Failure to Engage Spatial Working Memory Contributes to Age-related Declines in Visuomotor Learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquin A. Anguera ◽  
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz ◽  
Daniel T. Willingham ◽  
Rachael D. Seidler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Visuomotor Adaptation ◽  
Adaptation Period ◽  
Visuomotor Learning ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
The Right

It is well documented that both cognitive and motor learning abilities decline with normative aging. Given that cognitive processes such as working memory are engaged during the early stages of motor learning [Anguera, J., Reuter-Lorenz, P., Willingham, D., & Seidler, R. Contributions of spatial working memory to visuomotor learning. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22(9), 1917–1930, 2010], age-related declines in motor learning may be due in part to reductions in cognitive ability. The present study examined whether age-related declines in spatial working memory (SWM) contribute to deficits in visuomotor adaptation. Young and older adult participants performed a visuomotor adaptation task that involved adapting manual aiming movements to a 30° rotation of the visual feedback display as well as an SWM task in an fMRI scanner. Young adults showed a steeper learning curve than older adults during the early adaptation period. The rate of early adaptation was correlated with SWM performance for the young, but not older, adults. Both groups showed similar brain activation patterns for the SWM task, including engagement of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilateral inferior parietal lobules. However, when the SWM activation was used as a limiting mask, younger adults showed neural activation that overlapped with the early adaptation period, whereas older adults did not. A partial correlation controlling for age revealed that the rate of early adaptation correlated with the amount of activation at the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that a failure to effectively engage SWM processes during learning contributes to age-related deficits in visuomotor adaptation.

scholarly journals Contributions of Spatial Working Memory to Visuomotor Learning

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 1917-1930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquin A. Anguera ◽  
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz ◽  
Daniel T. Willingham ◽  
Rachael D. Seidler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Late Phase ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Visuomotor Adaptation ◽  
Mental Rotation Task ◽  
Adaptation Period ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal

Previous studies of motor learning have described the importance of cognitive processes during the early stages of learning; however, the precise nature of these processes and their neural correlates remains unclear. The present study investigated whether spatial working memory (SWM) contributes to visuomotor adaptation depending on the stage of learning. We tested the hypothesis that SWM would contribute early in the adaptation process by measuring (i) the correlation between SWM tasks and the rate of adaptation, and (ii) the overlap between the neural substrates of a SWM mental rotation task and visuomotor adaptation. Participants completed a battery of neuropsychological tests, a visuomotor adaptation task, and an SWM task involving mental rotation, with the latter two tasks performed in a 3.0-T MRI scanner. Performance on a neuropsychological test of SWM (two-dimensional mental rotation) correlated with the rate of early, but not late, visuomotor adaptation. During the early, but not late, adaptation period, participants showed overlapping brain activation with the SWM mental rotation task, in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the bilateral inferior parietal lobules. These findings suggest that the early, but not late, phase of visuomotor adaptation engages SWM processes.

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.

scholarly journals The Effect of Spatial Working Memory Deterioration on Strategic Visuomotor Learning across Aging

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis A. Uresti-Cabrera ◽  
Rosalinda Diaz ◽  
Israel Vaca-Palomares ◽  
Juan Fernandez-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Strategic Learning ◽  
Strategic Control ◽  
Visuomotor Learning ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Effect Of Age

Objective. To evaluate the effect of age-related cognitive changes in a visuomotor learning task that depends on strategic control and contrast it with the effect in a task principally depending on visuomotor recalibration.Methods. Participants performed a ball throwing task while donning either a reversing dove prism or a displacement wedge prism, which mainly depend on strategic control or visuomotor recalibration, respectively. Visuomotor performance was then analysed in relation to rule acquisition and reversal, recognition memory, visual memory, spatial planning, and spatial working memory with tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB).Results. The results confirmed previous works showing a detrimental effect of age on visuomotor learning. The analyses of the cognitive changes observed across age showed that both strategic control and visuomotor recalibration had significant negative correlations only with the number of errors in the spatial working memory task. However, when the effect of aging was controlled, the only significant correlation remaining was between the reversal adaptation magnitude and spatial working memory.Discussion. These results suggest that spatial working memory decline across aging could contribute to age-dependent deterioration in both visuomotor learning processes. However, spatial working memory integrity seems to affect strategic learning decline even after controlling for aging.

scholarly journals Inter- and Intra-Hemispheric Age-Related Remodeling in Visuo-Spatial Working Memory

2022 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara F. Tagliabue ◽  
Greta Varesio ◽  
Veronica Mazza
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Eeg Analysis ◽  
Stimulus Processing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Changes

