scholarly journals Preserved global cerebral blood flow accounts for youthful processing speed in older adults

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Nils Yang ◽  
Long Xie ◽  
Olga Galli ◽  
John A. Detre ◽  
David A. Wolk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Global Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Additional Variance

AbstractPreserved cognitive performance is one of the key contributors to successful aging. The processing speed theory and prefrontal executive theory – are competing theories regarding the general causes of cognitive aging. Here, we used a theoretically-driven framework to investigate the neural correlates of older adults with preserved processing speed. Older adults with youth-like processing speed (SuperAgers) were compared with normal aged adults (TypicalAgers) using neuroimaging methods. Global cerebral blood flow (CBF) accounted for approximately 45% of the variance in processing speed, while neither regional CBF nor other structural measures predicted additional variance. In addition, despite having significantly cortical thinning, SuperAgers still shown comparable global CBF levels with young adults. These results support the global mechanism suggested by processing speed theory and indicate that global CBF may serve as a biomarker of cognitive aging.

scholarly journals Swimming as a Positive Moderator of Cognitive Aging: A Cross-Sectional Study with a Multitask Approach

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amira Abou-Dest ◽  
Cédric T. Albinet ◽  
Geoffroy Boucard ◽  
Michel Audiffren
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Information Processing Speed ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Potential Benefits

This study examined whether regular swimming in older adults was related to better cognitive functioning and whether there were any global or selective positive effects of this physical activity (PA) on cognition. The cognitive performances of three groups of sixteen volunteer participants (young adults, sedentary older adults, and older adults who regularly practice swimming) were evaluated using a multitask approach. All participants performed a battery of ten tasks: two reaction time tasks assessing information processing speed and eight experimental tasks assessing three executive functions (EFs), (behavioral inhibition, working memory updating, and cognitive flexibility). The results showed that young adults performed significantly better than older adults on all examined cognitive functions. However, in older adults, regular swimming was related to better performance on the three EFs, but not on information processing speed. More precisely, five experimental tasks out of the eight tapping EFs were shown to be sensitive to positive effects from swimming practice. Finally, the demonstrated benefits of swimming on EFs were not necessarily linked to better cardiorespiratory fitness. The present findings illustrate the validity of using a multitask approach in examining the potential benefits of regular PA on cognitive aging.

Aging and Recognition Memory: Changes in Regional Cerebral Blood Flow Associated with Components of Reaction Time Distributions

1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 511-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Madden ◽  
Lawrence R. Gottlob ◽  
Laura L. Denny ◽  
Timothy G. Turkington ◽  
James M. Provenzale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Regional Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Regional Cerebral Blood ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Mean

We used H215O positron emission tomography (PET) to measure age-related changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during a verbal recognition memory task. Twelve young adults (20 to 29 years) and 12 older adults (62 to 79 years) participated. Separate PET scans were conducted during Encoding, Baseline, and Retrieval conditions. Each of the conditions involved viewing a series of 64 words and making a two-choice response manually. The complete reaction time (RT) distributions in each task condition were characterized in terms of an ex-Gaussian model (convolution of exponential and Gaussian functions). Parameter estimates were obtained for the mean of the exponential component (τ), representing a task-specific decision process and the mean of the Gaussian component (μ), representing residual sensory coding and response processes. Independently of age group, both μ and τ were higher in the Encoding and Retrieval conditions than in the Baseline condition, and τ was higher during Retrieval than during Encoding. Age-related slowing in task performance was evident primarily in μ. For young adults, rCBF activation in the right prefrontal cortex, in the Retrieval condition, was correlated positively with μ but not with τ. For older adults, rCBF changes (both increases and decreases) in several cortical regions were correlated with both μ and τ. The data suggest that the attentional demands of this task are relatively greater for older adults and consequently lead to the recruitment of additional neural systems during task performance.

scholarly journals A comprehensive score reflecting memory-related fMRI activations and deactivations as potential biomarker for neurocognitive aging

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joram Soch ◽  
Anni Richter ◽  
Hartmut Schütze ◽  
Jasmin M. Kizilirmak ◽  
Anne Assmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Network Activity ◽  
Imaging Biomarker ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Potential Biomarker ◽  
Neurocognitive Aging

AbstractOlder adults and particularly those at risk for developing dementia typically show a decline in episodic memory performance, which has been associated with altered memory network activity detectable via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To quantify the degree of these alterations, a score has been developed as a putative imaging biomarker for successful aging in memory for older adults (Functional Activity Deviations during Encoding, FADE; Düzel et al., 2011). Here, we introduce and validate a more comprehensive version of the FADE score, termed FADE-SAME (Similarity of Activations during Memory Encoding), which differs from the original FADE score by considering not only activations but also deactivations in fMRI contrasts of stimulus novelty and successful encoding, and by taking into account the variance of young adults’ activations. We computed both scores for novelty and subsequent memory contrasts in a cohort of 217 healthy adults, including 106 young and 111 older participants, as well as a replication cohort of 117 young subjects. We further tested the stability and generalizability of both scores by controlling for different MR scanners and gender, as well as by using different data sets of young adults as reference samples. Both scores showed robust age-group-related differences for the subsequent memory contrast, and the FADE-SAME score additionally exhibited age-group-related differences for the novelty contrast. Furthermore, both scores correlate with behavioral measures of cognitive aging, namely memory performance. Taken together, our results suggest that single-value scores of memory-related fMRI responses may constitute promising biomarkers for quantifying neurocognitive aging.

