scholarly journals What Can Neural Activity Tell Us About Cognitive Resources in Aging?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara F. Tagliabue ◽  
Veronica Mazza
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Quantitative Difference ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Resource Deployment ◽  
The Brain

A reduction in cognitive resources has been originally proposed to account for age-related decrements in several cognitive domains. According to this view, aging limits the pool of available cognitive supplies: Compared to younger adults, elderly exhaust the resources more rapidly as task difficulty increases, hence a dramatic performance drop. Neurophysiological indexes (e.g., BOLD response and EEG activity) may be instrumental to quantify the amount of such cognitive resources in the brain and to pinpoint the stage of stimulus processing where the decrement in age-related resources is evident. However, as we discuss in this mini-review, the most recent studies on the neurophysiological markers of age-related changes lack a consistent coupling between neural and behavioral effects, which casts doubt on the advantage of measuring neural indexes to study resource deployment in aging. For instance, in the working memory (WM) domain, recent cross-sectional studies found varying patterns of concurrent age-related brain activity, ranging from equivalent to reduced and increased activations of old with respect to younger adults. In an attempt to reconcile these seemingly inconsistent findings of brain-behavior coupling, we focus on the contribution of confounding sources of variability and propose ways to control for them. Finally, we suggest an alternative perspective to explain age-related effects that implies a qualitative (instead of or along with a quantitative) difference in the deployment of cognitive resources in aging.

scholarly journals The aging mind: neuroplasticity in response to cognitive training

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-119 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Training Techniques ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Strategy Change ◽  
The Brain

Is it possible to enhance neural and cognitive function with cognitive training techniques? Can we delay age-related decline in cognitive function with interventions and stave off Alzheimer's disease? Does an aged brain really have the capacity to change in response to stimulation? In the present paper, we consider the neuroplasticity of the aging brain, that is, the brain's ability to increase capacity in response to sustained experience. We argue that, although there is some neural deterioration that occurs with age, the brain has the capacity to increase neural activity and develop neural scaffolding to regulate cognitive function. We suggest that increase in neural volume in response to cognitive training or experience is a clear indicator of change, but that changes in activation in response to cognitive training may be evidence of strategy change rather than indicative of neural plasticity. We note that the effect of cognitive training is surprisingly durable over time, but that the evidence that training effects transfer to other cognitive domains is relatively limited. We review evidence which suggests that engagement in an environment that requires sustained cognitive effort may facilitate cognitive function.

Consciousness Emanates from the Neuronal Network of Coordination, A Fact Endorsed by Preserved Consciousness in Focal Ischemic Infarctions

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
Dr. Sohail Adnan ◽  
Dr. Mubasher Shah ◽  
Dr. Syed Fahim Shah ◽  
Dr. Fahad Naim ◽  
Dr. Akhtar Ali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Network ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
Altered Consciousness ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Consciousness Disorder ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

Background: Consciousness has remained a difficult problem for the scientists to explore its relationship to the brain activity. This is the first paper that presents the significance of focal areas of the cerebral cortex for consciousness. Objectives: To determine if consciousness is produced by the activity of the whole brain or one of its focal areas. Methods: We have performed a prospective cross-sectional study in eighty patients of acute ischemic stroke. The neurovascular territory of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) was sectioned into four similar areas. The association of any of these focal areas to consciousness was observed after their dysfunction with ischemic strokes. Results: Of the eighty patients, 57.5 % were males and 42.5 % were females. Mean age was 63 years ± 7 SD. The righthanded patients were 90 % (72) of the whole sample. Focal areas of the right MCA were generally less prone to consciousness disorder. Average statistics of the focal infarctions of the right MCA showed no tendency for consciousness disorder on the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) [Mean GCS of all focal areas; 14.5, SD; 0.71, 95 % CI; 14.27 to 14.72, P= 0.0000004]. Altered consciousness with focal infarctions of the territory of left MCA was also less likely [Mean GCS of all focal areas; 14.2, SD; 1.01, 95 % CI; 13.88 to 14.51, P= 0.0004]. Conclusion: Consciousness is not determined by the activity of a focal area of the cerebral cortex. Perhaps, we get our consciousness from the activity of “Neuronal Network of Coordination”.

