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McDonough IM, Nolin SA, Visscher KM. 25 years of neurocognitive aging theories: What have we learned? Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:1002096. [PMID: 36212035 PMCID: PMC9539801 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.1002096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The past 25 years have provided a rich discovery of at least four fundamental patterns that represent structural and functional brain aging across multiple cognitive domains. Of the many potential patterns of brain aging, few are ever examined simultaneously in a given study, leading one to question their mutual exclusivity. Moreover, more studies are emerging that note failures to replicate some brain aging patterns, thereby questioning the universality and prevalence of these patterns. Although some attempts have been made to create unifying theories incorporating many of these age-related brain patterns, we propose that the field’s understanding of the aging brain has been hindered due to a large number of influential models with little crosstalk between them. We briefly review these brain patterns, the influential domain-general theories of neurocognitive aging that attempt to explain them, and provide examples of recent challenges to these theories. Lastly, we elaborate on improvements that can be made to lead the field to more comprehensive and robust models of neurocognitive aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian M. McDonough
- Department of Psychology, Alabama Research Institute on Aging, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States
- *Correspondence: Ian M. McDonough,
| | - Sara A. Nolin
- Department of Neurobiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Kristina M. Visscher
- Department of Neurobiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
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2
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Simmonite M, Polk TA. Age-related declines in neural distinctiveness correlate across brain areas and result from both decreased reliability and increased confusability. AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2021; 29:483-499. [PMID: 34757860 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2021.1999383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
According to the neural dedifferentiation hypothesis, age-related reductions in the distinctiveness of neural representations contribute to sensory, cognitive, and motor declines associated with aging: neural activity associated with different stimulus categories becomes more confusable with age and behavioral performance suffers as a result. Initial studies investigated age-related dedifferentiation in the visual cortex, but subsequent research has revealed declines in other brain regions, suggesting that dedifferentiation may be a general feature of the aging brain. In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate age-related dedifferentiation in the visual, auditory, and motor cortices. Participants were 58 young adults and 79 older adults. The similarity of activation patterns across different blocks of the same category was calculated (within-category correlation, a measure of reliability) as was the similarity of activation patterns elicited by different categories (between-category correlations, a measure of confusability). Neural distinctiveness was defined as the difference between the mean within- and between-category similarity. We found age-related reductions in neural distinctiveness in the visual, auditory, and motor cortices, which were driven by both decreases in within-category similarity and increases in between-category similarity. There were significant positive cross-region correlations between neural distinctiveness in different regions. These correlations were driven by within-category similarities, a finding that indicates that declines in the reliability of neural activity appear to occur in tandem across the brain. These findings suggest that the changes in neural distinctiveness that occur in healthy aging result from changes in both the reliability and confusability of patterns of neural activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Simmonite
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
| | - T A Polk
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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3
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Huether AXA, Langley LK, Thomas LE. Aging and Inhibition of Return to Locations and Objects. Front Psychol 2021; 12:706549. [PMID: 34456819 PMCID: PMC8387815 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.706549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Inhibition of return (IOR) is thought to reflect a cognitive mechanism that biases attention from returning to previously engaged items. While models of cognitive aging have proposed deficits within select inhibitory domains, older adults have demonstrated preserved IOR functioning in previous studies. The present study investigated whether inhibition associated with objects shows the same age patterns as inhibition associated with locations. Young adults (18-22 years) and older adults (60-86 years) were tested in two experiments measuring location- and object-based IOR. Using a dynamic paradigm (Experiment 1), both age groups produced significant location-based IOR, but only young adults produced significant object-based IOR, consistent with previous findings. However, with a static paradigm (Experiment 2), young adults and older adults produced both location- and object-based IOR, indicating that object-based IOR is preserved in older adults under some conditions. The findings provide partial support for unique age-related inhibitory patterns associated with attention to objects and locations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asenath X A Huether
- Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, United States
| | - Linda K Langley
- Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, United States
| | - Laura E Thomas
- Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, United States
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4
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Seider TR, Porges EC, Woods AJ, Cohen RA. Dedifferentiation of Functional Brain Activation Associated With Greater Visual Discrimination Accuracy in Middle-Aged and Older Adults. Front Aging Neurosci 2021; 13:651284. [PMID: 34366822 PMCID: PMC8336636 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.651284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Neural dedifferentiation refers to an age-related phenomenon whereby brain functions that are localized to specific, distinct, and differentiated brain areas in young adults become less so as people reach more advanced age. Older adults tend to exhibit greater spread of cortical activation on fMRI during cognitive processing compared to younger adults, with evidence that this occurs during visuoperceptual processing. Some age-related functional changes are considered compensatory, but whether dedifferentiation is compensatory is not clearly understood. The current study assessed dedifferentiation and visual discrimination performance during simultaneous match-to-sample tasks from the Visual Assessment Battery (VAB) among 40 healthy middle-aged and older adults using fMRI. Task-relevant regions of interest (ROIs) were created in the dorsal stream for discrimination of spatial location, the ventral stream for shape, and an area encompassing V5 for velocity. Dedifferentiation, or less specificity in functional activation, was associated with greater discrimination accuracy and more years of education. Secondary analyses showed that reduced functional activation in task-relevant ROIs was associated with faster discrimination speed. Age was unassociated with functional activation. Results suggest that dedifferentiation is compensatory. Lack of age effects suggest that other factors beyond age, such as cognitive or brain reserve, may better predict performance when considering cognitive skills that are relatively stable as adults age, such as visual discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talia R Seider
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, Clinical Translational Research Program, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Eric C Porges
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, Clinical Translational Research Program, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Adam J Woods
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, Clinical Translational Research Program, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Ronald A Cohen
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, Clinical Translational Research Program, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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Zhang N, Yuan X, Li Q, Wang Z, Gu X, Zang J, Ge R, Liu H, Fan Z, Bu L. The effects of age on brain cortical activation and functional connectivity during video game-based finger-to-thumb opposition movement: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study. Neurosci Lett 2021; 746:135668. [PMID: 33497717 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.135668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study aims to explore the age-related changes in cerebral cortex activation and functional connectivity (FC) during finger-to-thumb opposition movement based on video games (FTOMBVG). METHODS A electronic fingercot was developed for FTOMBVG. The oxygenated hemoglobin concentration (Delta [HbO]) signals, measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), were recorded from prefrontal cortex (PFC), motor cortex (MC) and occipital lobe (OL) of two groups of subjects (old and young). RESULTS The cognitive region of the old group showed bilateral activation, while the young group only showed unilateral activation. Both groups showed a wide range of bilateral activation in the motor region. The FC between cognitive region and motor region of the old group was enhanced considerably. CONCLUSION Changes in cerebral cortex activation and the FC of different brain regions in the old group help explain the decline in cognitive executive and motor control function in the old from the perspective of brain functional structure, and provide a theoretical reference for the prevention of neural diseases caused by aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nieqiang Zhang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
| | - Xin Yuan
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
| | - Qinbiao Li
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
| | - Zilin Wang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
| | - Xiaosong Gu
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
| | - Jiabin Zang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
| | - Ruhong Ge
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
| | - Heshan Liu
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China.
| | - Zhijun Fan
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China.
| | - Lingguo Bu
- Joint SDU-NTU Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (C-FAIR), Shandong University, Jinan 250101, China; School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore.
