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Age differences in default mode activity on easy and difficult spatial judgment tasks.

Denise C Park1, Thad A Polk, Andrew C Hebrank

  • 1Center for Vital Longevity, University of Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX, USA.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|February 4, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Older adults show less default network modulation on difficult spatial tasks compared to younger adults. These age differences in brain activity are specific to the default network and impact task performance.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Aging
  • Brain Imaging

Background:

  • The default mode network (DMN) is active during rest and disengaged during goal-directed tasks.
  • Previous research on DMN and aging primarily used verbal tasks.
  • Understanding age-related DMN changes in non-verbal tasks is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate age-related differences in default mode network (DMN) modulation during non-verbal spatial tasks of varying difficulty.
  • To examine age-specific functional connectivity patterns within the DMN.
  • To explore the relationship between DMN activity, age, and task performance.

Main Methods:

  • Presented young and older adults with easy categorical and demanding coordinate spatial judgment tasks.
  • Utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity and functional connectivity.
Keywords:
aging brainconnectivitydeactivationdefault modefMRIparietal cortexspatial judgment

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  • Analyzed age-by-task interactions within the DMN and other brain regions.

    • Main Results:

    • Older adults exhibited reduced DMN modulation compared to young adults on the demanding spatial task, with no age difference on the easy task.
    • The observed Age x Task interaction was specific to the DMN, not seen in non-DMN areas.
    • Younger adults showed stronger posterior DMN connectivity, while older adults had stronger medial prefrontal cortex connectivity.
    • Age mediated the relationship between DMN activity and performance, with optimal DMN deactivation correlating with better performance in older adults, but not younger adults.

    Conclusions:

    • Age-related changes in DMN processing and connectivity extend to visuo-spatial tasks.
    • These findings highlight the specificity of age-related DMN alterations.
    • The study provides new insights into how aging affects brain network function during cognitive tasks.