The Effect of Education on Age-Related Changes in Three Cognitive Domains: A Cross-Sectional Study in Primary Care

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Pavão Martins ◽  
Carolina Maruta ◽  
Cláudia Silva ◽  
Pedro Rodrigues ◽  
Catarina Chester ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Changes

scholarly journals Span, CRUNCH, and Beyond: Working Memory Capacity and the Aging Brain

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 655-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils J. Schneider-Garces ◽  
Brian A. Gordon ◽  
Carrie R. Brumback-Peltz ◽  
Eunsam Shin ◽  
Yukyung Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Search ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
The Brain

Neuroimaging data emphasize that older adults often show greater extent of brain activation than younger adults for similar objective levels of difficulty. A possible interpretation of this finding is that older adults need to recruit neuronal resources at lower loads than younger adults, leaving no resources for higher loads, and thus leading to performance decrements [Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis; e.g., Reuter-Lorenz, P. A., & Cappell, K. A. Neurocognitive aging and the compensation hypothesis. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 177–182, 2008]. The Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis leads to the prediction that activation differences between younger and older adults should disappear when task difficulty is made subjectively comparable. In a Sternberg memory search task, this can be achieved by assessing brain activity as a function of load relative to the individual's memory span, which declines with age. Specifically, we hypothesized a nonlinear relationship between load and both performance and brain activity and predicted that asymptotes in the brain activation function should correlate with performance asymptotes (corresponding to working memory span). The results suggest that age differences in brain activation can be largely attributed to individual variations in working memory span. Interestingly, the brain activation data show a sigmoid relationship with load. Results are discussed in terms of Cowan's [Cowan, N. The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 87–114, 2001] model of working memory and theories of impaired inhibitory processes in aging.

scholarly journals Human Ageing is Associated with More Rigid Concept Spaces

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Devine ◽  
Cassandra Neumann ◽  
David Levari ◽  
Robert Wilson ◽  
Ben Eppinger
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Deficit ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Human Ageing ◽  
Experimental Approaches ◽  
Concept Change ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract Prevalence-induced concept change describes a cognitive mechanism by which someone’s definition of a concept shifts as the prevalence of instances of that concept changes. The phenomenon has real-world implications because this sensitivity to environmental characteristics may lead to substantial biases in judgements. While prevalence-induced concept change has been established in young adults, it is unclear how it changes as a function of human ageing. In this cross-sectional study, we explore how prevalence-induced concept change affects older adults’ lower-level, perceptual, and higher-order, ethical, judgements. We find that older adults are less sensitive to prevalence-induced concept change than younger adults across domains. Using a combination of computational and experimental approaches, we demonstrate that these changes in judgements are sensitive to the pace with which the stimuli occur in the environment and are affected by the effort that subjects invest in order to make accurate decisions. Based on findings from three experiments we argue that older adults’ concept spaces are more rigid than those of younger adults. However, what appear as an age-related cognitive “deficit” may turn out to be beneficial because it makes older adults less susceptible to biases in judgments.  

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 Assessment of changes in the electrical activity of the brain during general anesthesia using portable electroencephalography

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Gaviria García ◽  
Daniel Loaiza López ◽  
Carolina Serna Rojas ◽  
Sara Ríos Arismendy ◽  
Eduardo Montoya Guevara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Activity ◽  
General Anesthesia ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Conscious State ◽  
Depth Of Anesthesia ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Eyes Closed ◽  
Eeg Recordings ◽  
The Brain

Introduction: The analysis of the electrical activity of the brain using scalp electrodes with electroencephalography (EEG) could reveal the depth of anesthesia of a patient during surgery. However, conventional EEG equipment, due to its price and size, are not a practical option for the operating room and the commercial units used in surgery do not provide access to the electrical activity. The availability of low-cost portable technologies could provide for further research on the brain activity under general anesthesia and facilitate our quest for new markers of depth of anesthesia. Objective: To assess the capabilities of a portable EEG technology to capture brain rhythms associated with the state of consciousness and the general anesthesia status of surgical patients anesthetized with propofol. Methods: Observational, cross-sectional trial that reviewed 10 EEG recordings captured using OpenBCI portable low-cost technology, in female patients undergoing general anesthesia with propofol. The signal from the frontal electrodes was analyzed with spectral analysis and the results were compared against the reports in the literature. Results: The signal captured with frontal electrodes, particularly α rhythm, enabled the distinction between resting with eyes closed and with eyes opened in a conscious state, and sustained anesthesia during surgery. Conclusions: It is possible to differentiate a resting state from sustained anesthesia, replicating previous findings with conventional technologies. These results pave the way to the use of portable technologies such as the OpenBCI tool, to explore the brain dynamics during anesthesia.

