scholarly journals Effects of Working Memory Load and Age on the Comprehension of Passive Sentences

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Xinmiao Liu
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Passive Sentence

The ability of older adults to comprehend sentences may decline due to the cognitive changes in working memory. Therefore, an increase in working memory demands during sentence comprehension would result in poorer performance among older adults. To test this hypothesis, the present study explored sentence comprehension as a result of manipulations of age and working memory loads using a sentence-picture matching task. 35 older adults and 35 younger adults were required to match Mandarin passive sentences (high working memory load) and active sentences (low working memory load) with pictures. Passive sentences were found to be more difficult than active sentences for all participants. Older adults responded to passive sentences more slowly than younger adults. However, no significant age difference was found in accuracy of responses. Accuracy on passive sentence comprehension was marginally correlated with syntactic complexity effect among older adults. Compared with younger adults, older adults seem to be more disrupted by the increased WM load in passive sentence comprehension, but they can compensate for the decline in the accuracy of comprehension by spending extra time on sentences with high WM load.

scholarly journals Working Memory Load-Dependent Brain Response Predicts Behavioral Training Gains in Older Adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 1224-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Heinzel ◽  
R. C. Lorenz ◽  
W.-R. Brockhaus ◽  
T. Wustenberg ◽  
N. Kathmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Behavioral Training ◽  
Working Memory Load

Contributions of the Prefrontal Cortex and Basal Ganglia to Set Shifting

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Ravizza ◽  
Michael A. Ciranni
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Response Competition ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Younger Adults

Impairments of set shifting have been associated with damage to both the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and to the basal ganglia. The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether damage to the PFC was associated with shifting impairments per se or whether any switching deficits could be attributed to a reduction of working memory capacity. In contrast, shifting impairments were expected for Parkinson patients regardless of memory load, given that these patients seem to have no cognitive deficits other than when having to shift set. To vary working memory demands, a cue to the relevant dimension (letter or shape) in an odd-man-out task was presented or withheld. Pathology to prefrontal areas associated with normal aging was not linked to shifting deficits when working memory load was reduced in a comparison of older and younger adults (Experiment 1). In contrast, set-shifting abilities were still impaired for stroke patients with prefrontal damage regardless of working memory demands (Experiment 2). Parkinson patients were relatively unimpaired on this task (Experiment 2), but began to display shifting deficits when response competition was present in the display (Experiment 3).

Reduced Frontal Activations at High Working Memory Load in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 278-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael K. Yeung ◽  
Sophia L. Sze ◽  
Jean Woo ◽  
Timothy Kwok ◽  
David H.K. Shum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Working Memory Load

Background: Some functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have reported altered activations in the frontal cortex during working memory (WM) performance in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but the findings have been mixed. The objective of the present study was to utilize near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), an alternative imaging technique, to examine neural processing during WM performance in individuals with MCI. Methods: Twenty-six older adults with MCI (7 males; mean age 69.15 years) were compared with 26 age-, gender-, handedness-, and education-matched older adults with normal cognition (NC; 7 males; mean age 68.87 years). All of the participants undertook an n-back task with a low (i.e., 0-back) and a high (i.e., 2-back) WM load condition while their prefrontal dynamics were recorded by a 16-channel NIRS system. Results: Although behavioral results showed that the two groups had comparable task performance, neuroimaging results showed that the MCI group, unlike the NC group, did not exhibit significantly increased frontal activations bilaterally when WM load increased. Compared to the NC group, the MCI group had similar frontal activations at low load (p > 0.05 on all channels) but reduced activations at high load (p < 0.05 on 4 channels), thus failing to demonstrate WM-related frontal activations (p < 0.05 on 9 channels). In addition, we found a positive correlation between the left WM-related frontal activations and WM ability primarily in the NC group (rs = 0.42, p = 0.035), suggesting a relationship between frontal hypoactivation and WM difficulties. Conclusion: The present findings suggest the presence of frontal dysfunction that is dependent on WM load in individuals with MCI.

scholarly journals Higher Levels of Plasma interleukin-6 Are Associated with Lower BOLD Responses to Working Memory Load in Older Adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. S98-S99
Author(s):  
Sheena I. Dev ◽  
Raeanne Moore ◽  
Savannah R. Jones ◽  
Benchawanna Soontornniyomkij ◽  
Cristian L. Achim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Interleukin 6 ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Bold Responses

Can older adults acquire a novel motor skill independently of working memory load?

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Chauvel ◽  
Francois Maquestiaux ◽  
Sven Joubert ◽  
Nicolas Benguigui ◽  
Jean Bertsch
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Load

Visual Search Facilitation in Repeated Displays Depends on Visuospatial Working Memory

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela A. Manginelli ◽  
Franziska Geringswald ◽  
Stefan Pollmann
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Control Experiment ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Contextual Cueing ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Memory Resources

When distractor configurations are repeated over time, visual search becomes more efficient, even if participants are unaware of the repetition. This contextual cueing is a form of incidental, implicit learning. One might therefore expect that contextual cueing does not (or only minimally) rely on working memory resources. This, however, is debated in the literature. We investigated contextual cueing under either a visuospatial or a nonspatial (color) visual working memory load. We found that contextual cueing was disrupted by the concurrent visuospatial, but not by the color working memory load. A control experiment ruled out that unspecific attentional factors of the dual-task situation disrupted contextual cueing. Visuospatial working memory may be needed to match current display items with long-term memory traces of previously learned displays.

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