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Gray matter volume and within-task verbal fluency performance among older adults
Brigitte Pace1, Roee Holtzer2, Mark E Wagshul3
1Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, 1165 Morris Park Ave, The Bronx, NY 10461, United States.
Brain and Cognition
|March 3, 2023
Summary
Lower gray matter volume (GMV) in frontal brain regions is linked to a slower rate of word generation in older adults. This finding suggests frontal GMV supports efficient verbal fluency tasks, potentially impacting cognitive health.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Verbal fluency (VF) tasks assess word generation rate, which declines with age and predicts Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
- The neural substrates of word generation rate in VF tasks remain underexplored.
- Gray matter volume (GMV) is a key neuroimaging marker of brain structure and function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between gray matter volume (GMV) and the rate of word generation in older adults during verbal fluency (VF) tasks.
- To identify specific brain regions where GMV influences word generation rate.
- To explore the neural underpinnings of age-related changes in verbal fluency.
Main Methods:
- Seventy community-residing adults aged 65 years and older completed letter and category VF tasks and a 3T structural MRI scan.
- Linear mixed effects models (LMEMs) were used to analyze the moderating effect of GMV on word generation rate.
- Whole-brain voxel-wise LMEMs were conducted, controlling for demographic and cognitive covariates, with permutation-based corrections for multiple comparisons.
Main Results:
- Lower GMV, particularly in frontal regions (superior frontal, rostral middle frontal, frontal pole, medial orbitofrontal, and pars orbitalis), was associated with an attenuated word generation rate.
- This association was more pronounced in the letter verbal fluency task compared to the category task.
- The rate of word generation (slope) provided information beyond total scores and is linked to neural structure.
Conclusions:
- Reduced frontal GMV is associated with inefficient executive word search processes, reflected by a slower word generation rate in older adults, especially during letter-based VF.
- These findings highlight the structural neural basis of verbal fluency performance in aging.
- GMV in specific frontal regions may be a critical factor for maintaining efficient verbal fluency in later life.
Keywords:
Category verbal fluencyExecutive functionsHealthy older adultsLetter verbal fluencyMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI)Word generation rateMore Related Videos
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