scholarly journals Relating resting EEG power spectra to age-related differences in cognitive performance: An observational pilot study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Pathania ◽  
M. Clark ◽  
R. Cowan ◽  
M. Euler ◽  
K. Duff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Power Spectrum ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Eeg Power Spectrum ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Eeg Power

AbstractBackgroundPrevious research has shown that the slope of the electroencephalography (EEG) power spectrum mediates the difference between older and younger adults on a visuo-spatial working memory task. The present study sought to replicate and extend that work using a larger sample and a validated set of neuropsychological tests: The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS).MethodsForty-four participants (21 younger adults, 23 older adults) completed a battery of cognitive and motor tasks that included the RBANS. EEG data were collected both during rest and on-task. Excluding the alpha-band, RBANS scores were regressed onto the slope of the resting EEG power spectrum, controlling for age and using robust mediation analysis.ResultsOlder adults performed reliably lower on the RBANS composite and the Coding, List Recall, List Recognition, and Figure Recall subtests. However, boot-strapped mediation models only showed a mediating effect of the spectral slope on RBANS composite and the Coding subtest.ConclusionsThe resting slope of the EEG power spectrum mediated age-related differences in cognition in the current study, which replicates prior work and is consistent with the neural noise hypothesis of aging. In extending this work, it was shown that these effects are strongest in tasks requiring speeded processing and/or executive functions, whereas this effect was weaker (to absent) for delayed memory, even though age-related differences were present. This pilot study warrants further exploration of the EEG power spectrum in age-related cognitive decline.

scholarly journals What affects the magnitude of age-related dual-task costs in working memory? The role of stimulus domain and access to semantic representations

2020 ◽  
pp. 174702182097074
Author(s):  
Agnieszka J Jaroslawska ◽  
Stephen Rhodes ◽  
Clément Belletier ◽  
Jason M Doherty ◽  
Nelson Cowan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Semantic Representations ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Task Effects ◽  
Concurrent Processing ◽  
Age Related

Although there is evidence that the effect of including a concurrent processing demand on the storage of information in working memory is disproportionately larger for older than younger adults, not all studies show this age-related impairment, and the critical factors responsible for any such impairment remain elusive. Here we assess whether domain overlap between storage and processing activities, and access to semantic representations, are important determinants of performance in a sample of younger and older adults ( N = 119). We developed four versions of a processing task by manipulating the type of stimuli involved (either verbal or non-verbal) and the decision that participants had to make about the stimuli presented on the screen. Participants either had to perform a spatial judgement, in deciding whether the verbal or non-verbal item was presented above or below the centre of the screen, or a semantic judgement, in deciding whether the stimulus refers to something living or not living. The memory task was serial-ordered recall of visually presented letters. The study revealed a large increase in age-related memory differences when concurrent processing was required. These differences were smaller when storage and processing activities both used verbal materials. Dual-task effects on processing were also disproportionate for older adults. Age differences in processing performance appeared larger for tasks requiring spatial decisions rather than semantic decisions. We discuss these findings in relation to three competing frameworks of working memory and the extant literature on cognitive ageing.

EEG power spectrum as a biomarker of autism: a pilot study

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 275
Author(s):  
Anita E. Igberaese ◽  
Gleb V. Tcheslavski
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Power Spectrum ◽  
Eeg Power Spectrum ◽  
Eeg Power

EEG power spectrum as a biomarker of autism: a pilot study

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 275
Author(s):  
Gleb V. Tcheslavski ◽  
Anita E. Igberaese
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Power Spectrum ◽  
Eeg Power Spectrum ◽  
Eeg Power

scholarly journals Influence of Aging on the Neural Correlates of Autobiographical, Episodic, and Semantic Memory Retrieval

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 4150-4163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie St-Laurent ◽  
Hervé Abdi ◽  
Hana Burianová ◽  
Cheryl L. Grady
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related