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Qin S, Basak C. Age-related differences in brain activation during working memory updating: An fMRI study. Neuropsychologia 2020; 138:107335. [PMID: 31923524 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2019] [Revised: 12/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Recent neuroimaging studies have reported an age-related reduction in brain activations in response to working memory load in task-sensitive brain regions. The current fMRI study investigated the age-related differences in brain activations of the updating mechanism in working memory, which was not investigated in previous studies. With a hybrid block/event-related design, this study was able to examine changes in BOLD signals (i.e., neuromodulation) to increase in updating, a type of cognitive control that is understudied. Older adults were separated into young-old and old-old cohorts to examine whether, within healthy aging, the neuromodulation to cognitive control decreases with age. Our results show that younger adults activate left precentral gyrus and right cerebellum more during trials that require updating than trials that do not require updating. Although older adults showed reduced neuromodulation in these two regions, the old-old cohort failed to show any significant neuromodulation in response to updating. Moreover, older adults not only showed reduced suppressions of the default mode network (DMN) regions during the task, they also overactivated some of the DMN regions, esp. the old-old, when compared to the younger adults. Older adults also showed overactivations in a region (right precentral gyrus) that is contralateral to a task-sensitive region that was activated in the younger adults during updating. Brain-behavior correlations suggest that age-related overactivations of these DMN regions and the right precentral gyrus are maladaptive to their performance. Our results suggest that not only the neuromodulation in response to updating demands is diminished in healthy aging, older adults also show maladaptive increases in activations of task-irrelevant regions and reduced hemispheric specificity during updating. These effects are most pronounced in old-old cohort, compared to young-old, suggesting that age-related declines in neuromodulation during cognitive control is more pronounced in older cohorts within healthy aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuo Qin
- University of Texas at Dallas, TX, 75080, USA
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McDonough IM, Letang SK, Erwin HB, Kana RK. Evidence for Maintained Post-Encoding Memory Consolidation Across the Adult Lifespan Revealed by Network Complexity. ENTROPY 2019. [PMCID: PMC7514376 DOI: 10.3390/e21111072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Memory consolidation is well known to occur during sleep, but might start immediately after encoding new information while awake. While consolidation processes are important across the lifespan, they may be even more important to maintain memory functioning in old age. We tested whether a novel measure of information processing known as network complexity might be sensitive to post-encoding consolidation mechanisms in a sample of young, middle-aged, and older adults. Network complexity was calculated by assessing the irregularity of brain signals within a network over time using multiscale entropy. To capture post-encoding mechanisms, network complexity was estimated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during rest before and after encoding of picture pairs, and subtracted between the two rest periods. Participants received a five-alternative-choice memory test to assess associative memory performance. Results indicated that aging was associated with an increase in network complexity from pre- to post-encoding in the default mode network (DMN). Increases in network complexity in the DMN also were associated with better subsequent memory across all age groups. These findings suggest that network complexity is sensitive to post-encoding consolidation mechanisms that enhance memory performance. These post-encoding mechanisms may represent a pathway to support memory performance in the face of overall memory declines.
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8
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Solesio-Jofre E, Beets IAM, Woolley DG, Pauwels L, Chalavi S, Mantini D, Swinnen SP. Age-Dependent Modulations of Resting State Connectivity Following Motor Practice. Front Aging Neurosci 2018; 10:25. [PMID: 29467646 PMCID: PMC5808218 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2018.00025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2017] [Accepted: 01/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent work in young adults has demonstrated that motor learning can modulate resting state functional connectivity. However, evidence for older adults is scarce. Here, we investigated whether learning a bimanual tracking task modulates resting state functional connectivity of both inter- and intra-hemispheric regions differentially in young and older individuals, and whether this has behavioral relevance. Both age groups learned a set of complex bimanual tracking task variants over a 2-week training period. Resting-state and task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were collected before and after training. Our analyses revealed that both young and older adults reached considerable performance gains. Older adults even obtained larger training-induced improvements relative to baseline, but their overall performance levels were lower than in young adults. Short-term practice resulted in a modulation of resting state functional connectivity, leading to connectivity increases in young adults, but connectivity decreases in older adults. This pattern of age differences occurred for both inter- and intra-hemispheric connections related to the motor network. Additionally, long-term training-induced increases were observed in intra-hemispheric connectivity in the right hemisphere across both age groups. Overall, at the individual level, the long-term changes in inter-hemispheric connectivity correlated with training-induced motor improvement. Our findings confirm that short-term task practice shapes spontaneous brain activity differentially in young and older individuals. Importantly, the association between changes in resting state functional connectivity and improvements in motor performance at the individual level may be indicative of how training shapes the short-term functional reorganization of the resting state motor network for improvement of behavioral performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Solesio-Jofre
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Department of Biological and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Iseult A M Beets
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Daniel G Woolley
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lisa Pauwels
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sima Chalavi
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dante Mantini
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Stephan P Swinnen
- Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Leuven Research Institute for Neuroscience and Disease, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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9
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Age-related differences in BOLD modulation to cognitive control costs in a multitasking paradigm: Global switch, local switch, and compatibility-switch costs. Neuroimage 2018; 172:146-161. [PMID: 29414492 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2017] [Revised: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 01/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well documented that older adults recruit additional brain regions compared to those recruited by younger adults while performing a wide variety of cognitive tasks. However, it is unclear how such age-related over-recruitment interacts with different types of cognitive control, and whether this over-recruitment is compensatory. To test this, we used a multitasking paradigm, which allowed us to examine age-related over-activation associated with three types of cognitive costs (i.e., global switch, local switch, compatibility-switch costs). We found age-related impairments in global switch cost (GSC), evidenced by slower response times for maintaining and coordinating two tasks vs. performing only one task. However, no age-related declines were observed in either local switch cost (LSC), a cognitive cost associated with switching between the two tasks while maintaining two task loads, or compatibility-switch cost (CSC), a cognitive cost associated with incompatible vs. compatible stimulus-response mappings across the two tasks. The fMRI analyses allowed for identification of distinct cognitive cost-sensitive brain regions associated with GSC and LSC. In fronto-parietal GSC and LSC regions, older adults' increased activations were associated with poorer performance (greater costs), whereas a reverse relationship was observed in younger adults. Older adults also recruited additional fronto-parietal brain regions outside the cognitive cost-sensitive areas, which was associated with poorer performance or no behavioral benefits. Our results suggest that older adults exhibit a combination of inefficient activation within cognitive cost-sensitive regions, specifically the GSC and LSC regions, and non-compensatory over-recruitment in age-sensitive regions. Age-related declines in global switching, compared to local switching, was observed earlier in old age at both neural and behavioral levels.
