scholarly journals The Shifting Architecture of Cognition and Brain Function in Older Adulthood

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Nathan Spreng ◽  
Gary R. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
The Brain

Cognitive aging is often described in the context of loss or decline. Emerging research suggests that the story is more complex, with older adults showing both losses and gains in cognitive ability. With increasing age, declines in controlled, or fluid, cognition occur in the context of gains in crystallized knowledge of oneself and the world. This inversion in cognitive capacities, from greater reliance on fluid abilities in young adulthood to increasingly crystallized or semanticized cognition in older adulthood, has profound implications for cognitive and real-world functioning in later life. The shift in cognitive architecture parallels changes in the functional network architecture of the brain. Observations of greater functional connectivity between lateral prefrontal brain regions, implicated in cognitive control, and the default network, implicated in memory and semantic processing, led us to propose the default-executive coupling hypothesis of aging. In this review we provide evidence that these changes in the functional architecture of the brain serve as a neural mechanism underlying the shifting cognitive architecture from younger to older adulthood. We incorporate findings spanning cognitive aging and cognitive neuroscience to present an integrative model of cognitive and brain aging, describing its antecedents, determinants, and implications for real-world functioning.

scholarly journals The shifting architecture of cognition and brain function in older adulthood

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Nathan Spreng ◽  
Gary R. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
The Brain

Cognitive aging is often described in the context of loss or decline. Emerging research suggests that the story is more complex, with older adults showing both losses and gains in cognitive ability. With increasing age, declines in controlled, or fluid, cognition occurs in the context of gains in crystalized knowledge of oneself and the world. This inversion in cognitive capacities, from greater reliance on fluid abilities in young, to increasingly crystalized or semanticized cognition in older adulthood, has profound implications for cognitive and real-world functioning in later life. This shift in cognitive architecture parallels changes in the functional network architecture of the brain. Observations of greater functional connectivity between lateral prefrontal brain regions, implicated in cognitive control, and the default network, implicated in memory and semantic processing, led us to propose the Default Executive Coupling Hypothesis of Aging (DECHA). In this review we provide evidence that these changes in the functional architecture of the brain serve as a neural mechanism underlying the shifting cognitive architecture from younger to older adulthood. We incorporate findings spanning cognitive aging and cognitive neuroscience to present an integrative model of cognitive and brain aging, describing its antecedents, determinants, and implications for real-world functioning.

scholarly journals Functional architecture of the aging brain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roni Setton ◽  
Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo ◽  
Manesh Girn ◽  
Amber W. Lockrow ◽  
Giulia Baracchini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Connectivity Pattern ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Functional Architecture ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
Methodological Challenges ◽  
The Brain

The intrinsic network architecture of the brain is continuously shaped by biological and behavioral factors from younger to older adulthood. Differences in functional networks can reveal how a lifetime of learning and lived experience can alter large-scale neurophysiological dynamics, offering a powerful lens into brain and cognitive aging. Quantifying these differences has been hampered by significant methodological challenges. Here, we use multi-echo fMRI and multi-echo ICA processing, individualized cortical parcellation methods, and multivariate (gradient and edge-level) functional connectivity analyses to provide a definitive account of the intrinsic functional architecture of the brain in older adulthood. Twenty minutes of resting-state multi-echo fMRI data were collected in younger (n=181) and older (n=120) adults. Dimensionality, the number of independent, non-noise BOLD components in the fMRI signal, was significantly reduced for older adults. Macroscale functional gradients were largely preserved. In contrast, edge-level functional connectivity was significantly altered. Within-network connections were weaker while connections between networks were stronger for older adults, and this connectivity pattern was associated with lower executive control functioning. Greater integration of sensory and motor regions with transmodal association cortices also emerged as a prominent feature of the aging connectome. These findings implicate network dedifferentiation, reflected here as reduced dimensionality within the BOLD signal and altered edge-level connectivity, as a global and putatively maladaptive feature of functional brain aging. However, greater coherence among specific networks may also signal adaptive functional reorganization in later life. By overcoming persistent and pervasive methodological challenges that have confounded previous research, the results provide a comprehensive account of the intrinsic functional architecture of the aging brain.

scholarly journals Validated measures of semantic knowledge and semantic control: Normative data from young and older adults for more than 300 semantic judgements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wu ◽  
Paul Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Normative Data ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Feature Matching ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Control Processes

