scholarly journals Fronto-striatal Functional Connectivity Supports Reward-Enhanced Memory in Older Adults

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly J. Bowen ◽  
Jaclyn H. Ford ◽  
Cheryl L. Grady ◽  
Julia Spaniol
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
High Reward ◽  
Neural Underpinnings

AbstractBoth younger and older adults prioritize reward-associated stimuli in memory, but there has been little research on possible age differences in the neural mechanisms mediating this effect. In the current study, we examine neural activation and functional connectivity in healthy younger and older adults to test the hypothesis that older adults would engage prefrontal regions to a greater extent in the service of reward-enhanced memory. While undergoing MRI, target stimuli were presented after high or low-reward cues. The cues indicated the reward value for successfully recognizing the stimulus on a memory test 24-hours later. We replicated prior findings that both older and younger and adults had better memory for high compared to low-reward stimuli. Critically, in older, but not younger adults, this enhanced subsequent memory for high-reward items was supported by greater connectivity between the caudate and bilateral inferior frontal gyrus. The findings add to the growing literature on motivation-cognition interactions in healthy aging, and provide novel evidence of an age-related shift in the neural underpinnings of reward-motivated encoding.

scholarly journals When the “Golden Years” turn blue

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer S. Green ◽  
Joshua C. Magee ◽  
Amanda R.W. Steiner ◽  
Bethany A. Teachman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Pathological Anxiety ◽  
Age Related Changes

Current treatments for disorders of emotion, such as pathological anxiety, are often less effective in older adults than in younger adults and have poorly understood mechanisms, pointing to the need for psychopathology models that better account for age-related changes in normative emotional functioning and the expression of disordered emotion. This article describes ways in which the healthy aging and emotion literature can enhance understanding and treatment of symptoms of anxiety and depression in later life. We offer recommendations on how to integrate the theories and findings of healthy aging literature with psychopathology research and clinical practice and highlight opportunities for future research.

scholarly journals Effect of Cognitive Control on Attentional Processing of Emotional Information Among Older Adults: Evidence From an Eye-Tracking Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haining Liu ◽  
Haihong Liu ◽  
Feng Li ◽  
Buxin Han ◽  
Cuili Wang
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Spatial Cueing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cueing Task ◽  
Engagement And Disengagement

Background: Although numerous studies have suggested that the gradually increasing selective preference for positive information over negative information in older adults depends on cognitive control processes, few have reported the characteristics of different attention stages in the emotional processing of older individuals. The present study used a real-time eye-tracking technique to disentangle the attentional engagement and disengagement processes involved in age-related positivity effect (PE).Methods: Eye movement data from a spatial-cueing task were obtained for 32 older and 32 younger healthy participants. The spatial-cueing task with varied cognitive loads appeared to be an effective way to explore the role of cognitive control during the attention engagement and disengagement stages of emotion processing.Results: Compared with younger adults, older participants showed more positive gaze preferences when cognitive resources were sufficient for face processing at the attention engagement stage. However, the age-related PE was not observed at the attention disengagement stage because older adults had more difficulty disengaging from fearful faces than did the younger adults due to the consumption of attention by the explicit target judgment.Conclusion: The present study highlights how cognitive control moderates positive gaze preferences at different attention processing stages. These findings may have far-reaching implications for understanding, preventing, and intervening in unsuccessful aging and, thus, in promoting active and healthy aging.

scholarly journals Evidence against preserved syntactic comprehension in healthy aging

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Poulisse ◽  
Linda Wheeldon ◽  
Katrien Segaert
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Speed And Accuracy

AbstractWe investigated age-related differences in syntactic comprehension in young and older adults. Most previous research found no evidence of age-related decline in syntactic processing. We investigated elementary syntactic comprehension of minimal sentences (e.g. I cook), minimizing the influence of working memory. We also investigated the contribution of semantic processing by comparing sentences containing real verbs (e.g. I cook) versus pseudoverbs (e.g. I spuff). We measured the speed and accuracy of detecting syntactic agreement errors (e.g. I cooks, I spuffs). We found that older adults were slower and less accurate than younger adults in detecting syntactic agreement errors for both real and pseudoverb sentences, suggesting there is age-related decline in syntactic comprehension. The age-related decline in accuracy was smaller for the pseudoverb sentences, and the decline in speed was larger for the pseudoverb sentences, compared to real verb sentences. We suggest that syntactic comprehension decline is stronger in the absence of semantic information, which causes older adults to produce slower responses in order to make more accurate decisions. In line with these findings, performance for older adults was positively related to a measure of processing speed capacity. Taken together, we found evidence that elementary syntactic processing abilities decline in healthy ageing.

scholarly journals Impaired sensitivity to spatial configurations in healthy aging

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Chard ◽  
Richard Cook ◽  
Clare Press
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Drift Diffusion ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Configural Information ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Spatial Configurations ◽  
Social Difficulties

