Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2026
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
Experience-dependent plasticity of white-matter microstructure extends into old age
Martin Lövdén1, Nils Christian Bodammer, Simone Kühn
1Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. loevden@mpib-berlin.mpg.de
Neuropsychologia
|September 7, 2010
Summary
Cognitive training enhances brain white matter microstructure in both younger and older adults. This demonstrates that brain plasticity continues throughout life, offering potential for age-related connectivity improvements.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- White-matter microstructure changes with experience in early adulthood.
- It remains unclear if this brain plasticity persists into old age.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate white-matter tract plasticity in younger and older adults using cognitive training.
- To examine experience-dependent alterations in interhemispheric frontal lobe connectivity.
Main Methods:
- Employed cognitive training over ~180 days, including working memory, episodic memory, and perceptual speed tasks.
- Utilized diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) and structural MRI to assess white-matter microstructure.
- Included control groups for pre- and post-training assessment.
Main Results:
- Cognitive training led to significant changes in DTI metrics.
- The anterior corpus callosum area increased following training.
- Similar magnitudes of white-matter alterations were observed in both younger and older adults.
Conclusions:
- Experience-dependent white-matter plasticity extends into old age.
- Structural disruptions in interhemispheric connectivity associated with aging are modifiable by experience.
- Cognitive training shows potential as a treatment for age-related connectivity decline.
Related Concept Videos
01:01Neuroplasticity
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.
01:30Cognitive 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,...
00:58Plasticity
Plasticity is the property where an object loses its elasticity and undergoes irreversible deformation, even after the deformation forces are eliminated. If a material deforms irreversibly without increasing stress or load, then this is called ideal plasticity. For example, when a force is applied to an aluminum rod, it changes its shape, but it does not return to its original shape once the force is removed. Plastic deformation or ductility is thus a permanent deformation or change in the...
01:25Long-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...
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when presynaptic neurons...
01:35Long-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.
01:03Long-term Depression
Long-term depression, or LTD, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTD is the process of synaptic weakening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic weakening of LTD works in opposition to synaptic strengthening by long-term potentiation (LTP) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over time, all...
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over time, all...