Recent studies suggest that knowledge representations and control processes are the two key components underpinning semantic cognition, and are also crucial indicators of the shifting cognitive architecture of semantics in later life. Although there are many standardized assessments that provide measures of the quantity of semantic knowledge participants possess, normative data for tasks that probe semantic control processes are not yet available. Here, we present normative data from more than 200 young and older participants on a large set of stimuli in two semantic tasks, which probe controlled semantic processing (feature-matching task) and semantic knowledge (synonym judgement task). We verify the validity of our norms by replicating established age- and psycholinguistic-property-related effects on semantic cognition. Specifically, we find that older people have more detailed semantic knowledge than young people but have less effective semantic control processes. We also obtain expected effects of word frequency and inter-item competition on performance. Parametrically varied difficulty levels are defined for half of the stimuli based on participants’ behavioral performance, allowing future studies to produce customized sets of experimental stimuli based on our norms. We provide all stimuli, data and code used for analysis, in the hope that they are useful to other researchers.

Abstract 13: Relations of Midlife Exercise Blood Pressure, Heart Rate and Fitness to Late Life Brain Structure and Function

Circulation ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 131 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L Spartano ◽  
Jayandra J Himali ◽  
Alexa S Beiser ◽  
Charles DeCarli ◽  
Ramachandran S Vasan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Vascular Stiffness ◽  
Response To Exercise ◽  
The Brain

Background: Exaggerated blood pressure (BP) and vascular stiffness have been associated with lower cognitive performance and brain atrophy in older age. The brain is a high-flow, low impedance organ that is susceptible to fluctuation in BP. Poor cardiovascular (CV) fitness is also emerging as a factor associated with cognitive decline in older age. The BP and heart rate (HR) response to exercise are impacted by CV fitness; and exercise BP is also highly determined by vascular stiffness. The objective of this investigation was to examine whether poor fitness and exaggerated BP and HR response to exercise in midlife are associated with worse brain morphology in later life. Methods: A subset of Framingham Offspring Study participants (n=1340, 54.5% F) free from dementia and CV disease underwent an exercise treadmill test (the modified Bruce protocol) in midlife [mean age of 41±9 y] and continued until exhaustion or until 85% HR maximum (age- and sex- predicted) was reached. Exercise test duration was used to estimate VO2max. BP and HR were measured during stage 2. MRI scans of the brain and neurocognitive tests (Trail Making Tests [Trails] B-A) were administered in later life [mean age of 59±9 y]. Results: A greater exercise systolic (S)BP and HR response at midlife was associated with smaller total cerebral brain volume (TCBV) in later life (β=-0.09 ±0.04, p=0.042; β=-0.10 ±0.05, p=0.033) after adjustment models including resting SBP and HR; an effect equal to approximately 0.5 y brain aging for every 11.1 mm Hg increase in SBP or 10 beats per min increase in HR. Higher estimated VO2max at midlife was associated with larger TCBV in later life (β=0.03 ±0.01, p=0.014). Additionally, greater exercise HR response at midlife was associated with smaller frontal lobe volume in later life (β=-0.012 ±0.05, p=0.002). Exercise diastolic (D)BP at midlife was associated with poorer performance on Trails B-A in later life (β=-0.009 ±0.004, p=0.017) and the achievement of target HR during exercise was associated with better performance on Trails B-A in later life (β=0.03 ±0.01, p=0.044). Resting SBP at midlife was associated with greater white matter hyperintensity volume in later life (β=0.05 ±0.02, p=0.031); and resting SBP and DBP at midlife were also associated with smaller frontal lobe volume in later life (β=-0.17 ±0.07, p=0.011; β=-0.21 ±0.10, p=0.030). Conclusion: Our investigation provides new evidence that lower midlife fitness and worse exercise BP and HR responses are associated with smaller brain volumes and poorer cognitive performance nearly two decades later. Promotion of midlife physical fitness may be an important step towards ensuring healthy brain aging in the population.

scholarly journals Gene expression changes in the course of normal brain aging are sexually dimorphic

2008 ◽  
Vol 105 (40) ◽  
pp. 15605-15610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole C. Berchtold ◽  
David H. Cribbs ◽  
Paul D. Coleman ◽  
Joseph Rogers ◽  
Elizabeth Head ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Normal Brain ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Compensatory Mechanisms ◽  
Superior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
The Brain

