scholarly journals Brain activity during walking in older adults: Implications for compensatory versus dysfunctional accounts.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Fettrow ◽  
Kathleen Hupfeld ◽  
Grant Tays ◽  
David J Clark ◽  
Patricia Reuter-Lorenz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Multiple Task ◽  
Neural Compensation ◽  
Neural Dysfunction

A prominent trend in the functional brain imaging literature is that older adults exhibit increased brain activity compared to young adults to perform a given task. This phenomenon has been extensively studied for cognitive tasks, with the field converging on interpretations described in two alternative accounts. One account interprets over-activation in older adults as reflecting neural dysfunction, whereas another interprets it as neural compensation. Here we review studies that have recorded brain activity and walking measurements in older adults, and we categorize their findings as reflecting either neural dysfunction or neural compensation. Based on this synthesis, we recommend including multiple task difficulty levels in future work to help differentiate if and when compensation fails as the locomotion task becomes more difficult. Using multiple task difficulty levels with neuroimaging will lead to a more advanced understanding of how age-related changes in locomotor brain activity fit with existing accounts of brain aging and support the development of targeted neural rehabilitation techniques.

scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Motor Skill Learning Are Dependent on Both Age and Task Difficulty

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josje M. Bootsma ◽  
Simone R. Caljouw ◽  
Menno P. Veldman ◽  
Natasha M. Maurits ◽  
John C. Rothwell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Motor Practice ◽  
And Task

Although a general age-related decline in neural plasticity is evident, the effects of age on neural plasticity after motor practice are inconclusive. Inconsistencies in the literature may be related to between-study differences in task difficulty. Therefore, we aimed to determine the effects of age and task difficulty on motor learning and associated brain activity. We used task-related electroencephalography (EEG) power in the alpha (8–12 Hz) and beta (13–30 Hz) frequency bands to assess neural plasticity before, immediately after, and 24-h after practice of a mirror star tracing task at one of three difficulty levels in healthy younger (19–24 yr) and older (65–86 yr) adults. Results showed an age-related deterioration in motor performance that was more pronounced with increasing task difficulty and was accompanied by a more bilateral activity pattern for older vs. younger adults. Task difficulty affected motor skill retention and neural plasticity specifically in older adults. Older adults that practiced at the low or medium, but not the high, difficulty levels were able to maintain improvements in accuracy at retention and showed modulation of alpha TR-Power after practice. Together, these data indicate that both age and task difficulty affect motor learning, as well as the associated neural plasticity.

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.

Exercise Impacts Age-Related Changes in Cognitive Function and Neural Complexity

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Heisz ◽  
Ana Kovacevic
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Outcomes ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Neural Network ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Age Related Changes

Age-related changes in the brain can compromise cognitive function. However, in some cases, the brain is able to functionally reorganize to compensate for some of this loss. The present paper reviews the benefits of exercise on executive functions in older adults and discusses a potential mechanism through which exercise may change the way the brain processes information for better cognitive outcomes. Specifically, older adults who are more physically active demonstrate a shift toward local neural processing that is associated with better executive functions. We discuss the use of neural complexity as a sensitive measure of the neural network plasticity that is enhanced through exercise. We conclude by highlighting the future work needed to improve exercise prescriptions that help older adults maintain their cognitive and physical functions for longer into their lifespan.

A Review and Reappraisal of the Default Network in Normal Aging and Dementia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna ◽  
Matthew D. Grilli ◽  
Muireann Irish
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Normal Aging ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Default Network ◽  
Pathological Aging ◽  
Age Related

The brain’s default network (DN) has received considerable interest in the context of so-called “normal” and pathological aging. Findings have generally been couched in support of a pessimistic view of brain aging, marked by substantial loss of structural brain integrity accompanied by a host of impairments in brain and cognitive function. A critical look at the literature, however, reveals that the standard loss of integrity, loss of function (LILF) view in normal aging may not necessarily hold with respect to the DN and the internally guided functions it supports. Many internally guided processes subserved by the DN are preserved or enhanced in cognitively healthy older adults. Moreover, differences in motivational, contextual, and physiological factors between young and older adults likely influence the extant neuroimaging and cognitive findings. Accordingly, normal aging can be viewed as a series of possibly adaptive cognitive and DN-related alterations that bolster cognitive function and promote socioemotional well-being and stability in a stage of life noted for change. On the other hand, the available evidence reveals strong support for the LILF view of the DN in neurodegenerative disorders, whereby syndromes such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and semantic dementia (SD), characterized by progressive atrophy to distinct DN subsystems, display distinct aberrations in autobiographical and semantic cognition. Taken together, these findings call for more naturalistic, age-appropriate, and longitudinal paradigms when investigating neurocognitive changes in aging and to adequately assess and control for differences in non-neural factors that may obscure “true” effects of normal and pathological aging. A shift in the framework with which age-related alterations in internally guided cognition are interpreted may shed important light on the neurocognitive mechanisms differentiating healthy and pathological aging, leading to a more complete picture of the aging brain in all its complexity.

scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Age-Related Changes in Precise Grip Force Regulation: A Combined EEG-fNIRS Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisa Berger ◽  
Fabian Steinberg ◽  
Fabian Thomas ◽  
Michael Doppelmayr
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Motor Control ◽  
Force Control ◽  
Grip Force ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Dominant Hand ◽  
Grip Force Control ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Changes

