scholarly journals Brain regions supporting verbal memory improvement in healthy older subjects

2014 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 663-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliane C. Miotto ◽  
Joana B. Balardin ◽  
Cary R. Savage ◽  
Maria da Graça M. Martin ◽  
Marcelo C. Batistuzzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Training Interventions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Brain Correlates ◽  
Memory Network ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
Brain Reorganization

Despite growing interest in developing cognitive training interventions to minimize the aging cognitive decline process, no studies have attempted to explore which brain regions support the application of semantic strategies during verbal memory encoding. Our aim was to investigate the behavioral performance and brain correlates of these strategies in elderly individuals using fMRI in healthy older subjects. Method Subjects were scanned twice on the same day, before and after, directed instructions to apply semantic strategies during the encoding of word lists. Results Improved memory performance associated to increased semantic strategy application and brain activity in the left inferior and middle and right medial superior prefrontal cortex were found after the directed instructions. There was also reduced activation in areas related to strategy mobilization. Conclusion Improved memory performance in older subjects after the application of semantic strategies was associated with functional brain reorganization involving regions inside and outside the typical memory network.

Inefficient Encoding as an Explanation for Age-Related Deficits in Recollection-Based Processing

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Friedman ◽  
Ray Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Semantic Retrieval ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Face ◽  
Episodic Memories

A cardinal feature of aging is a decline in episodic memory (EM). Nevertheless, there is evidence that some older adults may be able to “compensate” for failures in recollection-based processing by recruiting brain regions and cognitive processes not normally recruited by the young. We review the evidence suggesting that age-related declines in EM performance and recollection-related brain activity (left-parietal EM effect; LPEM) are due to altered processing at encoding. We describe results from our laboratory on differences in encoding- and retrieval-related activity between young and older adults. We then show that, relative to the young, in older adults brain activity at encoding is reduced over a brain region believed to be crucial for successful semantic elaboration in a 400–1,400-ms interval (left inferior prefrontal cortex, LIPFC; Johnson, Nessler, & Friedman, 2013 ; Nessler, Friedman, Johnson, & Bersick, 2007 ; Nessler, Johnson, Bersick, & Friedman, 2006 ). This reduced brain activity is associated with diminished subsequent recognition-memory performance and the LPEM at retrieval. We provide evidence for this premise by demonstrating that disrupting encoding-related processes during this 400–1,400-ms interval in young adults affords causal support for the hypothesis that the reduction over LIPFC during encoding produces the hallmarks of an age-related EM deficit: normal semantic retrieval at encoding, reduced subsequent episodic recognition accuracy, free recall, and the LPEM. Finally, we show that the reduced LPEM in young adults is associated with “additional” brain activity over similar brain areas as those activated when older adults show deficient retrieval. Hence, rather than supporting the compensation hypothesis, these data are more consistent with the scaffolding hypothesis, in which the recruitment of additional cognitive processes is an adaptive response across the life span in the face of momentary increases in task demand due to poorly-encoded episodic memories.

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.

Brain correlates of action word memory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zubaida Shebani ◽  
Francesca Carota ◽  
Olaf Hauk ◽  
James B. Rowe ◽  
Lawrence W. Barsalou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
The Body ◽  
Action Perception ◽  
Brain Correlates ◽  
Posterior Parietal

AbstractWhen understanding language semantically related to actions, the motor cortex is active and may be sensitive to semantic information, for example about the body-part-relationship of displayed action-related words. Conversely, movements of the hands or feet can impair memory performance for arm- and leg-related action words respectively, suggesting that the role of motor systems extends to verbal working memory. Here, we studied brain correlates of verbal memory load for action-related words using event-related fMRI during the encoding and memory maintenance of word lists. Seventeen participants saw either four identical or four different words from the same category, semantically related to actions typically performed either with the arms or with the legs. After a variable delay of 4-14 seconds, they performed a nonmatching-to-sample task. Hemodynamic activity related to the information load of words at presentation was most prominent in left temporo-occipital and bilateral posterior-parietal areas. In contrast, larger demand on verbal memory maintenance produced greater activation in left premotor and supplementary motor cortex, along with posterior-parietal areas, indicating that verbal memory circuits for action-related words include the cortical action system. Somatotopic memory load effects of arm- and leg-related words were not present at the typical precentral loci where earlier studies had found such word-category differences in reading tasks, although traces of somatotopic semantic mappings were observed at more anterior cortical regions. These results support a neurocomputational model of distributed action-perception circuits (APCs), according to which language understanding is manifest as full ignition of APCs, whereas working memory is realized as reverberant activity gradually receding to multimodal prefrontal and lateral temporal areas.

scholarly journals Differences in Brain Activity during a Verbal Associative Memory Encoding Task in High- and Low-fit Adolescents

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan M. Herting ◽  
Bonnie J. Nagel
Keyword(s):  
Aerobic Fitness ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Memory Encoding ◽  
Medial Pfc

Aerobic fitness is associated with better memory performance as well as larger volumes in memory-related brain regions in children, adolescents, and elderly. It is unclear if aerobic exercise also influences learning and memory functional neural circuitry. Here, we examine brain activity in 17 high-fit (HF) and 17 low-fit (LF) adolescents during a subsequent memory encoding paradigm using fMRI. Despite similar memory performance, HF and LF youth displayed a number of differences in memory-related and default mode (DMN) brain regions during encoding later remembered versus forgotten word pairs. Specifically, HF youth displayed robust deactivation in DMN areas, including the ventral medial PFC and posterior cingulate cortex, whereas LF youth did not show this pattern. Furthermore, LF youth showed greater bilateral hippocampal and right superior frontal gyrus activation during encoding of later remembered versus forgotten word pairs. Follow-up task-dependent functional correlational analyses showed differences in hippocampus and DMN activity coupling during successful encoding between the groups, suggesting aerobic fitness during adolescents may impact functional connectivity of the hippocampus and DMN during memory encoding. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine the influence of aerobic fitness on hippocampal function and memory-related neural circuitry using fMRI. Taken together with previous research, these findings suggest aerobic fitness can influence not only memory-related brain structure, but also brain function.

