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Michelle W Voss,
Kirk I Erickson, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Laura Chaddock,
Jennifer S Kim,
Heloisa Alves,
Amanda Szabo,
Siobhan M White,
Thomas R Wójcicki,
Emily L Mailey,
Erin A Olson,
Neha Gothe,
Vicki V Potter,
Stephen A Martin,
Brandt D Pence,
Marc D Cook,
Jeffrey A Woods,
Edward McAuley,
Arthur F Kramer
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ABSTRACT: The current study examined how a randomized one-year aerobic exercise program for healthy older adults would affect serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF-1), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) - putative markers of exercise-induced benefits on brain function. The study also examined whether (a) change in the concentration of these growth factors was associated with alterations in functional connectivity following exercise, and (b) the extent to which pre-intervention growth factor levels were associated with training-related changes in functional connectivity. In 65 participants (mean age = 66.4), we found that although there were no group-level changes in growth factors as a function of the intervention, increased temporal lobe connectivity between the bilateral parahippocampus and the bilateral middle temporal gyrus was associated with increased BDNF, IGF-1, and VEGF for an aerobic walking group but not for a non-aerobic control group, and greater pre-intervention VEGF was associated with greater training-related increases in this functional connection. Results are consistent with animal models of exercise and the brain, but are the first to show in humans that exercise-induced increases in temporal lobe functional connectivity are associated with changes in growth factors and may be augmented by greater baseline VEGF.
Brain Behavior and Immunity 11/2012; · 4.72 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: An extensive body of research defines the default-mode network (DMN) to be one of the critical networks of the human brain, playing a pivotal functional role in processes of internal mentation. Alterations in the connectivity of this network as a function of aging have been found, with reductions associated with functional ramifications for the elderly population. This study examined associations between integrity of the DMN and trait levels of mindfulness disposition, defined by our ability to exert attentional and emotional control in the present moment, and, thereby, bring awareness to immediate experiences. Twenty-five older adults participated in the study and underwent a brief functional MRI session and filled out questionnaires related to their overall health, and mindfulness disposition. Mindfulness disposition was associated with greater connectivity of the DMN, specifically in the dorsal posterior cingulate cortex, and the precuneus. Mindfulness disposition, thus, explains variance in the connectivity of one of the more intrinsic networks of the human brain, known to be critical for promoting self-relevant mental explorations and building cognitive and affective control.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 10/2012; · 6.13 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Although changes in brain function induced by cognitive training have been examined, functional plasticity associated with specific training strategies is still relatively unexplored. In this study, we examined changes in brain function during a complex visuomotor task following training using the Space Fortress video game. To assess brain function, participants completed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after 30 h of training with one of two training regimens: Hybrid Variable-Priority Training (HVT), with a focus on improving specific skills and managing task priority, or Full Emphasis Training (FET), in which participants simply practiced the game to obtain the highest overall score. Control participants received only 6 h of FET. Compared to FET, HVT learners reached higher performance on the game and showed less brain activation in areas related to visuo-spatial attention and goal-directed movement after training. Compared to the control group, HVT exhibited less brain activation in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), coupled with greater performance improvement. Region-of-interest analysis revealed that the reduction in brain activation was correlated with improved performance on the task. This study sheds light on the neurobiological mechanisms of improved learning from directed training (HVT) over non-directed training (FET), which is related to visuo-spatial attention and goal-directed motor planning, while separating the practice-based benefit, which is related to executive control and rule management.
Behavioural brain research 04/2012; 232(2):348-57. · 3.22 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The discovery of a coherent set of cortical regions showing activation during rest and deactivation during task performance has reignited an old debate in the field of neuroscience, one that questions the reflexivity of the human brain and provides evidence towards a more intrinsic functional architecture. The default-mode network (DMN) comprising of such consistent cortical regions has become a topic of increasing interest in both healthy and diseased populations. In this study, using a well-examined version of the verbal n-back task, interleaved with periods of rest blocks, we investigated whether the deactivation of the cortical regions comprising the DMN moderates individual differences in behavioral performance in a group of older adults. We recruited 25 young and 25 older adults for our study and presented them with blocks of the n-back task, with varying levels of load, interleaved with periods of fixation. A direct comparison of the young and older participants revealed both a reduction in the up-regulation of the prefrontal and parietal regions in response to increasing task demands, along with a reduction in the down-regulation of DMN regions with increasing cognitive load in the elderly. Better performance in the young adults was associated with the capability to modulate the regions of the working memory network with increasing task difficulty, however enhanced performance in the older cohort was associated with greater load-induced deactivation of the posterior cingulate cortex. This study adds to the existing gamut of aging literature, providing evidence that DMN function is critical to cognitive functioning in older adults.