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10
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Differential age-related changes in localizing a target among distractors across an extended visual field. Eur J Ageing 2017; 14:167-177. [PMID: 28804400 DOI: 10.1007/s10433-016-0399-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Age differences in the spatial distribution of attention over a wide field of view have only been described in terms of the spatial extent, leaving the topographical aspect unexplored. This study examined age differences between younger and older adults in good general health in an important topographical characteristic, the asymmetry between the upper and lower visual fields. In Experiment 1, we found age differences across the entire attentional visual field. In addition, age differences were greater in the upper compared to the lower field. In Experiment 2, we examined whether the finding of a greater age difference in the ability to localize a target among distractors in the upper visual field in Experiment 1 was a result of possible differential age differences between the upper and lower visual fields in the ability to localize a target even when there was no distractor competing for attention. Our results suggested that the age differences we observed were linked to age differences in the ability to filter out distractors that compete with the target for attention rather than the ability to process only the target over a wide field of view. While younger adults demonstrated an upper visual field advantage in the ability to localize a target among distractors, there was no such field advantage in older adults. We discuss this finding of diminished upper visual field advantage in older adults in light of an account of pervasive loss of neural specialization with age. We postulate that one possible explanation of age differences in the asymmetry between the upper and lower visual fields may be an adaptation to age-related physical decline. We also discuss important implications of our findings in risks of falls and vehicle crashes.
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11
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Nashiro K, Sakaki M, Braskie MN, Mather M. Resting-state networks associated with cognitive processing show more age-related decline than those associated with emotional processing. Neurobiol Aging 2017; 54:152-162. [PMID: 28390824 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2017.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2016] [Revised: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Correlations in activity across disparate brain regions during rest reveal functional networks in the brain. Although previous studies largely agree that there is an age-related decline in the "default mode network," how age affects other resting-state networks, such as emotion-related networks, is still controversial. Here we used a dual-regression approach to investigate age-related alterations in resting-state networks. The results revealed age-related disruptions in functional connectivity in all 5 identified cognitive networks, namely the default mode network, cognitive-auditory, cognitive-speech (or speech-related somatosensory), and right and left frontoparietal networks, whereas such age effects were not observed in the 3 identified emotion networks. In addition, we observed age-related decline in functional connectivity in 3 visual and 3 motor/visuospatial networks. Older adults showed greater functional connectivity in regions outside 4 out of the 5 identified cognitive networks, consistent with the dedifferentiation effect previously observed in task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Both reduced within-network connectivity and increased out-of-network connectivity were correlated with poor cognitive performance, providing potential biomarkers for cognitive aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaoru Nashiro
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | | | - Meredith N Braskie
- Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, CA, USA
| | - Mara Mather
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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12
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Sugiura M. Functional neuroimaging of normal aging: Declining brain, adapting brain. Ageing Res Rev 2016; 30:61-72. [PMID: 26988858 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2016.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2016] [Revised: 02/21/2016] [Accepted: 02/22/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Early functional neuroimaging research on normal aging brain has been dominated by the interest in cognitive decline. In this framework the age-related compensatory recruitment of prefrontal cortex, in terms of executive system or reduced lateralization, has been established. Further details on these compensatory mechanisms and the findings reflecting cognitive decline, however, remain the matter of intensive investigations. Studies in another framework where age-related neural alteration is considered adaptation to the environmental change are recently burgeoning and appear largely categorized into three domains. The age-related increase in activation of the sensorimotor network may reflect the alteration of the peripheral sensorimotor systems. The increased susceptibility of the network for the mental-state inference to the socioemotional significance may be explained by the age-related motivational shift due to the altered social perception. The age-related change in activation of the self-referential network may be relevant to the focused positive self-concept of elderly driven by a similar motivational shift. Across the domains, the concept of the self and internal model may provide the theoretical bases of this adaptation framework. These two frameworks complement each other to provide a comprehensive view of the normal aging brain.
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13
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[Effective encoding for the recognition of spatial configuration and color]. SHINRIGAKU KENKYU : THE JAPANESE JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2016; 87:251-61. [PMID: 29630170 DOI: 10.4992/jjpsy.87.15004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Three experiments examined the types of encoding that were effective for the recognition of spatial and color information. In Experiments 1 and 2, four experimental groups (each asked to form a different type of mental image of stimuli) and one control group (not asked to form an image) were presented spatial configuration patterns with different numbers of black dots. In both experiments, for the group that formed motor images with actual movement, the average score was higher for stimuli with a larger number of dots than for stimuli with fewer dots. Two groups, which formed dynamic visual images and motor images with no actual movement, respectively, showed similar limited effects. In Experiment 3, the five groups were presented two types of chromatic stimuli (colored panels and colored dots). Static visual images were effective for encoding the colored panels; however, static visual images and motor images with actual movement were effective for encoding the colored dots. These results suggest that motor and dynamic encodings facilitate memory for objects where spatial configuration is important for identification, while static visual images of the whole picture facilitate memory for objects where multiple colors are significant.
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14
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Reuter-Lorenz PA, Stanczak L, Miller AC. Neural Recruitment and Cognitive Aging: Two Hemispheres Are Better Than One, Especially as You Age. Psychol Sci 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.00195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Several neuroimaging studies have reported that older adults show weaker activations in some brain areas together with stronger activations in other areas, compared with younger adults performing the same task. This pattern may reflect neural recruitment that compensates for age-related neural declines. The recruitment hypothesis was tested in a visual laterality study that investigated age differences in the efficiency of bihemispheric processing. Letter-matching tasks of varying complexity were performed under two conditions: (a) matching letters projected to the same visual field (hemisphere) and (b) matching letters projected to opposite visual fields (hemispheres). As predicted by the recruitment hypothesis, older adults generally performed better in the bilateral than unilateral condition, whereas younger adults showed this pattern only for the most complex task. We discuss the relation between these results and neuroimaging evidence for recruitment, and the relevance of the present bihemispheric advantage to other evidence for age-related changes in interhemispheric transfer.
