scholarly journals The Effect of Spatial Working Memory Deterioration on Strategic Visuomotor Learning across Aging

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis A. Uresti-Cabrera ◽  
Rosalinda Diaz ◽  
Israel Vaca-Palomares ◽  
Juan Fernandez-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Strategic Learning ◽  
Strategic Control ◽  
Visuomotor Learning ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Effect Of Age

Objective. To evaluate the effect of age-related cognitive changes in a visuomotor learning task that depends on strategic control and contrast it with the effect in a task principally depending on visuomotor recalibration.Methods. Participants performed a ball throwing task while donning either a reversing dove prism or a displacement wedge prism, which mainly depend on strategic control or visuomotor recalibration, respectively. Visuomotor performance was then analysed in relation to rule acquisition and reversal, recognition memory, visual memory, spatial planning, and spatial working memory with tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB).Results. The results confirmed previous works showing a detrimental effect of age on visuomotor learning. The analyses of the cognitive changes observed across age showed that both strategic control and visuomotor recalibration had significant negative correlations only with the number of errors in the spatial working memory task. However, when the effect of aging was controlled, the only significant correlation remaining was between the reversal adaptation magnitude and spatial working memory.Discussion. These results suggest that spatial working memory decline across aging could contribute to age-dependent deterioration in both visuomotor learning processes. However, spatial working memory integrity seems to affect strategic learning decline even after controlling for aging.

Failure to Engage Spatial Working Memory Contributes to Age-related Declines in Visuomotor Learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquin A. Anguera ◽  
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz ◽  
Daniel T. Willingham ◽  
Rachael D. Seidler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Visuomotor Adaptation ◽  
Adaptation Period ◽  
Visuomotor Learning ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
The Right

It is well documented that both cognitive and motor learning abilities decline with normative aging. Given that cognitive processes such as working memory are engaged during the early stages of motor learning [Anguera, J., Reuter-Lorenz, P., Willingham, D., & Seidler, R. Contributions of spatial working memory to visuomotor learning. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22(9), 1917–1930, 2010], age-related declines in motor learning may be due in part to reductions in cognitive ability. The present study examined whether age-related declines in spatial working memory (SWM) contribute to deficits in visuomotor adaptation. Young and older adult participants performed a visuomotor adaptation task that involved adapting manual aiming movements to a 30° rotation of the visual feedback display as well as an SWM task in an fMRI scanner. Young adults showed a steeper learning curve than older adults during the early adaptation period. The rate of early adaptation was correlated with SWM performance for the young, but not older, adults. Both groups showed similar brain activation patterns for the SWM task, including engagement of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilateral inferior parietal lobules. However, when the SWM activation was used as a limiting mask, younger adults showed neural activation that overlapped with the early adaptation period, whereas older adults did not. A partial correlation controlling for age revealed that the rate of early adaptation correlated with the amount of activation at the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that a failure to effectively engage SWM processes during learning contributes to age-related deficits in visuomotor adaptation.

scholarly journals β-Lactolin, a Whey-Derived Gly-Thr-Trp-Tyr Lactopeptide, Promotes Cerebral Blood Flow During Cognitive Tasks: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 889-889
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Ano ◽  
Keiko Kobayashi ◽  
Takashi Koikeda ◽  
Ryuta Kawashima
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Double Blind Study ◽  
Age Related

Abstract Objectives Due to the rapid aging of society, the prevention of age-related cognitive decline and dementia has gained increasing attention. Recent epidemiological investigations have shown that the consumption of dairy products reduces the risk of dementia in older adults. β-lactolin, a whey-derived Gly-Thr-Trp-Tyr lactopeptide, activates the dopaminergic system, improves memory impairment, and prevents Alzheimer's pathologies in a rodent model. We have demonstrated that β-lactolin supplementation improves memory retrieval and selective attention in randomized trials. On the other hand, the mechanisms underlying the effects of β-lactolin on human brain activity have not been investigated. Methods We examined the effects of β-lactolin on cerebral blood flow (CBF) using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in a placebo-controlled randomized double-blind study. Fifty healthy participants (45–60 years old) were randomly allocated to the β-lactolin and placebo groups and supplemented for 6 weeks. At 0 and 6 weeks of the intervention, oxyhemoglobin (Hb) was measured using 34-channel (CH) NIRS during the working memory tasks. Results The changes in oxy-Hb in CH23 located at the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during the spatial working memory task showed a higher statistical significance (false discovery rate (q) = 0.045) in the β-lactolin than in the placebo group. The CBF changes in CH23 were correlated with the reaction time for the working memory task. A recent trial using a 2-CH NIRS also showed a significant CBF increase in the DLPFC area after β-lactolin supplementation. Conclusions β-lactolin supplementation increases CBF in the DLPFC area, which contributes to improved cognitive functions. Funding Sources Current study was funded by Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd.