We used fMRI to assess the neural correlates of autobiographical, semantic, and episodic memory retrieval in healthy young and older adults. Participants were tested with an event-related paradigm in which retrieval demand was the only factor varying between trials. A spatio-temporal partial least square analysis was conducted to identify the main patterns of activity characterizing the groups across conditions. We identified brain regions activated by all three memory conditions relative to a control condition. This pattern was expressed equally in both age groups and replicated previous findings obtained in a separate group of younger adults. We also identified regions whose activity differentiated among the different memory conditions. These patterns of differentiation were expressed less strongly in the older adults than in the young adults, a finding that was further confirmed by a barycentric discriminant analysis. This analysis showed an age-related dedifferentiation in autobiographical and episodic memory tasks but not in the semantic memory task or the control condition. These findings suggest that the activation of a common memory retrieval network is maintained with age, whereas the specific aspects of brain activity that differ with memory content are more vulnerable and less selectively engaged in older adults. Our results provide a potential neural mechanism for the well-known age differences in episodic/autobiographical memory, and preserved semantic memory, observed when older adults are compared with younger adults.

scholarly journals Enhancing Spatial Attention and Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1483-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camarin E. Rolle ◽  
Joaquin A. Anguera ◽  
Sasha N. Skinner ◽  
Bradley Voytek ◽  
Adam Gazzaley
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Attention Training ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Custom Made

Daily experiences demand both focused and broad allocation of attention for us to interact efficiently with our complex environments. Many types of attention have shown age-related decline, although there is also evidence that such deficits may be remediated with cognitive training. However, spatial attention abilities have shown inconsistent age-related differences, and the extent of potential enhancement of these abilities remains unknown. Here, we assessed spatial attention in both healthy younger and older adults and trained this ability in both age groups for 5 hr over the course of 2 weeks using a custom-made, computerized mobile training application. We compared training-related gains on a spatial attention assessment and spatial working memory task to age-matched controls who engaged in expectancy-matched, active placebo computerized training. Age-related declines in spatial attention abilities were observed regardless of task difficulty. Spatial attention training led to improved focused and distributed attention abilities as well as improved spatial working memory in both younger and older participants. No such improvements were observed in either of the age-matched control groups. Note that these findings were not a function of improvements in simple response time, as basic motoric function did not change after training. Furthermore, when using change in simple response time as a covariate, all findings remained significant. These results suggest that spatial attention training can lead to enhancements in spatial working memory regardless of age.

scholarly journals Age Differences in the Frontal Lateralization of Verbal and Spatial Working Memory Revealed by PET

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz ◽  
John Jonides ◽  
Edward E. Smith ◽  
Alan Hartley ◽  
Andrea Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Opposite Hemisphere ◽  
Global Pattern ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related

Age-related decline in working memory figures prominently in theories of cognitive aging. However, the effects of aging on the neural substrate of working memory are largely unknown. Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to investigate verbal and spatial short-term storage (3 sec) in older and younger adults. Previous investigations with younger subjects performing these same tasks have revealed asymmetries in the lateral organization of verbal and spatial working memory. Using volume of interest (VOI) analyses that specifically compared activation at sites identified with working memory to their homologous twin in the opposite hemisphere, we show pronounced age differences in this organization, particularly in the frontal lobes: In younger adults, activation is predominantly left lateralized for verbal working memory, and right lateralized for spatial working memory, whereas older adults show a global pattern of anterior bilateral activation for both types of memory. Analyses of frontal subregions indicate that several underlying patterns contribute to global bilaterality in older adults: most notably, bilateral activation in areas associated with rehearsal, and paradoxical laterality in dorsolateral prefrontal sites (DLPFC; greater left activation for spatial and greater right activation for verbal). We consider several mechanisms that could account for these age differences including the possibility that bilateral activation reflects recruitment to compensate for neural decline.