Motor control is associated with suppression of oscillatory activity in alpha (8–12 Hz) and beta (12–30 Hz) ranges and elevation of oxygenated hemoglobin levels in motor-cortical areas. Aging leads to changes in oscillatory and hemodynamic brain activity and impairments in motor control. However, the relationship between age-related changes in motor control and brain activity is not yet fully understood. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate age-related and task-complexity-related changes in grip force control and the underlying oscillatory and hemodynamic activity. Sixteen younger [age (mean ± SD) = 25.4 ± 1.9, 20–30 years] and 16 older (age = 56.7 ± 4.7, 50–70 years) healthy men were asked to use a power grip to perform six trials each of easy and complex force tracking tasks (FTTs) with their right dominant hand in a randomized within-subject design. Grip force control was assessed using a sensor-based device. Brain activity in premotor and primary motor areas of both hemispheres was assessed by electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Older adults showed significantly higher inaccuracies and higher hemodynamic activity in both FTTs than did young adults. Correlations between grip force control owing to task complexity and beta activity were different in the contralateral premotor cortex (PMC) between younger and older adults. Collectively, these findings suggest that aging leads to impairment of grip force control and an increase in hemodynamic activity independent of task complexity. EEG beta oscillations may represent a task-specific neurophysiological marker for age-related decline in complex grip force control and its underlying compensation strategies. Further EEG-fNIRS studies are necessary to determine neurophysiological markers of dysfunctions underlying age-related motor disabilities for the improvement of individual diagnosis and therapeutic approaches.

scholarly journals Aging effects on neural processing of rhythm and meter

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Anne Sauvé ◽  
Emily Bolt ◽  
Sylvie Nozaradan ◽  
Benjamin Zendel
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Aging Effects ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Musical Rhythm ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Rhythm And Meter

When listening to musical rhythm, humans can perceive and move to beat-like metrical pulses. Recently, it has been hypothesized that meter perception is related to brain activity responding to the acoustic fluctuation of the rhythmic input, with selective enhancement of the brain response elicited at meter-related frequencies. In the current study, the electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded while younger (<35) and older (>60) adults listened to rhythmic patterns presented at two different tempi while intermittently performing a tapping task. Despite significant hearing loss compared to younger adults, older adults showed preserved brain activity to the rhythms. However, age effects were observed in the distribution of amplitude across frequencies. Specifically, in contrast with younger adults, older adults showed relatively larger amplitude at the frequency corresponding to the rate of individual events making up the rhythms as compared to lower meter-related frequencies. This difference is compatible with larger N1-P2 potentials as generally observed in older adults in response to acoustic onsets, irrespective of meter perception. These larger low-level responses to sounds have been linked to processes by which age-related hearing loss would be compensated by cortical sensory mechanisms. Importantly, this low-level effect would be associated here with relatively reduced neural activity at lower frequencies corresponding to higher-level metrical grouping of the acoustic events, as compared to younger adults.

scholarly journals Age-related differences in brain activity during physical and imagined sit-to-stand in healthy young and older adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 440-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srisupornkornkool Kanokwan ◽  
Wongcheen Pramkamol ◽  
Klongkhayan Wipatcharee ◽  
Warnjing Warissara ◽  
Rassameejan Siwarit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Sit To Stand ◽  
Age Related

scholarly journals Resurrecting Brinley Plots for a Novel Use: Meta-Analyses of Functional Brain Imaging Data in Older Adults

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann M. Peiffer ◽  
Joseph A. Maldjian ◽  
Paul J. Laurienti
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Cognitive Slowing ◽  
The Impact

By plotting response times of young and older adults across a variety of tasks, Brinley spurred investigation and debate into the theory of general cognitive slowing. Though controversial, Brinley plots can assess between-task differences, the impact of increasing task demand, and the relationship between responses in two groups of subjects. Since a relationship exists between response times and the blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal of functional MRI (fMRI), Brinley's plotting method could be applied as a meta-analysis tool in fMRI studies of aging. Here, fledgling “Peiffer plots” are discussed for their potential impact on understanding general cognitive brain activity in aging. Preliminary results suggest that general cognitive slowing may be localized at the sensorimotor transformation in the precentral gyrus. Although this meta-analysis method is naturally used with imaging studies of aging, theoretically it may be applied to other study pairs (e.g., schizophrenic versus normal) or imaging datasets (e.g., PET).

Matching Instructional Media with Instructional Demands

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (25) ◽  
pp. 2089-2093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmundo A. Sierra ◽  
Arthur D. Fisk ◽  
Wendy A. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Mental Workload ◽  
Instructional Media ◽  
Additional Time ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Video Instruction ◽  
Assembly Task ◽  
Age Related

Video instruction is an effective support for audio instruction of visuospatial tasks; but how is effectiveness of this type of instruction moderated? We investigated the effects of age-related cognitive changes, audio versus audio-plus-video instructions, differential working memory instruction demands, and differential task difficulty on assembly task performance. Forty-eight young adults and 48 older adults completed an assembly task where accuracy, use of additional time, repetition of steps, and subjective mental workload were measured. Results indicated that participants receiving audio plus video instruction benefited most as task difficulty increased. Older adults performed more poorly compared to young adults; however, the findings indicate that video-based instruction was beneficial for both young and older adults for this class of task. Results are discussed from a training perspective in general and as they relate to telemedicine specifically. Guidelines for applying the correct instructional media as a function of the instructional demands are discussed.

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