Brain mechanisms underlying the effects of aging on different aspects of selective attention

Geerligs, Linda; Saliasi, Emi; Maurits, Natasha M.; Renken, Remco; Lorist, Monicque M.

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.01.029

Cited by 65 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…However, it remains to be determined whether (1) additional inter-network FC is a compensatory mechanism which is beneficial for brain function in response to the typical age-related reduction of intra-network FC; or (2) a reduction in RSN specificity results in interference between network activity, which is not conducive to efficient task performance and may underlie less efficient processing sometimes seen in older adults (Baltes and Lindenberger, 1997). A series of studies by Geerligs et al (2014c,d) suggested that although increased inter-network connectivity during tasks may be compensatory, older adults reach a ‘resource ceiling’ which results in age-related deficits in performance in more difficult conditions. However, they also reported that although reductions in intra-network FC were associated with poorer performance on cognitive tasks, additional inter-network FC was not always associated with better performance (Geerligs et al, 2014a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Specific Re-organization of Resting-State Networks in Older Age

Goldstone

Mayhew

Przeździk

et al. 2016

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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Advancing age is commonly associated with changes in both brain structure and function. Recently, the suggestion that alterations in brain connectivity may drive disruption in cognitive abilities with age has been investigated. However, the interaction between the effects of age and gender on the re-organization of resting-state networks is not fully understood. This study sought to investigate the effect of both age and gender on intra- and inter-network functional connectivity (FC) and the extent to which resting-state network (RSN) node definition may alter with older age. We obtained resting-state functional magnetic resonance images from younger (n = 20) and older (n = 20) adults and assessed the FC of three main cortical networks: default mode (DMN), dorsal attention (DAN), and saliency (SN). Older adults exhibited reduced DMN intra-network FC and increased inter-network FC between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and nodes of the DAN, in comparison to younger participants. Furthermore, this increase in ACC-DAN inter-network FC with age was driven largely by male participants. However, further analyses suggested that the spatial location of ACC, bilateral anterior insula and orbitofrontal cortex RSN nodes changed with older age and that age-related gender differences in FC may reflect spatial re-organization rather than increases or decreases in FC strength alone. These differences in both the FC and spatial distribution of RSNs between younger and older adults provide evidence of re-organization of fundamental brain networks with age, which is modulated by gender. These results highlight the need to further investigate changes in both intra- and inter-network FC with age, whilst also exploring the modifying effect of gender. They also emphasize the difficulties in directly comparing the FC of RSN nodes between groups and suggest that caution should be taken when using the same RSN node definitions for different age or patient groups to investigate FC.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Specific Re-organization of Resting-State Networks in Older Age

Goldstone

Mayhew

Przeździk

et al. 2016

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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“…It is termed proactive as it reflects the ability of the attentional system to bias perceptual processing in favor of an upcoming target before it is presented. In contrast, reactive attentional control refers to resolving interference between target and potentially distracting information at later stages of the processing hierarchy (Geerligs et al, 2014). …”

Section: Impact Of Dorsal Visual Stream Declines (Eeg)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Attentional Orienting and Dorsal Visual Stream Decline: Review of Behavioral and EEG Studies

Sciberras-Lim

Lambert

2017

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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Every day we are faced with an overwhelming influx of visual information. Visual attention acts as the filtering mechanism that enables us to focus our limited neural resources, by selectively processing only the most relevant and/or salient aspects of our visual environment. The ability to shift attention to the most behaviorally relevant items enables us to successfully navigate and interact with our surroundings. The dorsal visual stream is important for the rapid and efficient visuospatial orienting of attention. Unfortunately, recent evidence suggests that the dorsal visual stream may be especially vulnerable to age-related decline, with significant deterioration becoming evident quite early in the aging process. Yet, despite the significant age-related declines to the dorsal visual stream, the visuospatial orienting of attention appears relatively well preserved in older adults, at least in the early stages of aging. The maintenance of visuospatial orienting of attention in older adults appears to be facilitated by the engagement of compensatory neural mechanisms. In particular, older adults demonstrate heightened activity in the frontal regions to compensate for the reduced activity in the posterior sensory regions. These findings suggest that older adults are more reliant on control processes mediated by the anterior regions of the frontoparietal attention network to compensate for less efficient sensory processing within the posterior sensory cortices.

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“…With aging, neuronal loss and small vessel alteration lead to progressive and subtle white matter changes associated with cognitive decline in the elderly (Pantoni 2010;Xiong and Mok 2011). Cognitive decline affects predominantly many executive functions but not all (Geerligs et al 2014), and brain changes seem to distribute unevenly, affecting predominantly the frontal region (Bishop et al 2010;Curiati et al 2009;Draganski et al 2011;Giorgio et al 2010;Good et al 2001;Moscovitch 1992;Raz et al 2000Raz et al , 2004West 1996) suggesting that the latest developed brain areas are especially susceptible to show an accelerated aging (Tamnes et al 2010). Previous cross-sectional studies using tract-specific measurements confirmed this ''frontal lobe hypothesis'' for the white matter by revealing a slow decrease with aging in the FA for frontal callosal tracts (Hsu et al 2008;Hasan et al 2009b;Lebel et al 2010;Bastin et al 2008;Michielse et al 2010) and for long tracts connecting the frontal lobe (Jones et al 2006;Hasan et al 2010Hasan et al , 2009a, affecting more prominently the frontal portion of these tracts (Davis et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atlasing the frontal lobe connections and their variability due to age and education: a spherical deconvolution tractography study

et al. 2015

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In neuroscience, there is a growing consensus that higher cognitive functions may be supported by distributed networks involving different cerebral regions, rather than by single brain areas. Communication within these networks is mediated by white matter tracts and is particularly prominent in the frontal lobes for the control and integration of information. However, the detailed mapping of frontal connections remains incomplete, albeit crucial to an increased understanding of these cognitive functions. Based on 47 high-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging datasets (age range 22-71 years), we built a statistical normative atlas of the frontal lobe connections in stereotaxic space, using state-of-the-art spherical deconvolution tractography. We dissected 55 tracts including U-shaped fibers. We further characterized these tracts by measuring their correlation with age and education level. We reported age-related differences in the microstructural organization of several, specific frontal fiber tracts, but found no correlation with education level. Future voxel-based analyses, such as voxel-based morphometry or tract-based spatial statistics studies, may benefit from our atlas by identifying the tracts and networks involved in frontal functions. Our atlas will also build the capacity of clinicians to further understand the mechanisms involved in brain recovery and plasticity, as well as assist clinicians in the diagnosis of disconnection or abnormality within specific tracts of individual patients with various brain diseases.

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Brain mechanisms underlying the effects of aging on different aspects of selective attention

Cited by 65 publications

References 53 publications

Gender Specific Re-organization of Resting-State Networks in Older Age

Gender Specific Re-organization of Resting-State Networks in Older Age

Attentional Orienting and Dorsal Visual Stream Decline: Review of Behavioral and EEG Studies

Atlasing the frontal lobe connections and their variability due to age and education: a spherical deconvolution tractography study

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