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15
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Park DC, McDonough IM. The Dynamic Aging Mind: Revelations From Functional Neuroimaging Research. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2015; 8:62-7. [PMID: 26172252 DOI: 10.1177/1745691612469034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The conception of the aging mind that emerged from behavioral and structural imaging studies portrayed the mind as a victim of passive deterioration and decline with age, with a few domains of preserved function. The advent of functional neuroimaging has demonstrated that the aging brain is an adaptive and plastic structure that responds dynamically to cognitive challenge and structural deterioration-thus, fundamentally changing views of cognitive aging. In addition, a neural theory of the aging mind based on behavioral data-the dedifferentiation view of cognitive aging-was largely confirmed when neuroimaging technology became available to test it. We argue that functional neuroimaging has advanced cognitive aging theories by creating a stronger emphasis on compensatory mechanisms related to brain plasticity and potential reorganization as evidenced by the resurgence of interest and research in cognitive training research designed to improve cognition through enhancement of neural structures or reorganization of functional circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise C Park
- Center for Vital Longevity, School of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas
| | - Ian M McDonough
- Center for Vital Longevity, School of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas
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16
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Martins B, Ponzio A, Velasco R, Kaplan J, Mather M. Dedifferentiation of emotion regulation strategies in the aging brain. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2014; 10:840-7. [PMID: 25380765 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsu129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2014] [Accepted: 10/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Different emotion regulation strategies are distinctly represented in the brains of younger adults. Decreasing a reaction to a negative situation by reinterpreting it (reappraisal) relies on cognitive control regions in the prefrontal cortex, while distracting away from a stressor involves more posterior medial structures. In this study, we used Multi-Voxel pattern analyses (MVPA) to examine whether reappraisal and distraction strategies have distinct representations in the older adult brain, or whether emotion regulation strategies become more dedifferentiated in later life. MVPA better differentiated the two emotion regulation strategies for younger adults than for older adults, and revealed the greatest age-related differences in differentiation in the posterior medial cortex (PMC). Univariate analyses revealed equal PMC recruitment across strategies for older adults, but greater activity during distraction than reappraisal for younger adults. The PMC is central to self-focused processing, and thus our findings are consistent with the possibility that focusing on the self may be a default mechanism across emotion regulation strategies for older people.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruna Martins
- Department of Psychology and Department of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191, USA
| | - Allison Ponzio
- Department of Psychology and Department of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191, USA
| | - Ricardo Velasco
- Department of Psychology and Department of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191, USA
| | - Jonas Kaplan
- Department of Psychology and Department of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191, USA
| | - Mara Mather
- Department of Psychology and Department of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191, USA Department of Psychology and Department of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191, USA
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Burianová H, Lee Y, Grady CL, Moscovitch M. Age-related dedifferentiation and compensatory changes in the functional network underlying face processing. Neurobiol Aging 2013; 34:2759-67. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2013.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2012] [Revised: 05/21/2013] [Accepted: 06/20/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Cotelli M, Manenti R, Brambilla M, Zanetti O, Miniussi C. Naming ability changes in physiological and pathological aging. Front Neurosci 2012; 6:120. [PMID: 22933989 PMCID: PMC3422757 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2012.00120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2012] [Accepted: 07/27/2012] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the last two decades, age-related anatomical and functional brain changes have been characterized by evidence acquired primarily by means of non-invasive functional neuroimaging. These functional changes are believed to favor positive reorganization driven by adaptations to system changes as compensation for cognitive decline. These functional modifications have been linked to residual brain plasticity mechanisms, suggesting that all areas of the brain remain plastic during physiological and pathological aging. A technique that can be used to investigate changes in physiological and pathological aging is non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS). The present paper reviews studies that have applied NIBS in younger and older adults and in patients with dementia to track changes in the cerebral areas involved in a language task (naming). The results of this research suggest that the left frontal and temporal areas are crucial during naming. Moreover, it is suggested that in older adults and patients with dementia, the right prefrontal cortex is also engaged during naming tasks, and naming performance correlates with age and/or the degree of the pathological process. Potential theories underlying the bilateral involvement of the prefrontal cortex are discussed, and the relationship between the bilateral engagement of the prefrontal cortex and the age or degree of pathology is explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Cotelli
- IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli Brescia, Italy
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19
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DeCarli C, Kawas C, Morrison JH, Reuter-Lorenz PA, Sperling RA, Wright CB. Session II: Mechanisms of age-related cognitive change and targets for intervention: neural circuits, networks, and plasticity. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2012; 67:747-53. [PMID: 22570135 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/gls111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Age-related changes in neural circuits, neural networks, and their plasticity are central to our understanding of age changes in cognition and brain structure and function. This paper summarizes selected findings on these topics presented at the Cognitive Aging Summit II. Specific areas discussed were synaptic vulnerability and plasticity, including the role of different types of synaptic spines, and hormonal effects in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of nonhuman primates, the impact of both compensatory processes and dedifferentiation on demand-dependent differences in prefrontal activation in relation to age and performance, the role of vascular disease, indexed by white matter signal abnormalities, on prefrontal activation during a functional magnetic resonance imaging-based cognitive control paradigm, and the influence of amyloid-β neuropathology on memory performance in older adults and the networks of brain activity underlying variability in performance. A greater understanding of age-related changes in brain plasticity and neural networks in healthy aging and in the presence of underlying vascular disease or amyloid pathology will be essential to identify new targets for intervention. Moreover, this understanding will assist in promoting the utilization of existing interventions, such as lifestyle and therapeutic modifiers of vascular disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles DeCarli
- Department of Neurology and Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, USA
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20
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Wang Y, Fu S, Greenwood P, Luo Y, Parasuraman R. Perceptual load, voluntary attention, and aging: an event-related potential study. Int J Psychophysiol 2012; 84:17-25. [PMID: 22248536 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2011] [Revised: 12/19/2011] [Accepted: 01/02/2012] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
The locus of attentional selection is known to vary with perceptual load (Lavie et al., 2004). Under voluntary attention, perceptual load modulates selective visual processing at an early cortical stage, as reflected in the posterior P1 and N1 components of the event-related potentials (ERPs). Adult aging also affects both behavioral and ERP signs of attentional selection. However, it is not known whether perceptual load modulates this relationship. Accordingly, in the present study ERPs were recorded in a voluntary attention task. Young and old participants were asked to discriminate the direction of a target line embedded within a display of four lines that appeared in the left or right visual field. Participants responded faster and more accurately to valid relative to invalid trials and to low-load relative to high-load condition. Older participants responded more slowly and with lower accuracy than young participants in all conditions. The amplitudes of the posterior contralateral P1 and N1 components in valid trials were larger than that in invalid trials in all conditions. N1 amplitude was larger under the high load condition than that in the low load condition. Moreover, in the high perceptual load condition, the old group had a larger N1 than the young group at contralateral sites. The findings suggest that under voluntary attention, perceptual load and aging modulates attentional selection at an early but not the earliest stage, during the N1 (120-200ms) time range. Increased N1 amplitude in older adults may reflect increased demands on target discrimination in high perceptual load.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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21
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Cortical plasticity for visuospatial processing and object recognition in deaf and hearing signers. Neuroimage 2011; 60:661-72. [PMID: 22210355 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2011] [Revised: 11/09/2011] [Accepted: 12/14/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Experience-dependent plasticity in deaf participants has been shown in a variety of studies focused on either the dorsal or ventral aspects of the visual system, but both systems have never been investigated in concert. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated functional plasticity for spatial processing (a dorsal visual pathway function) and for object processing (a ventral visual pathway function) concurrently, in the context of differing sensory (auditory deprivation) and language (use of a signed language) experience. During scanning, deaf native users of American Sign Language (ASL), hearing native ASL users, and hearing participants without ASL experience attended to either the spatial arrangement of frames containing objects or the identity of the objects themselves. These two tasks revealed the expected dorsal/ventral dichotomy for spatial versus object processing in all groups. In addition, the object identity matching task contained both face and house stimuli, allowing us to examine category-selectivity in the ventral pathway in all three participant groups. When contrasting the groups we found that deaf signers differed from the two hearing groups in dorsal pathway parietal regions involved in spatial cognition, suggesting sensory experience-driven plasticity. Group differences in the object processing system indicated that responses in the face-selective right lateral fusiform gyrus and anterior superior temporal cortex were sensitive to a combination of altered sensory and language experience, whereas responses in the amygdala were more closely tied to sensory experience. By selectively engaging the dorsal and ventral visual pathways within participants in groups with different sensory and language experiences, we have demonstrated that these experiences affect the function of both of these systems, and that certain changes are more closely tied to sensory experience, while others are driven by the combination of sensory and language experience.
