TY - JOUR
T1 - Adult age differences in functional connectivity during executive control
AU - Madden, David J.
AU - Costello, Matthew C.
AU - Dennis, Nancy A.
AU - Davis, Simon W.
AU - Shepler, Anne M.
AU - Spaniol, Julia
AU - Bucur, Barbara
AU - Cabeza, Roberto
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by research grants R01 AG011622 (DJM), R01 AG019731 and R01 AG23770 (RC), and T32 AG000029 (MCC, NAD, BB) from the National Institute on Aging . We thank Susanne Harris, Scott Huettel, Sara Moore, Daniel Weissman, James Kragel, and Allen Song for assistance.
PY - 2010/8
Y1 - 2010/8
N2 - Task switching requires executive control processes that undergo age-related decline. Previous neuroimaging studies have identified age-related differences in brain activation associated with global switching effects (dual-task blocks versus single-task blocks), but age-related differences in activation during local switching effects (switch trials versus repeat trials, within blocks) have not been investigated. This experiment used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), to examine adult age differences in task switching across adjacent trials (i.e., local task switching). During fMRI scanning, participants performed a cued, word categorization task. From interspersed cue-only trials, switch-related processing associated with the cue was estimated separately from the target. Activation associated with task switching, within a distributed frontoparietal network, differed for cue- and target-related processing. The magnitude of event-related activation for task switching was similar for younger adults (n=20; 18-27. years) and older adults (n=20; 60-85. years), although activation sustained throughout the on-tasks periods exhibited some age-related decline. Critically, the functional connectivity of switch-related regions, during cue processing, was higher for younger adults than for older adults, whereas functional connectivity during target processing was comparable across the age groups. Further, individual differences in cue-related functional connectivity shared a substantial portion of the age-related variability in the efficiency of target categorization response (drift rate). This age-related difference in functional connectivity, however, was independent of white matter integrity within task-relevant regions. These findings highlight the functional connectivity of frontoparietal activation as a potential source of age-related decline in executive control.
AB - Task switching requires executive control processes that undergo age-related decline. Previous neuroimaging studies have identified age-related differences in brain activation associated with global switching effects (dual-task blocks versus single-task blocks), but age-related differences in activation during local switching effects (switch trials versus repeat trials, within blocks) have not been investigated. This experiment used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), to examine adult age differences in task switching across adjacent trials (i.e., local task switching). During fMRI scanning, participants performed a cued, word categorization task. From interspersed cue-only trials, switch-related processing associated with the cue was estimated separately from the target. Activation associated with task switching, within a distributed frontoparietal network, differed for cue- and target-related processing. The magnitude of event-related activation for task switching was similar for younger adults (n=20; 18-27. years) and older adults (n=20; 60-85. years), although activation sustained throughout the on-tasks periods exhibited some age-related decline. Critically, the functional connectivity of switch-related regions, during cue processing, was higher for younger adults than for older adults, whereas functional connectivity during target processing was comparable across the age groups. Further, individual differences in cue-related functional connectivity shared a substantial portion of the age-related variability in the efficiency of target categorization response (drift rate). This age-related difference in functional connectivity, however, was independent of white matter integrity within task-relevant regions. These findings highlight the functional connectivity of frontoparietal activation as a potential source of age-related decline in executive control.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.04.249
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.04.249
M3 - Article
C2 - 20434565
AN - SCOPUS:77953698835
SN - 1053-8119
VL - 52
SP - 643
EP - 657
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
IS - 2
ER -