Relationship of prefrontal brain lateralization to optimal cognitive function differs with age.
Joseph P Hennessee1, Christina E Webb1, Xi Chen1
1Center for Vital Longevity, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
Neuroimage
|November 17, 2022
Summary
Brain activity patterns in aging adults show distinct cognitive correlations. Youthful left-brain activation benefits middle age, while older adults perform better with more bilateral brain activity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Debate exists on whether increased right prefrontal cortex activity in older adults is compensatory or if youthful brain patterns better support cognition.
- Understanding neurocognitive aging requires examining brain activity lateralization across the lifespan.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity lateralization and cognitive performance across a wide age range.
- To determine if left-lateralized, youthful brain activity patterns are optimal for cognition in middle and late adulthood.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure PFC activity in 461 adults aged 20-89 during a semantic judgment task.
- Degree of left-lateralization in ventrolateral and dorsolateral PFC was treated as an individual differences variable to predict cognitive function.
Main Results:
- Younger adults exhibited high left-lateralization, but this did not correlate with cognitive performance.
- Higher left-lateralization predicted better cognition in middle-aged adults, suggesting youth-like patterns are optimal.
- In older adults, lower lateralization scores (more bilateral activity) were associated with better cognitive performance.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive function in aging is associated with shifting patterns of brain activity lateralization.
- Bilateral brain activity appears beneficial for cognition in older adults, while its early onset in middle age may indicate lower cognitive performance.
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