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Abstract
Previous research has established that holding a stimulus in working memory (WM) facilitates the deployment of visual attention to that stimulus relative to other stimuli. The present study examined whether maintaining a specific task in WM would also bias the allocation of attention to the stimuli associated with that task. Participants performed a speeded letter search task while simultaneously keeping in WM one of two task cues shown at the beginning of each trial. The results showed that task-based WM guidance of attention was modulated by response latencies. Whereas the participants with fast reaction times showed little influence of WM contents, the participants with slow reaction times took longer to respond when the letter target appeared in a distractor stimulus consistent with the task cue held in mind. A subsequent Stroop experiment found a larger Stroop interference effect from the participants in the slow group compared with those in the fast group, suggesting that the differential WM effect between the two groups may be associated with an individual's ability to inhibit task-irrelevant information. Taken together, these results expanded the realm of previous research and provided further evidence for a close link between attention and WM.
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Ziegler G, Dahnke R, Jäncke L, Yotter RA, May A, Gaser C. Brain structural trajectories over the adult lifespan. Hum Brain Mapp 2011; 33:2377-89. [PMID: 21898677 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.21374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2010] [Revised: 04/15/2011] [Accepted: 05/02/2011] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this large-sample cross-sectional voxel-based morphometry (VBM) study of anatomical brain data was to investigate linear and nonlinear age-related trajectories of grey matter volume in the human brain during the adult lifespan. To date, there are only a few structural brain studies investigating local nonlinear aspects at the voxel level, i.e., without using anatomical ROIs as a priori hypothesis. Therefore, we analyzed 547 T1-weighted MR images of healthy adult brains with an age range of 19 to 86 years, including 161 scans of subjects with ages 60 and older. We found that the gray matter volume in some regions did not linearly decrease over time, but rather exhibited a delayed decline. Nonlinear age trajectories were observed in the medial temporal lobe regions, the basal ganglia, and parts of the cerebellum. Their trajectories indicated a preservation of grey matter volume during the early adult lifespan. Interestingly, we found nonlinear grey matter structural dynamics specifically in parts of the brain that have been extensively discussed in the context of learning and memory. We propose a hypothesis in relation to the functional role of these brain regions that may explain these results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Ziegler
- Department of Psychiatry, Structural Brain Mapping Group, University of Jena, Jena, Germany.
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Abbassi E, Joanette Y. The time course of access to semantic information in high-performing older adults: behavioral evidence for the hemispheric asymmetry reduction in OLDer individuals. AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2011; 18:452-70. [PMID: 21728890 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2011.568047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The possibility that the HAROLD phenomenon (i.e., Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults) is manifested in the course of access to semantic information, in particular the meaning of emotional words, was investigated using the visual half-field priming paradigm. The time course of priming was tracked in the cerebral hemispheres across three SOAs: 150, 300, and 750 ms. The results showed older and young adults had the same level of accuracy. While priming occurred unilaterally in young participants, the pattern of priming in older participants appeared to be bilateral whenever it was present, that is, at the 300- and 750-ms SOAs. The delay in the appearance of priming in older adults may be due to an increase in sensory thresholds that causes older adults to need more time to encode stimuli and fully activate their semantic network. It is concluded that the bilateral pattern of priming in the presence of an equivalent level of performance in older adults provides behavioral evidence supporting the compensatory role of the HAROLD phenomenon for this particular task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ensie Abbassi
- a Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal & Faculté de médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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Reuter-Lorenz PA, Marshuetz C, Jonides J, Smith EE, Hartley A, Koeppe R. Neurocognitive ageing of storage and executive processes. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/09541440125972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - John Jonides
- a Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
| | - Edward E. Smith
- a Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
| | - Alan Hartley
- b Department of Psychology, Scripps College, Claremont, USA
| | - Robert Koeppe
- c Division of Nuclear Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
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Madden DJ, Turkington TG, Provenzale JM, Hawk TC, Hoffman JM, Coleman RE. Selective and divided visual attention: age-related changes in regional cerebral blood flow measured by H2(15)O PET. Hum Brain Mapp 2010; 5:389-409. [PMID: 20408243 DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0193(1997)5:6<389::aid-hbm1>3.0.co;2-#] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured using H2(15)O and positron emission tomography (PET) to test the hypothesis that age-related changes in the pattern of rCBF activation would be greater under divided attention conditions than under selective attention conditions. Subjects were 24 right-handed men: 12 young adults (age 21-28 years), and 12 older adults (age 60-77 years). Measurement of rCBF was obtained during performance of three visual search task conditions, each of which involved viewing a series of nine-letter displays and making a two-choice button press response to each display. Analyses of subjects' mean reaction time and error rate confirmed that older adults' search performance was disproportionately impaired when it was necessary to divide attention among the display positions. The rCBF data indicated that attending selectively to a target letter in a known (central) location was not associated with cortical activation for either age group. The requirement to divide attention among the display positions led to rCBF activation in occipitotemporal, occipitoparietal, and prefrontal cortical regions. In the divided-attention condition, rCBF activation in the occipitotemporal pathway was relatively greater for young adults; activation in prefrontal regions was relatively greater for older adults. These differences in rCBF activation were related to search reaction time and suggest that, when attention was divided, young adults' performance relied primarily on letter identification processes, whereas older adults required the recruitment of additional forms of task control.
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Affiliation(s)
- D J Madden
- Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
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Abstract
This article addresses key topics in cognitive aging, intending to provide the reader with a brief overview of the current state of research in this growing, multidisciplinary field. A summary of the physiological changes in the aging brain is provided as well as a review of variables that influence cognitive abilities in older age. Normal aging differentially affects various aspects of cognition, and specific changes within various domains such as attention, executive functioning, and memory are discussed. Various theories have been proposed to account for the cognitive changes that accompany normal aging, and a brief examination of these theories is presented in the context of these domain-specific changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren L Drag
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Jacobson A, Green E, Murphy C. Age-related functional changes in gustatory and reward processing regions: An fMRI study. Neuroimage 2010; 53:602-10. [PMID: 20472070 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2009] [Revised: 05/02/2010] [Accepted: 05/06/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Changes in appetite in older adults may result in unhealthy weight change and negatively affect overall nutrition. Research examining gustatory processing in young adults has linked changes in patterns of the hemodynamic response of gustatory and motivation related brain regions to the physiological states of hunger and satiety. Whether the same brain regions are involved in taste processing in older adults is unknown. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine age-related changes in gustatory processing during hedonic assessment. Caffeine, citric acid, sucrose, and NaCl were administered orally during two event-related fMRI sessions, one during hunger and one after a pre-load. Participants assessed the pleasantness of the solutions in each session. Increased activity of the insula was seen in both age groups during hunger. Activity of secondary and higher order taste processing and reward regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, and caudate nucleus was also observed. Hunger and satiety differentially affected the hemodynamic response, resulting in positive global activation during hunger and negative during satiety in both age groups. While in a state of hunger, the frequency and consistency of positive activation in gustatory and reward processing regions was greater in older adults. Additional regions not commonly associated with taste processing were also activated in older adults. Investigating the neurological response of older adults to taste stimuli under conditions of hunger and satiety may aid in understanding appetite, health, and functional changes in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Jacobson
- Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
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29
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Reuter-Lorenz PA, Park DC. Human neuroscience and the aging mind: a new look at old problems. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2010; 65:405-15. [PMID: 20478901 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbq035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 285] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this article, marking the 65th anniversary of the Journal of Gerontology, we offer a broad-brush overview of the new synthesis between neuroscientific and psychological approaches to cognitive aging. We provide a selective review of brain imaging studies and their relevance to mechanisms of cognitive aging first identified primarily from behavioral measurements. We also examine some new key discoveries, including evidence favoring plasticity and compensation that have emerged specifically from using cognitive neuroscience methods to study healthy aging. We then summarize several recent neurocognitive theories of aging, including our own model-the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition. We close by discussing some newly emerging trends and future research trajectories for investigating the aging mind and brain.