Behavioural brain research 02/2012; 230(1):192-200. · 3.22 Impact Factor
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Timothy D Verstynen,
Brighid Lynch,
Destiny L Miller,
Michelle W Voss, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Laura Chaddock,
Chandramallika Basak,
Amanda Szabo,
Erin A Olson,
Thomas R Wojcicki,
Jason Fanning,
Neha P Gothe,
Edward McAuley,
Arthur F Kramer,
Kirk I Erickson
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ABSTRACT: The basal ganglia play a central role in regulating the response selection abilities that are critical for mental flexibility. In neocortical areas, higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels are associated with increased gray matter volume, and these volumetric differences mediate enhanced cognitive performance in a variety of tasks. Here we examine whether cardiorespiratory fitness correlates with the volume of the subcortical nuclei that make up the basal ganglia and whether this relationship predicts cognitive flexibility in older adults. Structural MRI was used to determine the volume of the basal ganglia nuclei in a group of older, neurologically healthy individuals (mean age 66 years, N = 179). Measures of cardiorespiratory fitness (VO(2max)), cognitive flexibility (task switching), and attentional control (flanker task) were also collected. Higher fitness levels were correlated with higher accuracy rates in the Task Switching paradigm. In addition, the volume of the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus positively correlated with Task Switching accuracy. Nested regression modeling revealed that caudate nucleus volume was a significant mediator of the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness, and task switching performance. These findings indicate that higher cardiorespiratory fitness predicts better cognitive flexibility in older adults through greater grey matter volume in the dorsal striatum.
Journal of aging research 01/2012; 2012:939285.
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Kirk I Erickson,
Andrea M Weinstein,
Bradley P Sutton, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Michelle W Voss,
Laura Chaddock,
Amanda N Szabo,
Emily L Mailey,
Siobhan M White,
Thomas R Wojcicki,
Edward McAuley,
Arthur F Kramer
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ABSTRACT: Aerobic exercise is a promising form of prevention for cognitive decline; however, little is known about the molecular mechanisms by which exercise and fitness impacts the human brain. Several studies have postulated that increased regional brain volume and function are associated with aerobic fitness because of increased vascularization rather than increased neural tissue per se. We tested this position by examining the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) levels in the right frontal cortex using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. NAA is a nervous system specific metabolite found predominantly in cell bodies of neurons. We reasoned that if aerobic fitness was predominantly influencing the vasculature of the brain, then NAA levels should not vary as a function of aerobic fitness. However, if aerobic fitness influences the number or viability of neurons, then higher aerobic fitness levels might be associated with greater concentrations of NAA. We examined NAA levels, aerobic fitness, and cognitive performance in 137 older adults without cognitive impairment. Consistent with the latter hypothesis, we found that higher aerobic fitness levels offset an age-related decline in NAA. Furthermore, NAA mediated an association between fitness and backward digit span performance, suggesting that neuronal viability as measured by NAA is important in understanding fitness-related cognitive enhancement. Since NAA is found exclusively in neural tissue, our results indicate that the effect of fitness on the human brain extends beyond vascularization; aerobic fitness is associated with neuronal viability in the frontal cortex of older adults.
Brain and behavior. 01/2012; 2(1):32-41.
