 |
| Research article summary (published 29 Sep 2009): |
Neural signatures of semantic and phonemic fluency in young and old adults.
Full Abstract
As we age, our ability to select and to produce words changes, yet we know little about the underlying neural substrate of word-finding difficulties in old adults. This study was designed to elucidate changes in specific frontally mediated retrieval processes involved in word-finding difficulties associated with advanced age. We implemented two overt verbal (semantic and phonemic) fluency tasks during fMRI and compared brain activity patterns of old and young adults. Performance during the phonemic task was comparable for both age groups and mirrored by strongly left-lateralized (frontal) activity patterns. On the other hand, a significant drop of performance during the semantic task in the older group was accompanied by additional right (inferior and middle) frontal activity, which was negatively correlated with performance. Moreover, the younger group recruited different subportions of the left inferior frontal gyrus for both fluency tasks, whereas the older participants failed to show this distinction. Thus, functional integrity and efficient recruitment of left frontal language areas seems to be critical for successful word retrieval in old age.
Author information
Author/s: Meinzer, Marcus (M); Flaisch, Tobias (T); Wilser, Lotte (L); Eulitz, Carsten (C); Rockstroh, Brigitte (B); Conway, Tim (T); Gonzalez-Rothi, Leslie (L); Crosson, Bruce (B);
Affiliation: University of Konstanz. mmeinzer(-atsign-)ufl.edu
Grants: R01 DC007387 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS) ; R01 DC007387-02 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS)
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal: Journal of cognitive neuroscience (J Cogn Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 21 (issue 10) : pp 2007-18
Dates: Created 2009/08/24; Completed 2009/10/29;
PMID: 19296728, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/29/2009, IMS Date: )
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):
Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.
This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.
MeSH headings (categories)
This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.
Related articles
This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.
See a large map of 100+ related articles.