations, ultimately affecting cognitive functions. The authors suggest that a paradigm shift towards co-evolving fields across different levels of analysis is needed to advance the understanding of cognitive aging.The article "Aging Cognition: From Neuromodulation to Representation" by Shu-Chen Li, Ulman Lindenberger, and Sverker Sikström explores the decline of basic cognitive functions such as information activation, representation, maintenance, focus, and processing with age. The authors advocate for a cross-level approach to understand cognitive aging, integrating neural, information-processing, and behavioral perspectives. They review empirical data and computational theories to highlight the link between deficient neuromodulation and noisy information processing, which can lead to less distinctive cortical representations. These representations are implicated in working memory and attentional functions, which underlie behavioral manifestations of cognitive aging deficits. The article discusses the limitations of resource-reduction theories and proposes that deficient dopaminergic modulation, a key neurochemical correlate of cognitive aging, may be a central mechanism. Recent computational theories are reviewed, showing how deficient neuromodulation can lead to increased neural noise and less distinctive cortical representations, ultimately affecting cognitive functions. The authors suggest that a paradigm shift towards co-evolving fields across different levels of analysis is needed to advance the understanding of cognitive aging.