Deakin University
Browse
macpherson-agerelated-2014.pdf (1.53 MB)

Age-related changes to the neural correlates of working memory which emerge after midlife

Download (1.53 MB)
journal contribution
posted on 2014-04-01, 00:00 authored by Helen MacphersonHelen Macpherson, D J White, K A Ellis, C Stough, D Camfield, R Silberstein, A Pipingas
Previous research has indicated that the neural processes which underlie working memory change with age. Both age-related increases and decreases to cortical activity have been reported. This study investigated which stages of working memory are most vulnerable to age-related changes after midlife. To do this we examined age-differences in the 13 Hz steady state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) associated with a spatial working memory delayed response task. Participants were 130 healthy adults separated into a midlife (40-60 years) and an older group (61-82 years). Relative to the midlife group, older adults demonstrated greater bilateral frontal activity during encoding and this pattern of activity was related to better working memory performance. In contrast, evidence of age-related under activation was identified over left frontal regions during retrieval. Findings from this study suggest that after midlife, under-activation of frontal regions during retrieval contributes to age-related decline in working memory performance. © 2014 Macpherson, White, Ellis, Stough, Camfield, Silberstein and Pipingas.

History

Journal

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

Volume

6

Publisher

Frontiers Media SA

Location

Lausanne, Switzerland

eISSN

1663-4365

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2014, Frontiers