Training-induced brain structure changes in the elderly.

Full Abstract

It has been suggested that learning is associated with a transient and highly selective increase in brain gray matter in healthy young volunteers. It is not clear whether and to what extent the aging brain is still able to exhibit such structural plasticity. We built on our original study, now focusing on healthy senior citizens. We observed that elderly persons were able to learn three-ball cascade juggling, but with less proficiency compared with 20-year-old adolescents. Similar to the young group, gray-matter changes in the older brain related to skill acquisition were observed in area hMT/V5 (middle temporal area of the visual cortex). In addition, elderly volunteers who learned to juggle showed transient increases in gray matter in the hippocampus on the left side and in the nucleus accumbens bilaterally.

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Author information

Author/s: Boyke, Janina (J); Driemeyer, Joenna (J); Gaser, Christian (C); Büchel, Christian (C); May, Arne (A);

Affiliation: Department of Systems Neuroscience, University of Hamburg, D-22046 Hamburg, Germany.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (J Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jul; vol 28 (issue 28) : pp 7031-5

Dates: Created 2008/07/10; Completed 2008/08/12;

PMID: 18614670, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Brain - anatomy & histology; physiology
Brain Mapping
Female
Geriatric Assessment
Humans

Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Middle Aged
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Teaching - methods

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