Gene expression profiles were assessed in the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, superior-frontal gyrus, and postcentral gyrus across the lifespan of 55 cognitively intact individuals aged 20–99 years. Perspectives on global gene changes that are associated with brain aging emerged, revealing two overarching concepts. First, different regions of the forebrain exhibited substantially different gene profile changes with age. For example, comparing equally powered groups, 5,029 probe sets were significantly altered with age in the superior-frontal gyrus, compared with 1,110 in the entorhinal cortex. Prominent change occurred in the sixth to seventh decades across cortical regions, suggesting that this period is a critical transition point in brain aging, particularly in males. Second, clear gender differences in brain aging were evident, suggesting that the brain undergoes sexually dimorphic changes in gene expression not only in development but also in later life. Globally across all brain regions, males showed more gene change than females. Further, Gene Ontology analysis revealed that different categories of genes were predominantly affected in males vs. females. Notably, the male brain was characterized by global decreased catabolic and anabolic capacity with aging, with down-regulated genes heavily enriched in energy production and protein synthesis/transport categories. Increased immune activation was a prominent feature of aging in both sexes, with proportionally greater activation in the female brain. These data open opportunities to explore age-dependent changes in gene expression that set the balance between neurodegeneration and compensatory mechanisms in the brain and suggest that this balance is set differently in males and females, an intriguing idea.

scholarly journals INTEREST GROUP SESSION—EPIDEMIOLOGY OF AGING: BIOSOCIAL RESEARCH ON BRAIN AGING AND BIOLOGICAL AGING

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S348-S348
Author(s):  
Daniel W Belsky
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Functional Decline ◽  
Biological Aging ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Aging Research ◽  
System Integrity ◽  
Organ Systems ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Our aging global population presents a new set of challenges for public health. Individual-disease focused models are becoming outmoded as geriatricians recognize multimorbidity and frailty as the central challenges in preserving health for older adults. Evidence from research into the biology of aging suggests that a set of common cellular-level processes underpin decline in system integrity that induces vulnerability to disease across multiple organ systems, including the brain. In parallel, research in life-course gerontology indicates that the roots of aging-related decline in system integrity extend from early life and encompass histories of social, psychological, and biochemical exposures. The research presented in this symposium aims to integrate these emerging paradigms in aging research by mapping connections among measures of aging in the brain and body and social, psychological, and nutrition exposures. Our symposium focuses on (1) links between social-psychological determinants of health and biological aging in the brain and body; and (2) social and behavioral protective factors that may buffer emerging biological risk in aging. The overarching goal of this symposium is to introduce an approach to gerontology that integrates geroscience with life-course social and psychiatric epidemiology to advance understanding of cognitive aging and functional decline, and ultimately identify novel interventions to extend healthy lifespan.

scholarly journals Innovative Experiences at Work Support Hippocampal Maintenance in Late Life

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 406-406
Author(s):  
Kaleena Odd ◽  
Julie Blaskewicz Boron ◽  
Aga Burzynska ◽  
Jonathan Santo ◽  
Paul Robinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Hippocampal Atrophy ◽  
Occupational Complexity ◽  
Brain Maintenance ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Prior research has demonstrated the positive impact of occupational complexity on cognitive aging, however, neural underpinnings remain unclear. There is emerging evidence linking midlife managerial experience to slower hippocampal atrophy (Suo et al., 2012, 2017), supporting the brain maintenance model (i.e. preservation of young-like brain structure). However, occupational complexity, along with education, is known to be a proxy of cognitive reserve (i.e. mind’s resistance to brain aging). The current study examined the influence of midlife work environment factors (i.e., autonomy, control, and innovation; Work Environment Scale, Moos, 1981) on change in hippocampal thickness, while controlling for education and age. We studied 150 participants (60-78 years, M = 66.27, SD = 5.20, 61% female) from the Seattle Longitudinal Study who had at least one MRI scan and remained cognitively normal between 2006 and 2014. Hypotheses were tested using multilevel modeling in Mplus; gender differences were examined. There was no substantial drop in model fit as a result of adding any of the significant effects. Innovation at work slowed the decrease in hippocampal thickness over time demonstrating the protective effect of more novelty, variety and change in work activities. There was a significant age by gender interaction, such that the decrease in hippocampal thickness was stronger for older women. Together, findings suggest that long-term impact of work environment on the hippocampus extends beyond the effects of education, particularly in men, supporting the brain maintenance hypothesis. Innovation at work should be considered in understanding protective/risk factors in hippocampal atrophy in older age.

