scholarly journals Effects of D1 agonist on working memory and cognitive flexibility in a zebrafish model of aging

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine Cleal ◽  
Barbara D. Fontana ◽  
Molly Double ◽  
Roxana Mezabrovschi ◽  
Leah Parcell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Movement Pattern ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Skf 38393 ◽  
D1 Receptors ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Zebrafish Model ◽  
Baseline Performance ◽  
Age Related

AbstractPart of the natural aging process is a decline in memory and executive function, even in the absence of disease. The dopaminergic system has been implicated in age associated alterations in cognitive flexibility and working memory. Here we examine the relationship between cognitive performance and dopamine function of young-adult and aging zebrafish (Danio rerio). We reveal an age-related decrease in working memory and cognitive flexibility when faced with a negative feedback loop for informing search strategies in the Free-Movement Pattern (FMP) Y-maze. We additionally found a selective role for dopamine D1-like receptor activation, by treatment with partial D1/D5 receptor agonist SKF-38393, for enhancing working memory performance in aged zebrafish, but not for restoring behavioural flexibility. We additionally noted that baseline performance levels were critical to the effect of SKF-38393 on cognitive flexibility. This reduction in behavioural plasticity was accompanied by a down-regulation of the dopamine transporter (dat) and a decrease in metabolic activity. Together, these findings suggest a selective role for cognitive enhancement via dopamine D1 receptors; however, beneficial effects are dependent on behavioural task and baseline performance, emphasising the need for caution when treating cognitive deficits with dopamine agonists to improve cognitive impairment of some tasks. This study further supports the use of zebrafish as a model of aging and cognitive decline.

scholarly journals The developmental trajectories of executive function from adolescence to old age

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather J. Ferguson ◽  
Victoria E. A. Brunsdon ◽  
Elisabeth E. F. Bradford
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

AbstractExecutive functions demonstrate variable developmental and aging profiles, with protracted development into early adulthood and declines in older age. However, relatively few studies have specifically included middle-aged adults in investigations of age-related differences in executive functions. This study explored the age-related differences in executive function from late childhood through to old age, allowing a more informed understanding of executive functions across the lifespan. Three hundred and fifty participants aged 10 to 86 years-old completed a battery of tasks assessing the specific roles of inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning. Results highlighted continued improvement in working memory capacity across adolescence and into young adulthood, followed by declines in both working memory and inhibitory control, beginning from as early as 30–40 years old and continuing into older age. Analyses of planning abilities showed continued improvement across adolescence and into young adulthood, followed by a decline in abilities across adulthood, with a small (positive) change in older age. Interestingly, a dissociation was found for cognitive flexibility; switch costs decreased, yet mixing costs increased across the lifespan. The results provide a description of the developmental differences in inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility and planning, above any effects of IQ or SES, and highlight the importance of including middle-aged adults in studies seeking to establish a more comprehensive picture of age-related differences in executive function.

scholarly journals Inhibition and cognitive flexibility are related to prediction of one’s own future preferences in young British and Chinese children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Ding ◽  
Rachael Miller ◽  
Nicola Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Chinese Children ◽  
Future Perspective ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Future

The ability to shift from current to future perspective is pivotal to future-oriented cognition. However, the relationship between executive function, theory of mind and the ability to predict future preferences of self and others has received little focus, particularly across different cultures. With two distinct cultural groups in Britain (N = 92 participants) and China (N = 90), we investigated 3 to 5-year-olds’ understanding of their own versus a peer’s current and future preferences. We administered a battery of standardised executive function (inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory) and theory of mind tasks to examine the underlying relationship between these cognitive abilities and children’s ability to predict future preferences. Consistent with previous literature, we found significant age-related performance in the future preference task. Furthermore, our study indicates that there may be a universal developmental trajectory in British and Chinese children’s future-oriented cognition. We found that children were more accurate when predicting for their peers than predicting for themselves. Also, their performance improved when they had the opportunity to identity their current preferences before anticipating the future. Chinese children outperformed their British counterparts on cognitive inhibition and cognitive flexibility tasks, with no country-related differences in their working memory, motor inhibition or theory of mind ability. After controlling for age, children’s performance in the inhibition and cognitive flexibility tasks were significantly correlated with the prediction of their own – though not peer’s - future preferences. We discuss these findings in relation to the conflicts between multiple perspectives and the cognitive correlates of future-oriented cognition.

scholarly journals Dopaminergic modulation of working memory and cognitive flexibility in a zebrafish model of aging-related cognitive decline

