Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Neuroplasticity01:01

Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity reflects the brain's remarkable capacity to adapt and evolve, responding dynamically to learning, experiences, or injury by reorganizing its neural circuitry. This reorganization involves creating new neural connections and refining old ones through a series of biological processes that contribute to the brain's lifelong development and adaptability.
Neurogenesis and Regeneration of Nervous Tissue01:15

Neurogenesis and Regeneration of Nervous Tissue

In the CNS, neurogenesis, the birth of new neurons from stem cells, is limited to the hippocampus in adults. In other regions of the brain and spinal cord, neurogenesis is almost non-existent due to inhibitory influences from neuroglia, especially oligodendrocytes, and the absence of growth-stimulating cues. The myelin produced by oligodendrocytes in the CNS inhibits neuronal regeneration. Furthermore, astrocytes proliferate rapidly after neuronal damage, forming scar tissue that physically...
Neural Regulation01:37

Neural Regulation

Digestion begins with a cephalic phase that prepares the digestive system to receive food. When our brain processes visual or olfactory information about food, it triggers impulses in the cranial nerves innervating the salivary glands and stomach to prepare for food.
Cognitive Development During Adulthood01:30

Cognitive Development During Adulthood

Cognitive development continues throughout adulthood, undergoing significant shifts across early, middle, and late stages. Individual transition occurs from adolescent idealism to pragmatic and adaptable thinking in early adulthood. During this period, individuals learn to integrate personal beliefs with the recognition that other perspectives are equally valid. Exposure to the complexities of modern society, diverse experiences, and higher education contribute to this adaptive thought process,...
Long-term Potentiation01:35

Long-term Potentiation

Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre- and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Long-term Potentiation01:25

Long-term Potentiation

Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when presynaptic neurons...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Substance use risk and controlled substances discussions in cancer care: Observations from audio-recorded patient-clinician encounters.

Palliative & supportive care·2026
Same author

Communication practices and experience of connection in telehealth serious illness conversations with rural cancer patients: a qualitative study.

BMC palliative care·2026
Same author

Developing Methods for Observing Awe Narration in Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy.

Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

Digital maze test reveals cognitive performance patterns associated with amyloid-β and tau.

Neuropsychology·2026
Same author

Plasma phosphorylated tau 217 and longitudinal trajectories of Aβ, tau, and cognition in cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Baseline cortical amyloid-β levels are associated with subsequent study-partner-rated apathy in community-dwelling older adults.

Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD·2026
Same journal

Segmentation of the parasagittal dura mater on multi-center 3D-FLAIR MRI.

NeuroImage·2026
Same journal

Spatial frequency channels implement a mental ruler in spatial vision.

NeuroImage·2026
Same journal

Exploring the Link Between Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Measured Brain Diffusivity During Wakefulness and Sleep Macrostructure in the Elderly.

NeuroImage·2026
Same journal

Closed-loop adaptation of transcranial magnetic stimulation intensity with electroencephalography feedback.

NeuroImage·2026
Same journal

Volumetric postmortem MRI of the medial temporal lobe in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders: methodological advances and implications for in vivo biomarker development.

NeuroImage·2026
Same journal

Neural responses to equity and inequity when receiving vicarious rewards for self and charity during adolescence.

NeuroImage·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Preparation of Acute Hippocampal Slices from Rats and Transgenic Mice for the Study of Synaptic Alterations during Aging and Amyloid Pathology
14:57

Preparation of Acute Hippocampal Slices from Rats and Transgenic Mice for the Study of Synaptic Alterations during Aging and Amyloid Pathology

Published on: March 23, 2011

Does compensatory neural activity survive old-old age?

Kirk R Daffner1, Xue Sun, Elise C Tarbi

  • 1Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. kdaffner@partners.org

Neuroimage
|August 11, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cognitively high-performing older adults initially increase neural resource allocation but this compensatory mechanism declines significantly in very old age, impacting attention to salient events.

More Related Videos

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice
07:03

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

Published on: July 31, 2019

Investigating Functional Regeneration in Organotypic Spinal Cord Co-cultures Grown on Multi-electrode Arrays
08:25

Investigating Functional Regeneration in Organotypic Spinal Cord Co-cultures Grown on Multi-electrode Arrays

Published on: September 23, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Preparation of Acute Hippocampal Slices from Rats and Transgenic Mice for the Study of Synaptic Alterations during Aging and Amyloid Pathology
14:57

Preparation of Acute Hippocampal Slices from Rats and Transgenic Mice for the Study of Synaptic Alterations during Aging and Amyloid Pathology

Published on: March 23, 2011

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice
07:03

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

Published on: July 31, 2019

Investigating Functional Regeneration in Organotypic Spinal Cord Co-cultures Grown on Multi-electrode Arrays
08:25

Investigating Functional Regeneration in Organotypic Spinal Cord Co-cultures Grown on Multi-electrode Arrays

Published on: September 23, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Aging
  • Human Physiology

Background:

  • Older adults may compensate for cognitive declines by allocating more neural resources.
  • Previous research often excluded individuals beyond their 70s, limiting understanding of very old age.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if compensatory neural activity increases persist into very old age.
  • To examine age-related changes in resource allocation for cognitive tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in 72 cognitively high-performing adults aged 18-96.
  • Utilized a subject-controlled novelty oddball paradigm assessing visual stimuli.
  • Analyzed anterior N2 and P3 components for mismatch detection and resource allocation.

Main Results:

  • Young-old and old-old adults showed impaired preliminary mismatch detection (attenuated anterior N2).
  • Resource allocation (P3 amplitude) followed an inverted U-shape, peaking in the late 60s/early 70s.
  • Cognitively high performers in their 80s showed reduced P3 amplitude but preserved resource appropriation, declining further by the late 80s.

Conclusions:

  • Compensatory resource allocation for cognitive tasks is maintained until very old age.
  • The capacity to allocate additional resources declines in old-old age, limiting compensation for earlier processing impairments.
  • This compensatory mechanism does not typically extend into the oldest age groups.