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Comparative Study
. 2008 Apr;29(4):497-513.
doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2006.11.011. Epub 2006 Dec 18.

II. Temporal patterns of longitudinal change in aging brain function

L L Beason-Held  1 , M A Kraut, S M Resnick
Affiliations
Comparative Study

II. Temporal patterns of longitudinal change in aging brain function

L L Beason-Held et al. Neurobiol Aging. 2008 Apr.

Abstract

Time-dependent changes in brain activity were assessed in a group of older adults who maintained good physical and cognitive health at years 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging neuroimaging study. Each year, these participants underwent PET scans during rest and delayed verbal and figural recognition memory conditions. While memory performance remained stable over the 8 years, both generalized and modality-specific patterns of time-dependent changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were found. Many brain regions showed steady, progressive changes in rCBF over the 8 years while others maintained rCBF for a number of years before showing incremental declines or increases in activity. These temporal patterns of change were observed in many regions of the brain, particularly in the frontal and temporal lobes, suggesting that there are distinctive patterns of age-related functional decline and compensatory activity over time. The precise patterns of regional involvement and the temporal dynamics of rCBF change within specific regions vary based on cognitive processing demands.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Verbal and Figural Recognition Task Stimuli
Examples of the task stimuli are shown for the verbal (top) and figural (bottom) recognition conditions. For both Verbal and Figural tasks, subjects are shown a list of stimuli to remember prior to scanning. During the recognition phase, the subjects see a list of stimuli again and must indicate whether each stimulus was one that had been shown before. This phase is self paced, with the next stimulus appearing after the subject makes a response or after a maximum display time of 5000 ms.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Longitudinal Task Performance
Performance data are shown for both verbal and figural recognition conditions. Task accuracy is shown as sensitivity score on the left (hits corrected for false positive responses). There was no significant change in performance levels over time for either task condition. Reaction times shown on the right decreased across time for both conditions and were significantly slower for the figural task.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Linear Changes in Brain Activation
Regions showing steady linear changes in brain activation across all years are shown. Changes common to all scan conditions and those specific to verbal and figural recognition are displayed. Areas in blue show significant linear decreases in rCBF and areas in red show significant linear increases in rCBF over time. The green line illustrates the z level of the representative slice shown in each condition.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Temporal dynamics of rCBF change
Examples of regional linear (A) and incremental step (B) decreases in rCBF over time. The changes shown here occur across all task conditions.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Incremental Changes in Brain Activation
Differences in brain activation patterns that occur within a specific year are shown. Changes common to all scan conditions and those specific to verbal and figural recognition are displayed. Areas in blue show significant decreases in rCBF and areas in red show significant increases in rCBF that begin in each year. The graphs illustrate the temporal model used to determine rCBF change at each time point.
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