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30
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Bouzid R, Sellami NL, Benkhelil A, Hocine A, Ouzrout R, Touati K. Seasonal Prevalence of Primary Disease Dairy Herds in North-Eastern of Algeria. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.3923/javaa.2010.210.215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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31
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Fleischman DA, Bienias JL, Bennett DA. Repetition priming and change in functional ability in older persons without dementia. Neuropsychology 2009; 23:98-104. [PMID: 19210037 DOI: 10.1037/a0013994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Adverse consequences such as institutionalization and death are associated with compromised activities of daily living in aging, yet there is little known about risk factors for the development and progression of functional disability. Using generalized linear models, the authors examined the association between the ability to benefit from repetition and rate of change in functional ability in 160 nondemented elders participating in the Religious Orders Study. Three single-word repetition priming tasks were administered that varied in the degree to which visual-perceptual or conceptual processing was invoked. Decline in functional ability was less rapid, during follow-up of up to 10 years, in persons with better baseline priming performance on a task known to draw on both visual-perceptual and conceptual processing (word-stem completion). By contrast, change in functional ability was not associated with priming on tasks that are known to draw primarily on either visual-perceptual (threshold word-identification) or conceptual (category exemplar production) processing. The results are discussed in terms of a common biological substrate in the inferotemporal neocortex, supporting efficient processing of meaningful visual-perceptual experience and proficient performance of activities of daily living.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debra A Fleischman
- Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
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Strangman GE, Goldstein R, O'Neil-Pirozzi TM, Kelkar K, Supelana C, Burke D, Katz DI, Rauch SL, Savage CR, Glenn MB. Neurophysiological alterations during strategy-based verbal learning in traumatic brain injury. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2008; 23:226-36. [PMID: 19047359 DOI: 10.1177/1545968308324225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Verbal learning and strategic processing deficits are common sequelae of traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying such deficits remain poorly understood. METHODS We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 25 individuals with chronic TBI (>1 year after injury) and 20 matched healthy controls. Subjects were scanned while encoding word lists, with free recall and recognition assessed after each scanning run. To vary the strategic processing load, participants learned semantically unrelated words (Unrelated condition), semantically related words under null instruction conditions (Spontaneous condition), and semantically related words following training on the use of a semantic clustering strategy (Directed condition). RESULTS Behavioral performance on recall, recognition, and semantic clustering improved significantly as follows: Unrelated < Spontaneous < Directed. Individuals with TBI exhibited impaired yet parallel behavioral performance relative to control participants. The fMRI measures of brain activity during verbal encoding revealed decreased activity in participants with TBI relative to controls in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; BA 9) and in a region spanning the left angular and supramarginal gyri (BA 39/40). Functional connectivity analysis revealed evidence of a functional-but not anatomical-breakdown in the connectivity between the DLPFC and other regions specifically when participants with TBI were directed to use the semantic encoding strategy. CONCLUSION After TBI, the DLPFC appears to be decoupled from other active brain regions specifically when strategic control is required. We hypothesize that approaches designed to help re-couple DLPFC under such conditions may aid TBI cognitive rehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary E Strangman
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, USA.
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33
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Boudreau C, McCubbins MD, Coulson S. Knowing when to trust others: an ERP study of decision making after receiving information from unknown people. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2008; 4:23-34. [PMID: 19015085 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsn034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
To address the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie choices made after receiving information from an anonymous individual, reaction times (Experiment 1) and event-related brain potentials (Experiment 2) were recorded as participants played three variants of the coin toss game. In this game, participants guess the outcomes of unseen coin tosses after a person in another room (dubbed 'the reporter') observes the coin toss outcomes and then sends reports (which may or may not be truthful) to participants about whether the coins landed on heads or tails. Participants knew that the reporter's interests were aligned with their own (common interests), opposed to their own (conflicting interests) or opposed to their own, but that the reporter was penalized every time he or she sent a false report about the coin toss outcome (penalty for lying). In the common interests and penalty for lying conditions, participants followed the reporter's reports over 90% of the time, in contrast to <59% of the time in the conflicting interests condition. Reaction time results indicated that participants took similar amounts of time to respond in the common interests and penalty for lying conditions and that they were reliably faster than in the conflicting interests condition. Event-related potentials timelocked to the reporter's reports revealed a larger P2, P3 and late positive complex response in the common interests condition than in the other two, suggesting that participants' brains processed the reporter's reports differently in the common interests condition relative to the other two conditions. Results suggest that even when people behave as if they trust information, they consider communicative efforts of individuals whose interests are aligned with their own to be slightly more informative than those of individuals who are made trustworthy by an institution, such as a penalty for lying.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl Boudreau
- Political Science Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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34
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Dien J. A tale of two recognition systems: implications of the fusiform face area and the visual word form area for lateralized object recognition models. Neuropsychologia 2008; 47:1-16. [PMID: 18805434 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2007] [Revised: 08/07/2008] [Accepted: 08/28/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Two areas of current intense interest in the neuroimaging literature are that of the visual word form area (VWFA) and of the fusiform face area (FFA) and their roles in word and face perception, respectively. These two areas are of particular relevance to laterality research because visual word identification and face identification have long been shown to be especially lateralized to the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere, respectively. This review therefore seeks to evaluate their significance for the broader understanding of lateralization of object recognition. A multi-level model of lateralized object recognition is proposed based on a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging findings. Rather than seek to characterize hemispheric asymmetries according to a single principle (e.g., serial-parallel), it is suggested that current observations can be understood in terms of three asymmetric levels of processing, using the framework of the Janus model of hemispheric function. It is suggested that the left hemisphere represents features using an abstract-category code whereas the RH utilizes a specific-exemplar code. The relationships between these features are also coded asymmetrically, with the LH relying on associative co-occurrence values and the RH relying on spatial metrics. Finally, the LH controlled selection system focuses on isolating features and the RH focuses on conjoining features. It is suggested that each hemisphere utilizes efficient (apparently parallel) processing when stimuli are congruent with its preferred processing style and inefficient (apparently serial) processing when they are not, resulting in the typical left-lateralization for orthographic analysis and right-lateralization for face analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Dien
- Center for Birth Defects, 501 South Preston Street, Suite 301, University of Louisville, Health Sciences Campus, Louisville, KY 40292, United States.