Effect of Ketanserin on Global Cerebral Blood Flow and Middle Cerebral Artery Flow Velocity

1995 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Weyland ◽  
Heidrun Stephan ◽  
Frank Grune ◽  
Wolfgang Weyland ◽  
Hans Sonntag
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Middle Cerebral Artery ◽  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Cerebral Artery ◽  
Global Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Artery Flow

THE POSSIBILITY OF LINKING SPONTANEOUS AND INDUCED NEUROCOGNITIVE PLASTICITY: CAN COGNITIVE TRAINING INFLUENCE COMPENSATORY BRAIN ACTIVITY IN OLDER ADULTS? THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL PREMISES

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-523
Author(s):  
Ludmiła Zając-Lamparska
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Theory Of Aging

One of the most important determinants of successful aging is cognitive ability. Although cognitive decline is a well-documented phenomenon characteristic of aging, it is acknowledged that aging can also be related to cognitive neuroplasticity that allows one to compensate the decline and adapt to it. Cognitive neuroplasticity may be spontaneous or induced by external influences. An example of the former is compensatory brain activity in older adults, and the latter – improvement in cognitive functioning under the influence of cognitive training. Both the compensatory brain activity of older adults and the effectiveness of cognitive training in this age group have already been extensively studied. However, it has not yet been examined whether they can be linked. The article indicates theoretical and empirical premises for the possibility of influencing compensatory brain activity in older adults by cognitive training. In the most comprehensive way the phenomenon of compensatory brain activity in older adults is addressed by the STAC model – the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition, which also provides the theoretical grounds for the possible impact of cognitive training on compensatory brain activity. There are also empirical arguments in favour of such an impact, but they are quite limited in nature. The reason for this is the lack of research directly addressing the problem of the consistency of brain activity changes resulting from cognitive training with the assumptions of compensatory brain activity models, such as STAC. The theoretical grounds for the linkage of compensatory brain activity in older adults with the influence of cognitive training are clear. However, the analysis of the studies discussed in the article suggests that failing to embed the study design within the theoretical framework of compensatory brain activity in older adults may lead to the exclusion of factors important in drawing conclusions about this phenomenon. The following elements of the study design were identified as necessary to include: participation of young adults in the study as a reference group, usage of tasks in different difficulty levels during the measurement of brain activity and consideration of the relation between brain activity and cognitive performance, and comparison of brain activity in relation to cognitive performance before and after training in both, older and young adults.

scholarly journals Effect of acute hypoxia on regional cerebral blood flow: effect of sympathetic nerve activity

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (9) ◽  
pp. 1189-1196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nia C. S. Lewis ◽  
Laura Messinger ◽  
Brad Monteleone ◽  
Philip N. Ainslie
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve ◽  
Regional Difference ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Acute Hypoxia ◽  
Adrenergic Blockade ◽  
Percentage Increase ◽  
Nerve Activity ◽  
Global Cerebral Blood Flow

We examined 1) whether global cerebral blood flow (CBF) would increase across a 6-h bout of normobaric poikilocapnic hypoxia and be mediated by a larger increase in blood flow in the vertebral artery (VA) than in the internal carotid artery (ICA); and 2) whether additional increases in global CBF would be evident following an α1-adrenergic blockade via further dilation of the ICA and VA. In 11 young normotensive individuals, ultrasound measures of ICA and VA flow were obtained in normoxia (baseline) and following 60, 210, and 330 min of hypoxia (FiO2 = 0.11). Ninety minutes prior to final assessment, participants received an α1-adrenoreceptor blocker (prazosin, 1 mg/20 kg body mass) or placebo. Compared with baseline, following 60, 220, and 330 min of hypoxia, global CBF [(ICAFlow + VAFlow) ∗ 2] increased by 160 ± 52 ml/min (+28%; P = 0.05), 134 ± 23 ml/min (+23%; P = 0.02), and 113 ± 51 (+19%; P = 0.27), respectively. Compared with baseline, ICAFlow increased by 23% following 60 min of hypoxia ( P = 0.06), after which it progressively declined. The percentage increase in VA flow was consistently larger than ICA flow during hypoxia by ∼20% ( P = 0.002). Compared with baseline, ICA and VA diameters increased during hypoxia by ∼9% and ∼12%, respectively ( P ≤ 0.05), and were correlated with reductions in SaO2. Flow and diameters were unaltered following α1 blockade ( P ≥ 0.10). In conclusion, elevations in global CBF during acute hypoxia are partly mediated via greater increases in VA flow compared with ICA flow; this regional difference was unaltered following α1 blockade, indicating that a heightened sympathetic nerve activity with hypoxia does not constrain further dilation of larger extracranial blood vessels.

MRI-based measurements of whole-brain global cerebral blood flow: Comparison and validation at 1.5T and 3T

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1273-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Ming Chen ◽  
Yen-Chih Huang ◽  
Cheng-Ting Shih ◽  
Yung-Fang Chen ◽  
Shin-Lei Peng
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Global Cerebral Blood Flow

scholarly journals Higher Aortic Stiffness Is Related to Lower Cerebral Blood Flow and Preserved Cerebrovascular Reactivity in Older Adults

Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 138 (18) ◽  
pp. 1951-1962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela L. Jefferson ◽  
Francis E. Cambronero ◽  
Dandan Liu ◽  
Elizabeth E. Moore ◽  
Jacquelyn E. Neal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Aortic Stiffness ◽  
Cerebrovascular Reactivity
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document