scholarly journals Enhancing Spatial Attention and Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1483-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camarin E. Rolle ◽  
Joaquin A. Anguera ◽  
Sasha N. Skinner ◽  
Bradley Voytek ◽  
Adam Gazzaley
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Attention Training ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Custom Made

Daily experiences demand both focused and broad allocation of attention for us to interact efficiently with our complex environments. Many types of attention have shown age-related decline, although there is also evidence that such deficits may be remediated with cognitive training. However, spatial attention abilities have shown inconsistent age-related differences, and the extent of potential enhancement of these abilities remains unknown. Here, we assessed spatial attention in both healthy younger and older adults and trained this ability in both age groups for 5 hr over the course of 2 weeks using a custom-made, computerized mobile training application. We compared training-related gains on a spatial attention assessment and spatial working memory task to age-matched controls who engaged in expectancy-matched, active placebo computerized training. Age-related declines in spatial attention abilities were observed regardless of task difficulty. Spatial attention training led to improved focused and distributed attention abilities as well as improved spatial working memory in both younger and older participants. No such improvements were observed in either of the age-matched control groups. Note that these findings were not a function of improvements in simple response time, as basic motoric function did not change after training. Furthermore, when using change in simple response time as a covariate, all findings remained significant. These results suggest that spatial attention training can lead to enhancements in spatial working memory regardless of age.

scholarly journals Age-Related Differences in Cortical Activity during a Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Task with Facial Stimuli

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e75778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flávia Schechtman Belham ◽  
Corina Satler ◽  
Ana Garcia ◽  
Carlos Tomaz ◽  
Antonella Gasbarri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Cortical Activity ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
Age Related

scholarly journals Resting‐State EEG Microstates Parallel Age‐Related Differences in Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline Jabès ◽  
Giuliana Klencklen ◽  
Paolo Ruggeri ◽  
Christoph M. Michel ◽  
Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Age Related

AbstractAlterations of resting-state EEG microstates have been associated with various neurological disorders and behavioral states. Interestingly, age-related differences in EEG microstate organization have also been reported, and it has been suggested that resting-state EEG activity may predict cognitive capacities in healthy individuals across the lifespan. In this exploratory study, we performed a microstate analysis of resting-state brain activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory performance in healthy adult individuals: twenty 25–30-year-olds and twenty-five 64–75-year-olds. We found a lower spatial working memory performance in older adults, as well as age-related differences in the five EEG microstate maps A, B, C, C′ and D, but especially in microstate maps C and C′. These two maps have been linked to neuronal activity in the frontal and parietal brain regions which are associated with working memory and attention, cognitive functions that have been shown to be sensitive to aging. Older adults exhibited lower global explained variance and occurrence of maps C and C′. Moreover, although there was a higher probability to transition from any map towards maps C, C′ and D in young and older adults, this probability was lower in older adults. Finally, although age-related differences in resting-state EEG microstates paralleled differences in allocentric spatial working memory performance, we found no evidence that any individual or combination of resting-state EEG microstate parameter(s) could reliably predict individual spatial working memory performance. Whether the temporal dynamics of EEG microstates may be used to assess healthy cognitive aging from resting-state brain activity requires further investigation.

scholarly journals Brain hemodynamic response in Examiner–Examinee dyads during spatial short-term memory task: an fNIRS study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Panico ◽  
Stefania De Marco ◽  
Laura Sagliano ◽  
Francesca D’Olimpio ◽  
Dario Grossi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Real