Electroencephalography (EEG) studies investigating visuo-spatial working memory (vWM) in aging typically adopt an event-related potential (ERP) analysis approach that has shed light on the age-related changes during item retention and retrieval. However, this approach does not fully enable a detailed description of the time course of the neural dynamics related to aging. The most frequent age-related changes in brain activity have been described by two influential models of neurocognitive aging, the Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Older Adults (HAROLD) and the Posterior-Anterior Shift in Aging (PASA). These models posit that older adults tend to recruit additional brain areas (bilateral as predicted by HAROLD and anterior as predicted by PASA) when performing several cognitive tasks. We tested younger (N = 36) and older adults (N = 35) in a typical vWM task (delayed match-to-sample) where participants have to retain items and then compare them to a sample. Through a data-driven whole scalp EEG analysis we aimed at characterizing the temporal dynamics of the age-related activations predicted by the two models, both across and within different stages of stimulus processing. Behaviorally, younger outperformed older adults. The EEG analysis showed that older adults engaged supplementary bilateral posterior and frontal sites when processing different levels of memory load, in line with both HAROLD and PASA-like activations. Interestingly, these age-related supplementary activations dynamically developed over time. Indeed, they varied across different stages of stimulus processing, with HAROLD-like modulations being mainly present during item retention, and PASA-like activity during both retention and retrieval. Overall, the present results suggest that age-related neural changes are not a phenomenon indiscriminately present throughout all levels of cognitive processing.

scholarly journals Age-related decline in visuo-spatial working memory is reflected by dorsolateral prefrontal activation and cognitive capabilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 398 ◽  
pp. 112981
Author(s):  
Téo Kronovsek ◽  
Eric Hermand ◽  
Alain Berthoz ◽  
Alexander Castilla ◽  
Matthieu Gallou-Guyot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal

scholarly journals Enhancement of Visuospatial Working Memory by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Prefrontal and Parietal Cortices

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Yousef Moghadas Tabrizi ◽  
◽  
Meysam Yavari Kateb ◽  
Shahnaz Shahrbanian ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Direct Current ◽  
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
The Right ◽  
Parietal Cortices

Objective: Previous studies have reported dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and posterior parietal (PPC) activation during the performance of spatial working memory (SWM), so we decided to investigate the comparison of Transcranial Direct current stimulation (tDCS) effect between these two areas. Methods: Fifty-four healthy right-handed students (27 female, 27 male; age= 24.3±.2 years) were randomly assigned to anodal (N=27) and sham group (N= 27), each of these groups was further divided into F4 (representing right DLPFC) or P4 (representing right PPC) subgroups, respectively. A Computerized Corsi Block Tapping task has then used to measure spatial working memory. The t-DCS intervention consisted of five daily sessions with a direct current of 1.5 mA for 15 minutes over the F4 or P4 area of the brain at 24-hour intervals. Results: Significant enhancement of the SWM span as well as a faster response were seen after anodal tDCS in both the forward and backward direction. Moreover, the right DLPFC stimulation induced a faster reaction time compared to the right PPC. Conclusions: Both DLPFC and PP cortices stimulation, as an element of the frontoparietal network, showed SWM enhancement, with the DLPFC being more effected. Our finding provides new evidence for the comparison of the effect of stimulation on the two main activated cortical areas during visuospatial WM.

scholarly journals How aging affects visuomotor adaptation and retention in a precision walking paradigm

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Bakkum ◽  
Shaila M. Gunn ◽  
Daniel S. Marigold
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Visuomotor Adaptation ◽  
Foot Placement ◽  
Aged Group ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Adaptation Trial ◽  
Initial Recall ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractMotor learning is a lifelong process. However, age-related changes to musculoskeletal and sensory systems alter the relationship (or mapping) between sensory input and motor output, and thus potentially affect motor learning. Here we asked whether age affects the ability to adapt to and retain a novel visuomotor mapping learned during overground walking. We divided participants into one of three groups (n = 12 each) based on chronological age: a younger-aged group (20–39 years old); a middle-aged group (40–59 years old); and an older-aged group (60–80 years old). Participants learned a new visuomotor mapping, induced by prism lenses, during a precision walking task. We assessed retention one-week later. We did not detect significant effects of age on measures of adaptation or savings (defined as faster relearning). However, we found that older adults demonstrated reduced initial recall of the mapping, reflected by greater foot-placement error during the first adaptation trial one-week later. Additionally, we found that increased age significantly associated with reduced initial recall. Overall, our results suggest that aging does not impair adaptation and that older adults can demonstrate visuomotor savings. However, older adults require some initial context during relearning to recall the appropriate mapping.

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.

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