Age-Related Differences in Motivational Integration and Cognitive Control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Marianne Yee ◽  
Sarah L Adams ◽  
Asad Beck ◽  
Todd Samuel Braver
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cognitive Task Performance

Motivational incentives play an influential role in value-based decision-making and cognitive control. A compelling hypothesis in the literature suggests that the brain integrates the motivational value of diverse incentives (e.g., motivational integration) into a common currency value signal that influences decision-making and behavior. To investigate whether motivational integration processes change during healthy aging, we tested older (N=44) and younger (N=54) adults in an innovative incentive integration task paradigm that establishes dissociable and additive effects of liquid (e.g., juice, neutral, saltwater) and monetary incentives on cognitive task performance. The results reveal that motivational incentives improve cognitive task performance in both older and younger adults, providing novel evidence demonstrating that age-related cognitive control deficits can be ameliorated with sufficient incentive motivation. Additional analyses revealed clear age-related differences in motivational integration. Younger adult task performance was modulated by both monetary and liquid incentives, whereas monetary reward effects were more gradual in older adults and more strongly impacted by trial-by-trial performance feedback. A surprising discovery was that older adults shifted attention from liquid valence toward monetary reward throughout task performance, but younger adults shifted attention from monetary reward toward integrating both monetary reward and liquid valence by the end of the task, suggesting differential strategic utilization of incentives. Together these data suggest that older adults may have impairments in incentive integration, and employ different motivational strategies to improve cognitive task performance. The findings suggest potential candidate neural mechanisms that may serve as the locus of age-related change, providing targets for future cognitive neuroscience investigations.

Sources of cognitive conflict and their relevance to Theory of Mind proficiency in healthy ageing. A preregistered study.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Foyzul Rahman ◽  
Sabrina Javed ◽  
Ian Apperly ◽  
Peter Hansen ◽  
Carol Holland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Cognitive Conflict ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Outcome Knowledge

Age-related decline in Theory of Mind (ToM) may be due to waning executive control, which is necessary for resolving conflict when reasoning about others’ mental states. We assessed how older (OA; n=50) versus younger adults (YA; n=50) were affected by three theoretically relevant sources of conflict within ToM: competing Self-Other perspectives; competing cued locations and outcome knowledge. We examined which best accounted for age-related difficulty with ToM. Our data show unexpected similarity between age groups when representing a belief incongruent with one’s own. Individual differences in attention and motor response speed best explained the degree of conflict experienced through conflicting Self-Other perspectives. However, OAs were disproportionately affected by managing conflict between cued locations. Age and spatial working memory were most relevant for predicting the magnitude of conflict elicited by conflicting cued locations. We suggest that previous studies may have underestimated OA’s ToM proficiency by including unnecessary conflict in ToM tasks.

Internet Navigation Skills for Financial Management: Associations with Age, Neurocognitive Performance, and Functional Capacity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samina Rahman ◽  
Victoria Kordovski ◽  
Savanna Tierney ◽  
Steven Paul Woods
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Capacity ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Internet Banking ◽  
Online Banking ◽  
Neurocognitive Performance ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Neurocognitive Functions ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Use Factors

Objective: Online banking is becoming increasingly common among older adults, whomay experience difficulties effectively navigating this instrumental technology. Thisstudy examined age effects on a performance-based Internet banking task and itsassociation with neurocognitive ability and functional capacity in older and youngeradults. Method: Thirty-five older adults and 50 younger adults completed anexperimenter-controlled online banking measure in which they independentlyperformed a series of naturalistic financial tasks (e.g., account transfers, bill paying).Participants also completed a standardized battery of neuropsychological tests andmeasures of functional capacity. Results: Older adults were markedly slower and lessaccurate in completing the Internet-based banking task, which was not confounded byother demographic, mood, or computer use factors. Higher scores on measures ofneurocognition and financial functional capacity were both strongly associated withhigher Internet-based banking task accuracy scores and quicker completion times inthe older, but not the younger adults. Conclusions: Findings suggest that older adultsexperience difficultly quickly and accurately navigating online banking platforms, whichmay be partly related to age-related declines in neurocognitive functions and basicfinancial capacity. Future studies might examine whether neurocognitive approaches toremediation and compensation can be used to improve online banking capacity inolder adults.

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