Abstract
Neuroimaging studies of healthy aging often reveal differences in neural activation patterns between young and elderly groups for episodic memory tasks, even though there are no differences in behavioral performance. One explanation typically offered is that the elderly compensate for their memory deficiencies through the recruitment of additional prefrontal regions. The present study of healthy aging compared magnetoencephalographic (MEG) timecourses localized to specific cortical regions in two groups of subjects (20-29 years and ≥65 years) during a visual delayed-match-to-sample (DMS) task. MR morphometrics and neuropsychological test results were also examined with the hope of providing insight into the nature of the age-related differences. The behavioral results indicated no differences in performance between young and elderly groups. Although there was a main effect of age on the latency of the initial peak in primary/secondary visual cortex, these longer latencies were not correlated with the performance of elderly on the DMS task. The lateral occipital gyrus (LOG) revealed qualitatively different patterns of activity for the two age groups corroborated by neuropsychological test results. Morphometric results for the young versus elderly groups revealed less white (WM) and gray matter (GM) volumes in the frontal lobes of the elderly. When a group of middle-aged subjects (33-43 years) was included in the morphometric analyses, the middle-aged subjects revealed statistically greater WM volumes in frontal and parietal cortex suggesting immature WM tracts in the young. Perhaps our elderly utilized a different strategy compared to the young due to the different brain maturation levels of these groups.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1891-1904 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | NeuroImage |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 1 2006 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Aging
- Brain mapping
- Delayed-match-to-sample
- Gray and white matter volumes
- MEG
- Morphometrics
- Recognition memory
- Working memory
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neurology
Cite this
Aging : Compensation or maturation? / Aine, Cheryl J.; Woodruff, Christopher C; Knoefel, Janice E.; Adair, John C.; Hudson, David; Qualls, Clifford; Bockholt, Jeremy; Best, Elaine; Kovacevic, Sanja; Cobb, Wayne; Padilla, Denise; Hart, Blaine; Stephen, Julia M.
In: NeuroImage, Vol. 32, No. 4, 01.10.2006, p. 1891-1904.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Aging
T2 - Compensation or maturation?
AU - Aine, Cheryl J.
AU - Woodruff, Christopher C
AU - Knoefel, Janice E.
AU - Adair, John C.
AU - Hudson, David
AU - Qualls, Clifford
AU - Bockholt, Jeremy
AU - Best, Elaine
AU - Kovacevic, Sanja
AU - Cobb, Wayne
AU - Padilla, Denise
AU - Hart, Blaine
AU - Stephen, Julia M.
PY - 2006/10/1
Y1 - 2006/10/1
N2 - Neuroimaging studies of healthy aging often reveal differences in neural activation patterns between young and elderly groups for episodic memory tasks, even though there are no differences in behavioral performance. One explanation typically offered is that the elderly compensate for their memory deficiencies through the recruitment of additional prefrontal regions. The present study of healthy aging compared magnetoencephalographic (MEG) timecourses localized to specific cortical regions in two groups of subjects (20-29 years and ≥65 years) during a visual delayed-match-to-sample (DMS) task. MR morphometrics and neuropsychological test results were also examined with the hope of providing insight into the nature of the age-related differences. The behavioral results indicated no differences in performance between young and elderly groups. Although there was a main effect of age on the latency of the initial peak in primary/secondary visual cortex, these longer latencies were not correlated with the performance of elderly on the DMS task. The lateral occipital gyrus (LOG) revealed qualitatively different patterns of activity for the two age groups corroborated by neuropsychological test results. Morphometric results for the young versus elderly groups revealed less white (WM) and gray matter (GM) volumes in the frontal lobes of the elderly. When a group of middle-aged subjects (33-43 years) was included in the morphometric analyses, the middle-aged subjects revealed statistically greater WM volumes in frontal and parietal cortex suggesting immature WM tracts in the young. Perhaps our elderly utilized a different strategy compared to the young due to the different brain maturation levels of these groups.
AB - Neuroimaging studies of healthy aging often reveal differences in neural activation patterns between young and elderly groups for episodic memory tasks, even though there are no differences in behavioral performance. One explanation typically offered is that the elderly compensate for their memory deficiencies through the recruitment of additional prefrontal regions. The present study of healthy aging compared magnetoencephalographic (MEG) timecourses localized to specific cortical regions in two groups of subjects (20-29 years and ≥65 years) during a visual delayed-match-to-sample (DMS) task. MR morphometrics and neuropsychological test results were also examined with the hope of providing insight into the nature of the age-related differences. The behavioral results indicated no differences in performance between young and elderly groups. Although there was a main effect of age on the latency of the initial peak in primary/secondary visual cortex, these longer latencies were not correlated with the performance of elderly on the DMS task. The lateral occipital gyrus (LOG) revealed qualitatively different patterns of activity for the two age groups corroborated by neuropsychological test results. Morphometric results for the young versus elderly groups revealed less white (WM) and gray matter (GM) volumes in the frontal lobes of the elderly. When a group of middle-aged subjects (33-43 years) was included in the morphometric analyses, the middle-aged subjects revealed statistically greater WM volumes in frontal and parietal cortex suggesting immature WM tracts in the young. Perhaps our elderly utilized a different strategy compared to the young due to the different brain maturation levels of these groups.
KW - Aging
KW - Brain mapping
KW - Delayed-match-to-sample
KW - Gray and white matter volumes
KW - MEG
KW - Morphometrics
KW - Recognition memory
KW - Working memory
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33748302792&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33748302792&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.05.005
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.05.005
M3 - Article
VL - 32
SP - 1891
EP - 1904
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
SN - 1053-8119
IS - 4
ER -