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Andrea M Weinstein,
Michelle W Voss, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Laura Chaddock,
Amanda Szabo,
Siobhan M White,
Thomas R Wojcicki,
Emily Mailey,
Edward McAuley,
Arthur F Kramer,
Kirk I Erickson
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ABSTRACT: Aging is marked by a decline in cognitive function, which is often preceded by losses in gray matter volume. Fortunately, higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) levels are associated with an attenuation of age-related losses in gray matter volume and a reduced risk for cognitive impairment. Despite these links, we have only a rudimentary understanding of whether fitness-related increases in gray matter volume lead to elevated cognitive function. In this cross-sectional study, we examined whether the association between higher aerobic fitness levels and elevated executive function was mediated by greater gray matter volume in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). One hundred and forty-two older adults (mean age=66.6 years) completed structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, CRF assessments, and performed Stroop and spatial working memory (SPWM) tasks. Gray matter volume was assessed using an optimized voxel-based morphometry approach. Consistent with our predictions, higher fitness levels were associated with: (a) better performance on both the Stroop and SPWM tasks, and (b) greater gray matter volume in several regions, including the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC). Volume of the right inferior frontal gyrus and precentral gyrus mediated the relationship between CRF and Stroop interference while a non-overlapping set of regions bilaterally in the DLPFC mediated the association between CRF and SPWM accuracy. These results suggest that specific regions of the DLPFC differentially relate to inhibition and spatial working memory. Thus, fitness may influence cognitive function by reducing brain atrophy in targeted areas in healthy older adults.
Brain Behavior and Immunity 12/2011; 26(5):811-9. · 4.72 Impact Factor
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HyunKyu Lee,
Walter R Boot,
Chandramallika Basak,
Michelle W Voss, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Mark Neider,
Kirk I Erickson,
Daniel J Simons,
Monica Fabiani,
Gabriele Gratton,
Kathy A Low,
Arthur F Kramer
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ABSTRACT: Given the increasing complexity of the tasks and skills needed in modern society, developing effective training strategies is of tremendous practical importance. Furthermore, training that improves performance of both trained and untrained tasks would be highly efficient. In the present study, we examined how directed training contributes to skill acquisition, and more importantly, to engendering transfer of training to untrained tasks. Participants learned a complex video game for 30 h (Space Fortress, Donchin, Fabiani, & Sanders, 1989) using one of two training regimens: Hybrid Variable-Priority Training (HVT), with a focus on improving specific skills and managing task priority, or Full Emphasis Training (FET) in which participants simply practiced the game to obtain the highest overall score. We compared game performance, retention of training gains, and transfer of training to untrained tasks as a function of the training regimen. Compared to FET, HVT learners reached higher levels of mastery on the game and HVT was particularly beneficial for initially poor performing participants. This benefit persisted seven months after training. However, contrary to expectation, both HVT and FET were unsuccessful in producing transfer to untrained tasks compared to a group that received limited game experience, suggesting that directed training and practice can produce task-specific improvements, but improvements do not necessarily transfer from trained to untrained tasks.
Acta psychologica 11/2011; 139(1):146-58. · 2.19 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain activity of higher fit and lower fit children during early and late task blocks of a cognitive control flanker paradigm. For congruent trials, all children showed increased recruitment of frontal and parietal regions during the early block when the task was unfamiliar, followed by a decrease in activity in the later block. No within-group changes in congruent accuracy were reported across task blocks, despite a decline in performance across all participants, likely due to fatigue. During incongruent trials, only higher fit children maintained accuracy across blocks, coupled with increased prefrontal and parietal recruitment in the early task block and reduced activity in the later block. Lower fit children showed a decline in incongruent accuracy across blocks, and no changes in activation. We suggest that higher fit children are better at activating and adapting neural processes involved in cognitive control to meet and maintain task goals.
Biological psychology 11/2011; 89(1):260-8. · 4.36 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, resulting in physical, cognitive and affective disturbances, with notable declines in the ability to learn and retain new information. In this study, we examined if higher levels of physical activity in MS individuals were associated with an increased resting-state connectivity of the hippocampus and cortex, resulting in better performance on a task of episodic memory. Forty-five individuals with a clinically definite diagnosis of MS were recruited for the study. Consistent with previous reports, hippocampus was functionally connected to the posteromedial cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, and the medial frontal cortex. Higher levels of physical activity in MS patients were associated with an increased coherence between the hippocampus and the posteromedial cortex (PMC). The increased connectivity between these two regions, in turn, was predictive of better relational memory, such that MS patients who showed an increased coherence between the left (not right) hippocampus and the PMC also showed better relational memory. Results of the study are interpreted in light of the challenge of disentangling effects of physical activity from effects of disease severity and its neuropathological correlates.