Studies have found age-related deficits in face processing, including identity and emotion recognition. It is unclear what underlies such atypicalities, and why older adults are unaffected in other apparently similar perceptual tasks. The present study examined the possibility that particular deficits in configural processing impair the perception of faces in healthy aging. Across two signal detection experiments, we required a group of healthy older adults and matched younger adults to detect changes in images of faces that could differ either at the local, featural level, or in configuration of these features. In support of our hypothesis, older adults were particularly impaired in detecting configural changes, relative to detecting changes in features. The impairments were found for both upright and inverted faces and were similar in a task with images of inanimate objects (houses). Drift diffusion modelling suggested that this decline related to reduced evidence accumulation rather than a tendency to make configural judgments based on less evidence. These findings indicate that domain-general problems processing configural information contribute to the difficulties with face processing in healthy aging, and may in principle also contribute to a range of higher-level social difficulties.

scholarly journals Assessing the Transferability of Physical Activity Type Detection Models: Influence of Age Group Is Underappreciated

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoda Allahbakhshi ◽  
Christina Röcke ◽  
Robert Weibel
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Level Walking ◽  
Age Related

Increasing the amount of physical activity (PA) in older adults that have shifted to a sedentary lifestyle is a determining factor in decreasing health and social costs. It is, therefore, imperative to develop objective methods that accurately detect daily PA types and provide detailed PA guidance for healthy aging. Most of the existing techniques have been applied in the younger generation or validated in the laboratory. To what extent, these methods are transferable to real-life and older adults are a question that this paper aims to answer. Sixty-three participants, including 33 younger and 30 older healthy adults, participated in our study. Each participant wore five devices mounted on the left and right hips, right knee, chest, and left pocket and collected accelerometer and GPS data in both semi-structured and real-life environments. Using this dataset, we developed machine-learning models to detect PA types walking, non-level walking, jogging/running, sitting, standing, and lying. Besides, we examined the accuracy of the models within-and between-age groups applying different scenarios and validation approaches. The within-age models showed convincing classification results. The findings indicate that due to age-related behavioral differences, there are more confusion errors between walking, non-level walking, and running in older adults’ results. Using semi-structured training data, the younger adults’ models outperformed older adults’ models. However, using real-life training data alone or in combination with semi-structured data generated better results for older adults who had high real-life data quality. Assessing the transferability of the models to older adults showed that the models trained with younger adults’ data were only weakly transferable. However, training the models with a combined dataset of both age groups led to reliable transferability of results to the data of the older subgroup. We show that age-related behavioral differences can alter the PA classification performance. We demonstrate that PA type detection models that rely on combined datasets of young and older adults are strongly transferable to real-life and older adults’ data. Our results yield significant time and cost savings for future PA studies by reducing the overall volume of training data required.

scholarly journals Linked Sources of Neural Noise Contribute to Age-related Cognitive Decline

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1813-1822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tam T. Tran ◽  
Camarin E. Rolle ◽  
Adam Gazzaley ◽  
Bradley Voytek
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Alpha Phase ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Neural Noise ◽  
Baseline Noise ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

Healthy aging is associated with a multitude of structural changes in the brain. These physical age-related changes are accompanied by increased variability in neural activity of all kinds, and this increased variability, collectively referred to as “neural noise,” is argued to contribute to age-related cognitive decline. In this study, we examine the relationship between two particular types of neural noise in aging. We recorded scalp EEG from younger (20–30 years old) and older (60–70 years old) adults performing a spatial visual discrimination task. First, we used the 1/ f-like exponent of the EEG power spectrum, a putative marker of neural noise, to assess baseline shifts toward a noisier state in aging. Next, we examined age-related decreases in the trial-by-trial consistency of visual stimulus processing. Finally, we examined to what extent these two age-related noise markers are related, hypothesizing that greater baseline noise would increase the variability of stimulus-evoked responses. We found that visual cortical baseline noise was higher in older adults, and the consistency of older adults' oscillatory alpha (8–12 Hz) phase responses to visual targets was also lower than that of younger adults. Crucially, older adults with the highest levels of baseline noise also had the least consistent alpha phase responses, whereas younger adults with more consistent phase responses achieved better behavioral performance. These results establish a link between tonic neural noise and stimulus-associated neural variability in aging. Moreover, they suggest that tonic age-related increases in baseline noise might diminish sensory processing and, as a result, subsequent cognitive performance.

Aging Effects on the Neuroplastic Attributes of Multisensory Cortical Networks as Triggered by a Computerized Music Reading Training Intervention

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-137
Author(s):  
Evangelos Paraskevopoulos ◽  
Nikolas Chalas ◽  
Alexandros Karagiorgis ◽  
Maria Karagianni ◽  
Charis Styliadis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Multisensory Integration ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Music Reading ◽  
Aging Effects ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Brain Functioning ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Multisensory Learning ◽  
Computer Based