AbstractThe Corsi Block-Tapping test (CBT) is a measure of spatial working memory (WM) in clinical practice, requiring an examinee to reproduce sequences of cubes tapped by an examiner. CBT implies complementary behaviors in the examiners and the examinees, as they have to attend a precise turn taking. Previous studies demonstrated that the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is activated during CBT, but scarce evidence is available on the neural correlates of CBT in the real setting. We assessed PFC activity in dyads of examiner–examinee participants while completing the real version of CBT, during conditions of increasing and exceeding workload. This procedure allowed to investigate whether brain activity in the dyads is coordinated. Results in the examinees showed that PFC activity was higher when the workload approached or reached participants’ spatial WM span, and lower during workload conditions that were largely below or above their span. Interestingly, findings in the examiners paralleled the ones in the examinees, as examiners’ brain activity increased and decreased in a similar way as the examinees’ one. In the examiners, higher left-hemisphere activity was observed suggesting the likely activation of non-spatial WM processes. Data support a bell-shaped relationship between cognitive load and brain activity, and provide original insights on the cognitive processes activated in the examiner during CBT.

scholarly journals Are visual working memory and episodic memory distinct processes? Insight from stroke patients by lesion-symptom mapping

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selma Lugtmeijer ◽  
◽  
Linda Geerligs ◽  
Frank Erik de Leeuw ◽  
Edward H. F. de Haan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Lesion Symptom Mapping ◽  
Criterion Setting ◽  
The Right

AbstractWorking memory and episodic memory are two different processes, although the nature of their interrelationship is debated. As these processes are predominantly studied in isolation, it is unclear whether they crucially rely on different neural substrates. To obtain more insight in this, 81 adults with sub-acute ischemic stroke and 29 elderly controls were assessed on a visual working memory task, followed by a surprise subsequent memory test for the same stimuli. Multivariate, atlas- and track-based lesion-symptom mapping (LSM) analyses were performed to identify anatomical correlates of visual memory. Behavioral results gave moderate evidence for independence between discriminability in working memory and subsequent memory, and strong evidence for a correlation in response bias on the two tasks in stroke patients. LSM analyses suggested there might be independent regions associated with working memory and episodic memory. Lesions in the right arcuate fasciculus were more strongly associated with discriminability in working memory than in subsequent memory, while lesions in the frontal operculum in the right hemisphere were more strongly associated with criterion setting in subsequent memory. These findings support the view that some processes involved in working memory and episodic memory rely on separate mechanisms, while acknowledging that there might also be shared processes.

Age-related laterality shifts in auditory and attention networks with normal ageing: Effects on a working memory task

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 180-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanani Abdul Manan ◽  
Elizabeth A. Franz ◽  
Ahmad Nazlim Yusoff ◽  
Siti Zamratol-Mai Sarah Mukari
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Attention Networks ◽  
Ageing Effects ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Normal Ageing

Neuropsychological impairment in patients with major depressive disorder: the effects of feedback on task performance

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. C. MURPHY ◽  
A. MICHAEL ◽  
T. W. ROBBINS ◽  
B. J. SAHAKIAN
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Visual Discrimination ◽  
Negative Reinforcement ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Depressive Illness ◽  
Reversal Task ◽  
Depressed Patients

Background. Recent evidence suggests that an abnormal response to performance feedback may contribute to the wide-ranging neuropsychological deficits typically associated with depressive illness. The present research sought to determine whether the inability of depressed patients to utilize performance feedback advantageously is equally true for accurate and misleading feedback.Method. Patients with major depression and matched controls completed: (1) a visual discrimination and reversal task that featured intermittent and misleading negative feedback; and (2) feedback and no-feedback versions of a computerised test of spatial working memory. In the feedback version, negative feedback was accurate, highly informative, and could be used as a mnemonic aid.Results. On the Probability Reversal task, depressed patients were impaired in their ability to maintain response set in the face of misleading negative feedback as shown by their increased tendency to switch responding to the ‘incorrect’ stimulus following negative reinforcement, relative to that of controls. Patients' ability to acquire and reverse the necessary visual discrimination was unimpaired. On the Spatial Working Memory task, depressed patients made significantly more between-search errors than controls on the most difficult trials, but their ability to use negative feedback to facilitate performance remained intact.Conclusions. The present results suggest that feedback can have different effects in different contexts. Misleading, negative feedback appears to disrupt the performance of depressed patients, whereas negative but accurate feedback does not. These findings are considered in the context of recent studies on reinforcement systems and their associated neurobiological substrates.

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