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35
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Neural correlates of age-related visual search decline: A combined ERP and sLORETA study. Neuroimage 2008; 41:511-24. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.02.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2007] [Revised: 02/13/2008] [Accepted: 02/19/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Beason-Held LL, Moghekar A, Zonderman AB, Kraut MA, Resnick SM. Longitudinal Changes in Cerebral Blood Flow in the Older Hypertensive Brain. Stroke 2007; 38:1766-73. [PMID: 17510458 DOI: 10.1161/strokeaha.106.477109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Changes in patterns of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were assessed over a period of 6 years in 14 treated hypertensive participants (HTNs) and 14 age-matched healthy older participants (healthy controls [HCs]) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. METHODS Resting-state PET scans collected at years 1, 3, 5, and 7 were used to determine differences in longitudinal patterns of rCBF change in HTNs relative to HCs. Pulse pressure, arterial pressure, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, and hypertension duration were also correlated with patterns of rCBF change in the HTN group. RESULTS Relative to HCs, the HTN group shows greater rCBF decreases in prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and occipital areas over time, suggesting that these regions are more susceptible to hypertension-related dysfunction with advancing age. The HTN group also fails to show preservation of function over time in motor regions and in the temporal cortex and hippocampus as observed in HC. Although pulse pressure, mean arterial pressure, and systolic and diastolic pressure all correlate similarly with longitudinal rCBF changes, increased duration of hypertension is associated with decreased rCBF in prefrontal and anterior cingulate areas of functional vulnerability observed in the HTN group. CONCLUSIONS These results show that hypertension significantly affects resting brain function in older individuals and suggest that duration of hypertension contributes significantly to the patterns of change over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lori L Beason-Held
- Laboratory of Personality and Cognition, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224-6825, USA.
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37
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Beason-Held LL, Kraut MA, Resnick SM. I. Longitudinal changes in aging brain function. Neurobiol Aging 2006; 29:483-96. [PMID: 17184881 PMCID: PMC2535938 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2006.10.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2006] [Revised: 10/23/2006] [Accepted: 10/27/2006] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Changes in brain activity over time were evaluated in a group of older adults in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who maintained good physical and cognitive health. Participants underwent PET scans during rest and delayed verbal and figural recognition memory performance at year 1 baseline and at year 9. While memory performance remained stable over the 8 years, longitudinal changes in regional cerebral blood flow were observed within each scan condition. Further analyses revealed distinctive patterns of change related specifically to verbal or figural recognition, as well as longitudinal changes common to all scan conditions. These findings demonstrate that the older brain undergoes functional reorganization with increasing age in healthy, cognitively stable individuals. In view of the stable memory performance, the task-dependent results suggest that age-related changes in brain activity help maintain cognitive function with advancing age.
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Affiliation(s)
- L L Beason-Held
- Laboratory of Personality and Cognition, National Institute on Aging, NIH, NIA/LPC, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224-6825, USA.
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38
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Sun X, Zhang X, Chen X, Zhang P, Bao M, Zhang D, Chen J, He S, Hu X. Age-dependent brain activation during forward and backward digit recall revealed by fMRI. Neuroimage 2005; 26:36-47. [PMID: 15862203 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2004] [Revised: 01/07/2005] [Accepted: 01/18/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, brain activation associated with forward and backward digit recall was examined in healthy old and young adults using functional MRI. A number of areas were activated during the recall. In young adults, greater activation was found in the left prefrontal cortex (BA9) and the left occipital visual cortex during backward digit recall than forward digit recall. In contrast, the activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44/45) was more extensive in forward digit recall than in backward digit recall. In older adults, backward recall generated stronger activation than forward recall in most areas, including the frontal, the parietal, the occipital, and the temporal cortices. In the backward recall condition, the right inferior frontal gyrus (BA44/45) showed more activation in the old group than in the young group. These results suggest that different neural mechanisms may be involved in forward and backward digit recall and brain functions associated with these two types of recall are differentially affected by aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiwen Sun
- Hefei Natinal Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, and Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui
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39
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Horwitz B, Sporns O. Neural modeling and functional neuroimaging. Hum Brain Mapp 2004; 1:269-83. [DOI: 10.1002/hbm.460010405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/1994] [Accepted: 05/30/1994] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
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40
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Horwitz B. Data analysis paradigms for metabolic-flow data: Combining neural modeling and functional neuroimaging. Hum Brain Mapp 2004. [DOI: 10.1002/hbm.460020111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
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41
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Park DC, Polk TA, Park R, Minear M, Savage A, Smith MR. Aging reduces neural specialization in ventral visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004; 101:13091-5. [PMID: 15322270 PMCID: PMC516469 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0405148101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 417] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study investigated whether neural structures become less functionally differentiated and specialized with age. We studied ventral visual cortex, an area of the brain that responds selectively to visual categories (faces, places, and words) in young adults, and that shows little atrophy with age. Functional MRI was used to estimate neural activity in this cortical area, while young and old adults viewed faces, houses, pseudowords, and chairs. The results demonstrated significantly less neural specialization for these stimulus categories in older adults across a range of analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise C Park
- The Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
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42
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Proverbio AM, Burco F, del Zotto M, Zani A. Blue piglets? Electrophysiological evidence for the primacy of shape over color in object recognition. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004; 18:288-300. [PMID: 14741315 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2003.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The goal of the study was to investigate how the color and shape of visual stimuli are processed when they are conjointly presented and represent real, and familiar, entities for which normal individuals presumably have a specific 'object color knowledge' (e.g., piglets are pink, artichokes are green). There is evidence, from event related potential (ERP) literature on selective attention to color in conjunction with other, arbitrarily related, stimulus dimensions (e.g., geometrical shape), that color is processed faster than shape, and that the processing of shape depends on color relevance. In this study we recorded ERPs from 28 scalp sites in right-handed volunteers performing selective attention tasks to either color or shape of pictures representing familiar objects and animals. The results revealed that the selection of color was faster, and probably less demanding, than that of shape. However, it was also evidenced that the selection of color depended on object shape, but not vice versa. Indeed, in the attend-color condition, the N2 responses were significantly greater when stimulus shape was prototypically associated, rather than unassociated, with the color perceived. Topographical mapping of difference voltages identified the posterior occipito/temporal region of the left hemisphere as the possible locus of conjoined color and shape processing. Overall, the data support object-based attention models.
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Abstract
When visual changes are accompanied by visual transients, such as in the case of saccades, eye blinks, and brief flickers, they often go unnoticed; this phenomenon is called change blindness (Rensink, R. A. (2002). Change detection. Annual Review of Psychology 53, 245; Simons, D. J., & Levin, D. T. (1997). Change blindness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 1, 261). Change blindness occurs even when the position of visual transients does not cover the location of the change (as in the 'mudsplash' paradigm) (O'Regan, J. K., Rensink, R. A., & Clark, J. J. (1999). Nature 398, 34). By using a simplified mudsplash display, the present study investigated whether change blindness depends on (a). the timing of visual transients, and (b). the task that observers perform. Eight Gabor elements with random orientations were presented. One element (target) was rotated 45 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise without a temporal gap. High contrast visual transients, not overlapping with the elements, appeared at various times with respect to the target change. Observers reported where the change was (change localization), or in which direction the target rotated (change identification). Change localization was impaired primarily when the onset of the transient was at or after the change. In contrast, change identification was impaired mainly when the transient preceded the change. These results suggest that change localization and change identification are mediated in part by different mechanisms.
