Premium
Normal aging modulates prefrontoparietal networks underlying multiple memory processes
Author(s) -
Sambataro Fabio,
Safrin Martin,
Lemaitre Herve S.,
Steele Sonya U.,
Das Saumitra B.,
Callicott Joseph H.,
Weinberger Daniel R.,
Mattay Venkata S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2012.08254.x
Subject(s) - working memory , neurocognitive , neuroscience , default mode network , functional magnetic resonance imaging , episodic memory , psychology , posterior cingulate , cognition , prefrontal cortex , semantic memory , cognitive aging
A functional decline of brain regions underlying memory processing represents a hallmark of cognitive aging. Although a rich literature documents age‐related differences in several memory domains, the effect of aging on networks that underlie multiple memory processes has been relatively unexplored. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging during working memory and incidental episodic encoding memory to investigate patterns of age‐related differences in activity and functional covariance patterns common across multiple memory domains. Relative to younger subjects, older subjects showed increased activation in left dorso‐lateral prefrontal cortex along with decreased deactivation in the posterior cingulate. Older subjects showed greater functional covariance during both memory tasks in a set of regions that included a positive prefronto‐parietal‐occipital network as well as a negative network that spanned the default mode regions. These findings suggest that the memory process‐invariant recruitment of brain regions within prefronto‐parietal‐occipital network increases with aging. Our results are in line with the dedifferentiation hypothesis of neurocognitive aging, thereby suggesting a decreased specialization of the brain networks supporting different memory networks.