Abstract The constant increase in the graying population is the result of a great expansion of life expectancy. A smaller expansion of healthy cognitive and brain functioning diminishes the gains achieved by longevity. Music training, as a special case of multisensory learning, may induce restorative neuroplasticity in older ages. The current study aimed to explore aging effects on the cortical network supporting multisensory cognition and to define aging effects on the network’s neuroplastic attributes. A computer-based music reading protocol was developed and evaluated via electroencephalography measurements pre- and post-training on young and older adults. Results revealed that multisensory integration is performed via diverse strategies in the two groups: Older adults employ higher-order supramodal areas to a greater extent than lower level perceptual regions, in contrast to younger adults, indicating an age-related shift in the weight of each processing strategy. Restorative neuroplasticity was revealed in the left inferior frontal gyrus and right medial temporal gyrus, as a result of the training, while task-related reorganization of cortical connectivity was obstructed in the group of older adults, probably due to systemic maturation mechanisms. On the contrary, younger adults significantly increased functional connectivity among the regions supporting multisensory integration.

scholarly journals Healthy Aging diminishes the quantity (rate) and quality (precision) of episodic recollection.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Murray ◽  
David Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Test Delay

Healthy aging leads to a significant decline in episodic memory, producing a reduction in thelikelihood of successful recollection, such that older adults remember less than younger adults.Emerging evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies demonstrate that recollectedinformation can also be more or less precise, highlighting a source of variability in memoryperformance not typically considered in studies of aging. Consequently, it is unknown whetherolder adults, compared to younger adults, only show a significant reduction in recollection rate or also exhibit a decline in recollection precision. Here, we provide new insight into age-relatedmemory decline by employing a novel source task that allows us to examine both the quantity(rate) and quality (precision) of episodic memory retrieval. First, we validated our task,demonstrating that it can effectively capture variability in both the rate and precision in olderadults. Second, we directly compared younger and older adults’ performance as a function ofstudy-test delay, showing significant reductions in both the rate and precision of recollectionwith age. Finally, we asked whether age-related changes in recollection can be accounted for bya reduction in attention, revealing that the division of attention in young adults results in areduction in rate but shows little evidence for a change in precision. Our results raise questionsabout the nature of age-related memory decline, highlighting the importance of measuring boththe quality and quantity of memory, and suggest new routes to achieve the early detection anddiagnosis of abnormal aging deficits.

scholarly journals Dedifferentiation of caudate functional connectivity and striatal dopamine transporter density predict memory change in normal aging

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (40) ◽  
pp. 10160-10165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Rieckmann ◽  
Keith A. Johnson ◽  
Reisa A. Sperling ◽  
Randy L. Buckner ◽  
Trey Hedden
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Dopamine Transporter ◽  
Normal Aging ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Striatal Function

Age-related changes in striatal function are potentially important for predicting declining memory performance over the adult life span. Here, we used fMRI to measure functional connectivity of caudate subfields with large-scale association networks and positron emission tomography to measure striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) density in 51 older adults (age 65–86 years) who received annual cognitive testing for up to 7 years (mean = 5.59, range 2–7 years). Analyses showed that cortical–caudate functional connectivity was less differentiated in older compared with younger adults (n= 63, age 18–32 years). Unlike in younger adults, the central lateral caudate was less strongly coupled with the frontal parietal control network in older adults. Older adults also showed less “decoupling” of the caudate from other networks, including areas of the default network (DN) and the hippocampal complex. Contrary to expectations, less decoupling between caudate and the DN was not associated with an age-related reduction of striatal DAT, suggesting that neurobiological changes in the cortex may drive dedifferentiation of cortical–caudate connectivity. Reduction of specificity in functional coupling between caudate and regions of the DN predicted memory decline over subsequent years at older ages. The age-related reduction in striatal DAT density also predicted memory decline, suggesting that a relation between striatal functions and memory decline in aging is multifaceted. Collectively, the study provides evidence highlighting the association of age-related differences in striatal function to memory decline in normal aging.

scholarly journals Age-related differences in the influence of task-irrelevant information on the neural bases of phonological and semantic processes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele T. Diaz ◽  
Micah A. Johnson ◽  
Deborah M. Burke ◽  
Trong-Kha Truong ◽  
David J. Madden
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Semantic Processes

ABSTRACTAlthough aging is often associated with cognitive decline, there is considerable variability among individuals and across domains of cognition. Within language, several indicators of semantic processing show stability throughout the lifespan. However, older adults have increased difficulty with phonological aspects of language, especially in language production. While these behavioral patterns are established, the neurobiology associated with these behaviors are less clear. Previously we have shown that, older adults were slower and less accurate in phonological compared to semantic decisions, and that older adults didn’t exhibit brain-behavior relationships. In the present study, we examined phonological and semantic processes in the presence of task-irrelevant information. Older and younger adults made phonological and semantic decisions about pictures in the presence of either phonologically-related or semantically-related words, which were unrelated to the task. Behavioral results indicated that overall older adults had slower reaction times and lower accuracy compared to younger adults, and that all adults were less efficient when making phonological compared to semantic decisions. Patterns of brain activation for the semantic condition showed that all adults engaged typical left-hemisphere language regions, and that this activation was positively correlated with efficiency. In contrast, the phonological condition elicited activation in bilateral precuneus and cingulate, but only younger adults showed a significant relationship between activation and efficiency. Our results suggest that the relationship between behavior and neural activation when processing phonological information declines with age, but that the core semantic system continues to be engaged throughout the lifespan, even in the presence of task-irrelevant information.

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