scholarly journals Regions and Connections: Complementary Approaches to Characterize Brain Organization and Function

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey Horien ◽  
Abigail S. Greene ◽  
R. Todd Constable ◽  
Dustin Scheinost
Keyword(s):  
Functional Organization ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Relative Utility ◽  
And Function ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
The Brain

Functional magnetic resonance imaging has proved to be a powerful tool to characterize spatiotemporal patterns of human brain activity. Analysis methods broadly fall into two camps: those summarizing properties of a region and those measuring interactions among regions. Here we pose an unappreciated question in the field: What are the strengths and limitations of each approach to study fundamental neural processes? We explore the relative utility of region- and connection-based measures in the context of three topics of interest: neurobiological relevance, brain-behavior relationships, and individual differences in brain organization. In each section, we offer illustrative examples. We hope that this discussion offers a novel and useful framework to support efforts to better understand the macroscale functional organization of the brain and how it relates to behavior.

Age-related Changes in Brain Activity across the Adult Lifespan

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl L. Grady ◽  
Mellanie V. Springer ◽  
Donaya Hongwanishkul ◽  
Anthony R. McIntosh ◽  
Gordon Winocur
Keyword(s):  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Adult Lifespan ◽  
Inhibitory Function ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Insight Into

A number of theories have emerged to explain the well-studied changes in memory that occur with age. Many of these theories invoke mechanisms that have the potential to affect multiple cognitive domains, in addition to memory. Such mechanisms include alterations in attentional or inhibitory function, or dysfunction of specific brain areas, such as the frontal lobes. To gain insight into these mechanisms, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity during encoding and recognition tasks in young, middle-aged, and older adults to identify correlations between age and brain activity across the various tasks. The goal was to see whether these correlations were task-specific or common across tasks, and to determine whether age differences emerged in a linear fashion over the adult years. Across all memory tasks, at both encoding and recognition, linear increases of activity with age were found in areas normally decreased during task performance (e.g., medial frontal and parietal regions), whereas activity in regions with task-related activation (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) decreased with age. These results suggest that there is a gradual, age-related reduction in the ability to suspend non-task-related or “default-mode” activity and engage areas for carrying out memory tasks. Such an alteration in the balance between default-mode and task-related activity could account for increased vulnerability to distraction from irrelevant information, and thereby affect multiple cognitive domains.

CORRELATION OF MORNING SALIVARY CORTISOL-MELATONIN RATIO WITH QEEG AND DELAYED RECALL IN AGING

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-188
Author(s):  
Watchara Sroykham ◽  
Yodchanan Wongsawat
Keyword(s):  
Circadian Rhythm ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
High Ratio ◽  
Left Temporal Lobe ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Eyes Open ◽  
The Brain

Melatonin and cortisol are the main hormones of the circadian rhythm, which effect cognitive decline during aging. An imbalance of circadian rhythm hormones serves as an early sign of the progress of age-related disease and brain pathology in aging. The aim of this study was to determine the cortisol-melatonin ratio in relation to brain activity and cognitive function in aging. Sixty-four aging subjects were recruited from the brain healthy project. The morning salivary of all subjects was collected for cortisol and melatonin levels analysis. The brain activity was recorded for 5 minutes in the eyes open condition and seven cognitive functions were assessed by the MoCA. The results were divided into a low ratio group and a high ratio group of cortisol-melatonin ratio. The low ratio group and the high ratio group differed in the delta-beta ratio at the left temporal lope (p < .05), and the delayed recall in the high ratio group was markedly higher than in the low ratio group. Moreover, the cortisol-melatonin ratio was strongly correlated with delayed recall (p < .05), the delta-beta ratio in the left temporal lope (p <.05), the theta alpha ratio in the left temporal lope (p < .05), and right temporal lope (p < .05). We found that a low cortisol-melatonin ratio corresponded to a high delta-beta ratio and a high thetaalpha ratio at the left temporal lobe with a low score of delayed recall function, but a high cortisol-melatonin ratio corresponded to a low delta-beta ratio and a low theta-alpha ratio at the left temporal lobe with a high score of delayed recall. The imbalance of the circadian hormone related to cognitive function and brain activity in aging could serve as a biomarker of age-related diseases.

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