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44
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Abstract
Forty-eight older adults were tested on a battery of seven speeded visuospatial tasks that were developed by Chen et al. to measure the functions of the ventral and dorsal neural processing streams. Principal components analysis revealed only one factor with an eigenvalue greater than 1.0, and all of the tasks loaded heavily on this general factor. These results are in contrast to those reported in a previous study of young adults in which principal components analysis revealed two factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. Importantly, for young adults the second principal component was a bipolar factor which grouped the tasks based on the neural processing stream (i.e. ventral versus dorsal) whose function they had been designed to assess. The age-related difference in the factor structure of visuospatial abilities apparent from the present results may be interpreted as reflecting an age-related dedifferentiation of the neural processing streams consistent with the results of recent neuroimaging studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Chen
- Department of Psychology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI 49401, USA.
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45
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Aging and attentional guidance during visual search: functional neuroanatomy by positron emission tomography. Psychol Aging 2002. [PMID: 11931285 DOI: 10.1037//0882-7974.17.1.24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to examine adult age differences in neural activation during visual search. Target detection was less accurate for older adults than for younger adults, but both age groups were successful in using color to guide attention to a subset of display items. Increasing perceptual difficulty led to greater activation of occipitotemporal cortex for younger adults than for older adults, apparently as the result of older adults maintaining higher levels of activation within the easier task conditions. The results suggest that compensation for age-related decline in the efficiency of occipitotemporal cortical functioning was implemented by changes in the relative level of activation within this visual processing pathway, rather than by the recruitment of other cortical regions.
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46
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Abstract
Cognitive aging is widely viewed as a process of progressive mental loss. Compelling new evidence from functional neuroimaging urges a reconsideration of this pessimistic view. In the domains of working memory and episodic memory, older adults recruit different brain regions from those recruited by younger adults when performing the same tasks. Specifically, older adults show prominent changes in the recruitment of prefrontal regions, and a conspicuous increase in the extent to which activation patterns are bilateral. These results are stimulating new hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying age-related cognitive declines and the potential for compensation. By suggesting a life-long potential for reorganization and plasticity, these discoveries might revise long-held views of functional localization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Reuter-Lorenz
- Dept of Psychology, University of Michigan, 525 East University, 48109-1109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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47
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Müller NG, Knight RT. Age-related changes in fronto-parietal networks during spatial memory: an ERP study. BRAIN RESEARCH. COGNITIVE BRAIN RESEARCH 2002; 13:221-34. [PMID: 11958965 DOI: 10.1016/s0926-6410(01)00119-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Spatial attention and memory were compared in young and old subjects using non-delayed and delayed matching-to-sample tests. Both young and older subjects revealed a right hemisphere superiority for spatial processing. Older subjects were as accurate as young controls in the non-delay task supporting preserved attention ability in this spatial task. However, older subjects were impaired at 3 s retention intervals supporting an encoding and/or retrieval deficit in spatial memory. Stimulus evaluation demands were highest in the non-delay task and younger subjects generated the largest posterior P3 in this condition plus an additional frontal P3. The frontal P3 was reduced in amplitude in the delay tasks in the young subjects. Retention of spatial information during the delay period was characterized by a negative slow wave maximal over Pz that predicted later memory performance and was enhanced in those subjects with high memory performance. Conversely, older subjects generated a frontal P3 in both delay and non-delay conditions and a reduced sustained posterior scalp negativity in some delay conditions. The results support age-related alterations in frontal-parietal networks during spatial memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Notger G Müller
- Clinic for Neurology, Charité, Humboldt University, Schumannstrasse 20-21, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
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48
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Nielson KA, Langenecker SA, Garavan H. Differences in the functional neuroanatomy of inhibitory control across the adult life span. Psychol Aging 2002; 17:56-71. [PMID: 11931287 DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.17.1.56] [Citation(s) in RCA: 251] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Inhibitory control, the ability to suppress irrelevant or interfering stimuli, is a fundamental cognitive function that deteriorates during aging, but little is understood about the bases of decline. Thus, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study inhibitory control in healthy adults aged 18 to 78. Activation during "successful inhibition" occurred predominantly in right prefrontal and parietal regions and was more extensive, bilaterally and prefrontally, in the older groups. Presupplementary motor area was also more active in poorer inhibitory performers. Therefore, older adults activate areas that are comparable to those activated by young adults during inhibition, as well as additional regions. The results are consistent with a compensatory interpretation and extend the aging neuroimaging literature into the cognitive domain of inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristy A Nielson
- Department of Psychology and the Integrative Neuroscience Research Center, Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53201, USA.
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49
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Madden DJ, Turkington TG, Provenzale JM, Denny LL, Langley LK, Hawk TC, Coleman RE. Aging and attentional guidance during visual search: functional neuroanatomy by positron emission tomography. Psychol Aging 2002; 17:24-43. [PMID: 11931285 PMCID: PMC1831840 DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.17.1.24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to examine adult age differences in neural activation during visual search. Target detection was less accurate for older adults than for younger adults, but both age groups were successful in using color to guide attention to a subset of display items. Increasing perceptual difficulty led to greater activation of occipitotemporal cortex for younger adults than for older adults, apparently as the result of older adults maintaining higher levels of activation within the easier task conditions. The results suggest that compensation for age-related decline in the efficiency of occipitotemporal cortical functioning was implemented by changes in the relative level of activation within this visual processing pathway, rather than by the recruitment of other cortical regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Madden
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
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50
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Grossman M, Cooke A, DeVita C, Alsop D, Detre J, Chen W, Gee J. Age-related changes in working memory during sentence comprehension: an fMRI study. Neuroimage 2002; 15:302-17. [PMID: 11798267 DOI: 10.1006/nimg.2001.0971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Sentence comprehension declines with age, but the neural basis for this change is unclear. We monitored regional brain activity in 13 younger subjects and 11 healthy seniors matched for sentence comprehension accuracy while they answered a simple probe about written sentences. The sentences varied in their grammatical features (subject-relative vs object-relative subordinate clause) and their verbal working memory (WM) demands (short vs long antecedent noun-gap linkage). We found that young and senior subjects both recruit a core written sentence processing network, including left posterolateral temporal and bilateral occipital cortex for all sentences, and ventral portions of left inferior frontal cortex for object-relative sentences with a long noun-gap linkage. Differences in activation patterns for seniors compared to younger subjects were due largely to changes in brain regions associated with a verbal WM network. While seniors had less left parietal recruitment than younger subjects, left premotor cortex, and dorsal portions of left inferior frontal cortex showed greater activation in seniors compared to younger subjects. Younger subjects recruited right posterolateral temporal cortex for sentences with a long noun-gap linkage. Seniors additionally recruited right parietal cortex for this sentence-specific form of WM. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the neural basis for sentence comprehension includes dissociable but interactive large-scale neural networks supporting core written sentence processes and related cognitive resources involved in WM. Seniors with good comprehension appear to up-regulate portions of the neural substrate for WM during sentence processing to achieve comprehension accuracy that equals young subjects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murray Grossman
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4283, USA
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