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 11/2011; 17(6):986-97. · 2.76 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We used the Space Fortress videogame, originally developed by cognitive psychologists to study skill acquisition, as a platform to examine learning-induced plasticity of interacting brain networks. Novice videogame players learned Space Fortress using one of two training strategies: (a) focus on all aspects of the game during learning (fixed priority), or (b) focus on improving separate game components in the context of the whole game (variable priority). Participants were scanned during game play using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), both before and after 20 h of training. As expected, variable priority training enhanced learning, particularly for individuals who initially performed poorly. Functional connectivity analysis revealed changes in brain network interaction reflective of more flexible skill learning and retrieval with variable priority training, compared to procedural learning and skill implementation with fixed priority training. These results provide the first evidence for differences in the interaction of large-scale brain networks when learning with different training strategies. Our approach and findings also provide a foundation for exploring the brain plasticity involved in transfer of trained abilities to novel real-world tasks such as driving, sport, or neurorehabilitation.
NeuroImage 03/2011; 59(1):138-48. · 5.89 Impact Factor
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Kirk I Erickson,
Michelle W Voss, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Chandramallika Basak,
Amanda Szabo,
Laura Chaddock,
Jennifer S Kim,
Susie Heo,
Heloisa Alves,
Siobhan M White,
Thomas R Wojcicki,
Emily Mailey,
Victoria J Vieira,
Stephen A Martin,
Brandt D Pence,
Jeffrey A Woods,
Edward McAuley,
Arthur F Kramer
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ABSTRACT: The hippocampus shrinks in late adulthood, leading to impaired memory and increased risk for dementia. Hippocampal and medial temporal lobe volumes are larger in higher-fit adults, and physical activity training increases hippocampal perfusion, but the extent to which aerobic exercise training can modify hippocampal volume in late adulthood remains unknown. Here we show, in a randomized controlled trial with 120 older adults, that aerobic exercise training increases the size of the anterior hippocampus, leading to improvements in spatial memory. Exercise training increased hippocampal volume by 2%, effectively reversing age-related loss in volume by 1 to 2 y. We also demonstrate that increased hippocampal volume is associated with greater serum levels of BDNF, a mediator of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Hippocampal volume declined in the control group, but higher preintervention fitness partially attenuated the decline, suggesting that fitness protects against volume loss. Caudate nucleus and thalamus volumes were unaffected by the intervention. These theoretically important findings indicate that aerobic exercise training is effective at reversing hippocampal volume loss in late adulthood, which is accompanied by improved memory function.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 02/2011; 108(7):3017-22. · 9.68 Impact Factor
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Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Michelle W Voss,
Kirk I Erickson,
Jason M Lewis,
Laura Chaddock,
Edward Malkowski,
Heloisa Alves,
Jennifer Kim,
Amanda Szabo,
Siobhan M White,
Thomas R Wójcicki,
Emily L Klamm,
Edward McAuley,
Arthur F Kramer
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ABSTRACT: A growing body of literature provides evidence for the prophylactic influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on cognitive decline in older adults. This study examined the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and recruitment of the neural circuits involved in an attentional control task in a group of healthy older adults. Employing a version of the Stroop task, we examined whether higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with an increase in activation in cortical regions responsible for imposing attentional control along with an up-regulation of activity in sensory brain regions that process task-relevant representations. Higher fitness levels were associated with better behavioral performance and an increase in the recruitment of prefrontal and parietal cortices in the most challenging condition, thus providing evidence that cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with an increase in the recruitment of the anterior processing regions. There was a top-down modulation of extrastriate visual areas that process both task-relevant and task-irrelevant attributes relative to the baseline. However, fitness was not associated with differential activation in the posterior processing regions, suggesting that fitness enhances attentional function by primarily influencing the neural circuitry of anterior cortical regions. This study provides novel evidence of a differential association of fitness with anterior and posterior brain regions, shedding further light onto the neural changes accompanying cardiorespiratory fitness.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 01/2011; 4:229. · 2.34 Impact Factor
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Laura Chaddock,
Kirk I Erickson, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Jennifer S Kim,
Michelle W Voss,
Matt Vanpatter,
Matthew B Pontifex,
Lauren B Raine,
Alex Konkel,
Charles H Hillman,
Neal J Cohen,
Arthur F Kramer
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ABSTRACT: Because children are becoming overweight, unhealthy, and unfit, understanding the neurocognitive benefits of an active lifestyle in childhood has important public health and educational implications. Animal research has indicated that aerobic exercise is related to increased cell proliferation and survival in the hippocampus as well as enhanced hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. Recent evidence extends this relationship to elderly humans by suggesting that high aerobic fitness levels in older adults are associated with increased hippocampal volume and superior memory performance. The present study aimed to further extend the link between fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory to a sample of preadolescent children. To this end, magnetic resonance imaging was employed to investigate whether higher- and lower-fit 9- and 10-year-old children showed differences in hippocampal volume and if the differences were related to performance on an item and relational memory task. Relational but not item memory is primarily supported by the hippocampus. Consistent with predictions, higher-fit children showed greater bilateral hippocampal volumes and superior relational memory task performance compared to lower-fit children. Hippocampal volume was also positively associated with performance on the relational but not the item memory task. Furthermore, bilateral hippocampal volume was found to mediate the relationship between fitness level (VO(2) max) and relational memory. No relationship between aerobic fitness, nucleus accumbens volume, and memory was reported, which strengthens the hypothesized specific effect of fitness on the hippocampus. The findings are the first to indicate that aerobic fitness may relate to the structure and function of the preadolescent human brain.