Longitudinal Changes in Individual BrainAGE in Healthy Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer’s Disease

GeroPsych ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Franke ◽  
Christian Gaser
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Additional Increase ◽  
Longitudinal Changes ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
The Brain

We recently proposed a novel method that aggregates the multidimensional aging pattern across the brain to a single value. This method proved to provide stable and reliable estimates of brain aging – even across different scanners. While investigating longitudinal changes in BrainAGE in about 400 elderly subjects, we discovered that patients with Alzheimer’s disease and subjects who had converted to AD within 3 years showed accelerated brain atrophy by +6 years at baseline. An additional increase in BrainAGE accumulated to a score of about +9 years during follow-up. Accelerated brain aging was related to prospective cognitive decline and disease severity. In conclusion, the BrainAGE framework indicates discrepancies in brain aging and could thus serve as an indicator for cognitive functioning in the future.

Dendrobium officinalis Flower Improves Learning and Reduces Memory Impairment by Mediating Antioxidant Effect and Balancing the Release of Neurotransmitters in Senescent Rats

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 402-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin-Zi Li ◽  
Shan-Shan Lei ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Fu-Chen Zhou ◽  
Ye-Hui Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Morris Water Maze Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Histopathological Analysis ◽  
Hippocampal Damage ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Mao B ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Brain

Aim and Objective: The Dendrobium officinalis flower (DOF) is popular in China due to common belief in its anti-aging properties and positive effects on “nourish yin”. However, there have been relatively few confirmatory pharmacological experiments conducted to date. The aim of this work was to evaluate whether DOF has beneficial effects on learning and memory in senescent rats, and, if so, to determine its potential mechanism of effect. Materials and Methods: SD rats were administrated orally DOF at a dose of 1.38, or 0.46 g/kg once a day for 8 weeks. Two other groups included a healthy untreated control group and a senescent control group. During the 7th week, a Morris water maze test was performed to assess learning and memory. At the end of the experiment, serum and brain samples were collected to measure concentrations of antioxidant enzymes, including malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione reductase (GSH-Px) in serum, and the neurotransmitters, including γ-aminobutyric acid (γ-GABA), Glutamic (Glu), and monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) in the brain. Histopathology of the hippocampus was assessed using hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining. Results: The results suggested that treatment with DOF improved learning as measured by escape latency, total distance, and target quadrant time, and also increased levels of γ-GABA in the brain. In addition, DOF decreased the levels of MDA, Glu, and MAO-B, and improved SOD and GSHPx. Histopathological analysis showed that DOF also significantly reduced structural lesions and neurodegeneration in the hippocampus relative to untreated senescent rats. Conclusion: DOF alleviated brain aging and improved the spatial learning abilities in senescent rats, potentially by attenuating oxidative stress and thus reducing hippocampal damage and balancing the release of neurotransmitters.

scholarly journals VITAL INVOLVEMENT: A SOURCE OF REALISTIC OPTIMISM FOR OLDER ADULTHOOD

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S407-S408
Author(s):  
Helen Q Kivnick
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Development ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
Environmental Engagement ◽  
The World ◽  
Psychosocial Model

Abstract Vital Involvement (VI) was initially proposed (Erikson et al., 1986) as one of three principles around which lifelong healthy psychosocial development takes place. As more recently elaborated, VI has come to describe a person’s meaningful, reciprocal engagement with the world outside the integrating “self.” It is through VI that the person engages in healthy psychosocial development throughout life, including balancing Older Adulthood’s focal tension between Integrity and Despair. This life stage is widely associated with the physical, cognitive, and social losses, and societal constraints that give rise to later-life despair. However, VI functions as a lifelong psychosocial model for the meaningful environmental engagement that supports later life’s wisdom and integrity. Notably few films present an integrated view of older adulthood’s losses along with opportunities. But those few can be a source of optimism to elders for whom VI may not be intuitive, but who can learn its practice.

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