Top-down modulation and normal aging.

Full Abstract

Normal aging is characterized by cognitive deficits that cross multiple domains and impair the ability of some older individuals to lead productive, high-quality lives. One of the primary goals of research in our laboratories is to study age-related alterations in neural mechanisms that underlie a wide range of cognitive processes so that we may generate a unifying principle of cognitive aging. Top-down modulation is the mechanism by which we enhance neural activity associated with relevant information and suppress activity for irrelevant information, thus establishing a foundation for both attention and memory processes. We use three converging technologies of human neurophysiology to study top-down modulation in aging:
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Using these tools we have discovered that healthy older adults exhibit a selective inability to effectively suppress neural activity associated with distracting information and that this top-down suppression deficit is correlated with their memory impairment. We are now further characterizing the basis of these age-related alterations in top-down modulation and investigating interventions to remedy them.

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Author information

Author/s: Gazzaley, Adam (A); D'Esposito, Mark (M);

Affiliation: Department of Neurology and Physiology, Keck Center of Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-2522, USA. adam.gazzaley(-atsign-)ucsf.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (Ann N Y Acad Sci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Feb; vol 1097 (issue ) : pp 67-83

Dates: Created 2007/04/06; Completed 2007/04/25; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 17413013, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged - psychology
Aging - physiology
Cognition - physiology
Electroencephalography
Humans

Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Memory - physiology
Nervous System - growth & development; pathology
Nervous System Physiological Phenomena

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