Brain research 10/2010; 1358:172-83. · 2.46 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The present investigation is the first to explore the association between childhood aerobic fitness and basal ganglia structure and function. Rodent research has revealed that exercise influences the striatum by increasing dopamine signaling and angiogenesis. In children, higher aerobic fitness levels are associated with greater hippocampal volumes, superior performance on tasks of attentional and interference control, and elevated event-related brain potential indices of executive function. The present study used magnetic resonance imaging to investigate if higher-fit and lower-fit 9- and 10-year-old children exhibited differential volumes of other subcortical brain regions, specifically the basal ganglia involved in attentional control. The relationship between aerobic fitness, dorsal and ventral striatum volumes and performance on an attention and inhibition Eriksen flanker task was also examined. The results indicated that higher-fit children showed superior flanker task performance compared to lower-fit children. Higher-fit children also showed greater volumes of the dorsal striatum, and dorsal striatum volume was negatively associated with behavioral interference. The results support the claim that the dorsal striatum is involved in cognitive control and response resolution and that these cognitive processes vary as a function of aerobic fitness. No relationship was found between aerobic fitness, the volume of the ventral striatum and flanker performance. The findings suggest that increased childhood aerobic fitness is associated with greater dorsal striatal volumes and that this is related to enhanced cognitive control. Because children are becoming increasingly overweight, unhealthy and unfit, understanding the neurocognitive benefits of an active lifestyle during childhood has important public health and educational implications.
Developmental Neuroscience 08/2010; 32(3):249-56. · 3.63 Impact Factor
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Kirk I Erickson, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash,
Michelle W Voss,
Laura Chaddock,
Susie Heo,
Molly McLaren,
Brandt D Pence,
Stephen A Martin,
Victoria J Vieira,
Jeffrey A Woods,
Edward McAuley,
Arthur F Kramer
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ABSTRACT: Hippocampal volume shrinks in late adulthood, but the neuromolecular factors that trigger hippocampal decay in aging humans remains a matter of speculation. In rodents, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) promotes the growth and proliferation of cells in the hippocampus and is important in long-term potentiation and memory formation. In humans, circulating levels of BDNF decline with advancing age, and a genetic polymorphism for BDNF has been related to gray matter volume loss in old age. In this study, we tested whether age-related reductions in serum levels of BDNF would be related to shrinkage of the hippocampus and memory deficits in older adults. Hippocampal volume was acquired by automated segmentation of magnetic resonance images in 142 older adults without dementia. The caudate nucleus was also segmented and examined in relation to levels of serum BDNF. Spatial memory was tested using a paradigm in which memory load was parametrically increased. We found that increasing age was associated with smaller hippocampal volumes, reduced levels of serum BDNF, and poorer memory performance. Lower levels of BDNF were associated with smaller hippocampi and poorer memory, even when controlling for the variation related to age. In an exploratory mediation analysis, hippocampal volume mediated the age-related decline in spatial memory and BDNF mediated the age-related decline in hippocampal volume. Caudate nucleus volume was unrelated to BDNF levels or spatial memory performance. Our results identify serum BDNF as a significant factor related to hippocampal shrinkage and memory decline in late adulthood.
