Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
12
pubmed:dateCreated
2009-11-25
pubmed:abstractText
High-density electrical mapping of event-related potentials was used to investigate the neural processes that permit some elderly subjects to preserve high levels of executive functioning. Two possibilities pertain: (1) high-performance in elderly subjects is underpinned by similar processing mechanisms to those seen in young adults; that is, these individuals display minimal functional decay across the lifespan, or (2) preserved function relies on successfully recruiting and amplifying control processes to compensate for normal sensory-perceptual decline with age. Fifteen young and nineteen elderly participants, the latter split into groups of high and low performers, regularly alternated between a letter and a number categorization task, switching between tasks every third trial (AAA-BBB-AAA...). This allowed for interrogation of performance during switch, repeat, and preparatory pre-switch trials. Robust effects of age were observed in both frontal and parietal components of the task-switching network. Greatest differences originated over prefrontal regions, with elderly subjects generating amplified, earlier, and more differentiated patterns of activity. This prefrontal amplification was evident only in high-performing (HP) elderly, and was strongest on pre-switch trials when participants prepared for an upcoming task-switch. Analysis of the early transient and late sustained activity using topographic analyses and source localization collectively supported a unique and elaborated pattern of activity across frontal and parietal scalp in HP-elderly, wholly different to that seen in both young and low-performing elderly. On this basis, we propose that preserved executive function in HP-elderly is driven by large-scale recruitment and enhancement of prefrontal cortical mechanisms.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Dec
pubmed:issn
1097-0193
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
30
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
4198-214
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
Preserved executive function in high-performing elderly is driven by large-scale recruitment of prefrontal cortical mechanisms.
pubmed:affiliation
The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Program in Cognitive Neuroscience and Schizophrenia, Orangeburg, New York, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural