Effects of aging on sequential cognitive flexibility are associated with fronto-parietal processing deficits

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Cognitive flexibility is known to decline with age.
• Sequential task control, involving re-engaging abandoned tasks, is a crucial aspect of cognitive flexibility.
• The neurophysiological basis of age-related deficits in sequential cognitive flexibility remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age-related differences in sequential cognitive flexibility.
• To identify the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying these differences.
• To determine the associated functional neuroanatomical structures.

Main Methods:

• System neurophysiological study using electroencephalography (EEG) and source localization.
• Comparison between healthy young and elderly adults.
• Assessment of sequential task control and cognitive flexibility.

Main Results:

• Elderly adults exhibit deficient sequential cognitive flexibility.
• Increased costs observed in elderly individuals to overcome task inhibition and re-implement abandoned task sets.
• EEG data indicate two dysfunctional processes in the elderly: impaired suppression of irrelevant information and difficulties in re-implementing previously abandoned task sets during response selection.

Conclusions:

• Healthy aging is associated with deficits in sequential cognitive flexibility.
• These deficits stem from independent dysfunctions in inhibiting irrelevant information and re-implementing abandoned tasks.
• Functional neuroanatomical correlates involve inferior frontal and inferior parietal regions, highlighting a new aspect of cognitive decline in aging.