scholarly journals Verbal Memory Performance and Reduced Cortical Thickness of Brain Regions Along the Uncinate Fasciculus in Young Adult Cannabis Users

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Levar ◽  
Alan N. Francis ◽  
Matthew J. Smith ◽  
Wilson C. Ho ◽  
Jodi M. Gilman
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Uncinate Fasciculus

scholarly journals Reward biases spontaneous neural reactivation during sleep

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginie Sterpenich ◽  
Mojca K. M. van Schie ◽  
Maximilien Catsiyannis ◽  
Avinash Ramyead ◽  
Stephen Perrig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Mri ◽  
Slow Wave ◽  
Slow Wave Sleep ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Neural Representations

AbstractSleep favors the reactivation and consolidation of newly acquired memories. Yet, how our brain selects the noteworthy information to be reprocessed during sleep remains largely unknown. From an evolutionary perspective, individuals must retain information that promotes survival, such as avoiding dangers, finding food, or obtaining praise or money. Here, we test whether neural representations of rewarded (compared to non-rewarded) events have priority for reactivation during sleep. Using functional MRI and a brain decoding approach, we show that patterns of brain activity observed during waking behavior spontaneously reemerge during slow-wave sleep. Critically, we report a privileged reactivation of neural patterns previously associated with a rewarded task (i.e., winning at a complex game). Moreover, during sleep, activity in task-related brain regions correlates with better subsequent memory performance. Our study uncovers a neural mechanism whereby rewarded life experiences are preferentially replayed and consolidated while we sleep.

scholarly journals Are alpha-band oscillations a default dynamic of the human visual brain, or a product of ongoing visual processes?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiremu Hohaia ◽  
Blake W. Saurels ◽  
Alan Johnston ◽  
Kielan Yarrow ◽  
Derek H. Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Radial Motion ◽  
Alpha Band ◽  
Alpha Oscillations ◽  
Brain Waves ◽  
Visual Processes ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Eyes Open

AbstractOne of the seminal findings of cognitive neuroscience is that the power of alpha-band (∼10 Hz) brain waves, in occipital regions, increases when people close their eyes. This has encouraged the view that alpha oscillations are a default dynamic, to which the visual brain returns in the absence of input. Accordingly, we might be unable to increase the power of alpha oscillations when the eyes are closed, above the level that would usually ensue. Here we report counter evidence. We used electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity when people had their eyes open and closed, before and after they had adapted to radial motion. The increase in the power of alpha oscillations when people closed their eyes was enhanced by adaptation to a broad range of radial motion speeds. This effect was greatest for 10Hz motion, but robust for other frequencies, and specifically for 7.5Hz. This last observation is important, as it rules against an ongoing entrainment of activity, at the adaptation frequency, as an explanation for our results. Instead, our data show that visual processes remain active when people close their eyes, and these can be modulated by adaptation to increase the power of alpha oscillations in occipital brain regions.

Memory Networks Supporting Retrieval Effort and Retrieval Success Under Conditions of Full and Divided Attention

2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 386-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin I. Skinner ◽  
Myra A. Fernandes ◽  
Cheryl L. Grady
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
The Right ◽  
Performance Results

We used a multivariate analysis technique, partial least squares (PLS), to identify distributed patterns of brain activity associated with retrieval effort and retrieval success. Participants performed a recognition memory task under full attention (FA) or two different divided attention (DA) conditions during retrieval. Behaviorally, recognition was disrupted when a word, but not digit-based distracting task, was performed concurrently with retrieval. PLS was used to identify patterns of brain activation that together covaried with the three memory conditions and which were functionally connected with activity in the right hippocampus to produce successful memory performance. Results indicate that activity in the right dorsolateral frontal cortex increases during conditions of DA at retrieval, and that successful memory performance in the DA-digit condition is associated with activation of the same network of brain regions functionally connected to the right hippocampus, as under FA, which increases with increasing memory performance. Finally, DA conditions that disrupt successful memory performance (DA-word) interfere with recruitment of both retrieval-effort and retrieval-success networks.

scholarly journals Effect of Zolpidem in the Aftermath of Traumatic Brain Injury: An MEG Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Praveen Sripad ◽  
Jessica Rosenberg ◽  
Frank Boers ◽  
Christian P. Filss ◽  
Norbert Galldiks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Phase Lag ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Source Level ◽  
Weighted Phase Lag Index

In the past two decades, many studies have shown the paradoxical efficacy of zolpidem, a hypnotic used to induce sleep, in transiently alleviating various disorders of consciousness such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), dystonia, and Parkinson’s disease. The mechanism of action of this effect of zolpidem is of great research interest. In this case study, we use magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate a fully conscious, ex-coma patient who suffered from neurological difficulties for a few years due to traumatic brain injury. For a few years after injury, the patient was under medication with zolpidem that drastically improved his symptoms. MEG recordings taken before and after zolpidem showed a reduction in power in the theta-alpha (4–12 Hz) and lower beta (15–20 Hz) frequency bands. An increase in power after zolpidem intake was found in the higher beta/lower gamma (20–43 Hz) frequency band. Source level functional connectivity measured using weighted-phase lag index showed changes after zolpidem intake. Stronger connectivity between left frontal and temporal brain regions was observed. We report that zolpidem induces a change in MEG resting power and functional connectivity in the patient. MEG is an informative and sensitive tool to detect changes in brain activity for TBI.

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