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Madeleine Cleal ◽  
Barbara D. Fontana ◽  
Molly Double ◽  
Roxana Mezabrovschi ◽  
Leah Parcell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Zebrafish Model ◽  
Dopaminergic Modulation

scholarly journals Spontaneous Eye Blinks Predict Executive Functioning in Seniors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessika I. V. Buitenweg ◽  
Jaap M. J. Murre ◽  
K. Richard Ridderinkhof
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Functional Decline ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Memory Updating ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Working Memory Updating

AbstractAs the world’s population is aging rapidly, cognitive training is an extensively used approach to attempt improvement of age-related cognitive functioning. With increasing numbers of older adults required to remain in the workforce, it is important to be able to reliably predict future functional decline, as well as the individual advantages of cognitive training. Given the correlation between age-related decline and striatal dopaminergic function, we investigated whether eye blink rate (EBR), a non-invasive, indirect indicator of dopaminergic activity, could predict executive functioning (response inhibition, switching and working memory updating) as well as trainability of executive functioning in older adults. EBR was collected before and after a cognitive flexibility training, cognitive training without flexibility, or a mock training. EBR predicted working memory updating performance on two measures of updating, as well as trainability of working memory updating, whereas performance and trainability in inhibition and switching tasks could not be predicted by EBR. Our findings tentatively indicate that EBR permits prediction of working memory performance in older adults. To fully interpret the relationship with executive functioning, we suggest future research should assess both EBR and dopamine receptor availability among seniors.

Age-related vulnerability to nigral dopaminergic degeneration in rats via Zn2+-permeable GluR2-lacking AMPA receptor activation

2021 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 69-76
Author(s):  
Satoko Nakajima ◽  
Nana Saeki ◽  
Haruna Tamano ◽  
Ryusuke Nishio ◽  
Misa Katahira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ampa Receptor ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dopaminergic Degeneration

scholarly journals Effects of Sport-Based Interventions on Children’s Executive Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 755
Author(s):  
Falonn Contreras-Osorio ◽  
Christian Campos-Jara ◽  
Cristian Martínez-Salazar ◽  
Luis Chirosa-Ríos ◽  
Darío Martínez-García
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
The Impact

One of the most studied aspects of children’s cognitive development is that of the development of the executive function, and research has shown that physical activity has been demonstrated as a key factor in its enhancement. This meta-analysis aims to assess the impact of specific sports interventions on the executive function of children and teenagers. A systematic review was carried out on 1 November 2020 to search for published scientific evidence that analysed different sports programs that possibly affected executive function in students. Longitudinal studies, which assessed the effects of sports interventions on subjects between 6 and 18 years old, were identified through a systematic search of the four principal electronic databases: Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCO. A total of eight studies, with 424 subjects overall, met the inclusion criteria and were classified based on one or more of the following categories: working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. The random-effects model for meta-analyses was performed with RevMan version 5.3 to facilitate the analysis of the studies. Large effect sizes were found in all categories: working memory (ES −1.25; 95% CI −1.70; −0.79; p < 0.0001); inhibitory control (ES −1.30; 95% CI −1.98; −0.63; p < 0.00001); and cognitive flexibility (ES −1.52; 95% CI −2.20; −0.83; p < 0.00001). Our analysis concluded that healthy children and teenagers should be encouraged to practice sports in order to improve their executive function at every stage of their development.

scholarly journals Resting‐State EEG Microstates Parallel Age‐Related Differences in Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline Jabès ◽  
Giuliana Klencklen ◽  
Paolo Ruggeri ◽  
Christoph M. Michel ◽  
Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Age Related

AbstractAlterations of resting-state EEG microstates have been associated with various neurological disorders and behavioral states. Interestingly, age-related differences in EEG microstate organization have also been reported, and it has been suggested that resting-state EEG activity may predict cognitive capacities in healthy individuals across the lifespan. In this exploratory study, we performed a microstate analysis of resting-state brain activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory performance in healthy adult individuals: twenty 25–30-year-olds and twenty-five 64–75-year-olds. We found a lower spatial working memory performance in older adults, as well as age-related differences in the five EEG microstate maps A, B, C, C′ and D, but especially in microstate maps C and C′. These two maps have been linked to neuronal activity in the frontal and parietal brain regions which are associated with working memory and attention, cognitive functions that have been shown to be sensitive to aging. Older adults exhibited lower global explained variance and occurrence of maps C and C′. Moreover, although there was a higher probability to transition from any map towards maps C, C′ and D in young and older adults, this probability was lower in older adults. Finally, although age-related differences in resting-state EEG microstates paralleled differences in allocentric spatial working memory performance, we found no evidence that any individual or combination of resting-state EEG microstate parameter(s) could reliably predict individual spatial working memory performance. Whether the temporal dynamics of EEG microstates may be used to assess healthy cognitive aging from resting-state brain activity requires further investigation.

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