Journal of Neuroscience 04/2010; 30(15):5368-75. · 7.11 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Aging is accompanied by a general deterioration of fluid cognitive processes and a reduction in resting cerebral blood flow (CBF). While the two phenomena have been observed independently, it is uncertain whether individual differences in cerebral blood flow are reliably associated with cognitive functioning in older adults. Furthermore, previous studies have concentrated primarily on gross measures of cognition and global gray matter CBF, leaving open the possibility that perfusion of specific brain regions may relate differentially to distinct cognitive domains. The present study sought to provide a more focused treatment of CBF and cognitive function in the context of aging by investigating the relationships among aging, spatial memory and resting hippocampal blood flow, both between and within younger and older adult groups. Blood flow was quantified using a novel Flow-Enhanced Signal Intensity (FENSI) technique which provides a localized, functionally relevant measure of volumetric flow across a given unit area. As expected, we found that aging was associated with poorer spatial memory and reduced resting CBF. Moreover, hippocampal blood flow was positively correlated with spatial memory performance in the older adult group, suggesting that increased blood flow to the hippocampus is associated with superior memory performance in older adults. These results demonstrate a region-specific CBF-cognition relationship and thereby offer new insight into the complex connection between the aging brain and behavior.
Brain research 12/2009; 1315:119-27. · 2.46 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We investigated the relative involvement of cortical regions supporting attentional control in older and younger adults during performance on a modified version of the Stroop task. Participants were exposed to two different types of incongruent trials. One of these, an incongruent-ineligible condition, produces conflict at the non-response level, while the second, an incongruent-eligible condition, produces conflict at both non-response and response levels of information processing. Greater attentional control is needed to perform the incongruent-eligible condition compared to other conditions. We examined the cortical recruitment associated with this task in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm in 25 older and 25 younger adults. Our results indicated that while younger adults demonstrated an increase in the activation of cortical regions responsible for maintaining attentional control in response to increased levels of conflict, such sensitivity and flexibility of the cortical regions to increased attentional control demands was absent in older adults. These results suggest a limitation in older adults' capabilities for flexibly recruiting the attentional network in response to increasing attentional demands.
Brain and Cognition 09/2009; 71(3):328-35. · 3.17 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Alterations in gray and white matter have been well documented in individuals with multiple sclerosis. Severity and extent of such brain tissue damage have been associated with cognitive impairment, disease duration and neurological disability, making quantitative indices of tissue damage important markers of disease progression. In this study, we investigated the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and measures of gray matter atrophy and white matter integrity. Employing voxel-based approaches to analysis of gray matter and white matter, we specifically examined whether higher levels of fitness in multiple sclerosis participants were associated with preserved gray matter volume and integrity of white matter. We found a positive association between cardiorespiratory fitness and regional gray matter volumes and higher focal fractional anisotropy values. Statistical mapping revealed that higher levels of fitness were associated with greater gray matter volume in the midline cortical structures including the medial frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex and the precuneus. Further, we also found that increasing levels of fitness were associated with higher fractional anisotropy in the left thalamic radiation and right anterior corona radiata. Both preserved gray matter volume and white matter tract integrity were associated with better performance on measures of processing speed. Taken together, these results suggest that fitness exerts a prophylactic influence on the structural decline observed early on, preserving neuronal integrity in multiple sclerosis, thereby reducing long-term disability.
Brain research 07/2009; 1341:41-51. · 2.46 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Recent literature has demonstrated the usefulness of fitness and computer-based cognitive training as a means to enhance cognition and brain function. However, it is unclear whether the combination of fitness and cognitive training that results from years of extensive sport training also results in superior performance on tests of cognitive processes. In this study we examine, in a quantitative meta-analysis (k = 20), the relationship between expertise in sports and laboratory-based measures of cognition. We found that athletes performed better on measures of processing speed and a category of varied attentional paradigms, and athletes from interceptive sport types and males showed the largest effects. Based on our results, more research should be done with higher-level cognitive tasks, such as tasks of executive function and more varied sub-domains of visual attention. Furthermore, future studies should incorporate more female athletes and use a diverse range of sport types and levels of expertise. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Applied Cognitive Psychology 06/2009; 24(6):812 - 826. · 1.67 Impact Factor
