Increased thickness of the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex in healthy aging
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1
University of South Carolina, Communication Sciences and Disorders, United States
To investigate changes in cortical thickness across the life span, high-resolution MRIs (www.oasis-brains.org) of 129 healthy individuals (93 women; average age: 70 years, range: 33-94 years) were reconstructed using Freesurfer (surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu). Areas of age-related reduction of cortical thickness included the bilateral sensorimotor and superior temporal cortex. In contrast, an increase of cortical thickness with age was seen in the bilateral anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex. Recent functional neuroimaging studies have provided evidence that aging may not only be associated with areas of decreased, but also with areas of increased neural activity. In addition, it has been shown that intensive training may induce structural changes even in the adult brain. It is hypothesized that the observed increase of cortical thickness reflects neuroplastic changes within the aging brain. The bilateral anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex are multimodal areas, subserving a variety of functions. An increase in cortical thickness of these areas with age suggest that functions of primary cortices are shifted to multimodal areas, compensating for age-related loss of neural function.
Conference:
The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes, Toronto, Canada, 22 Mar - 26 Mar, 2010.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Aging
Citation:
Sörös
P
(2010). Increased thickness of the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex in healthy aging.
Conference Abstract:
The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.14.00128
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Received:
30 Jun 2010;
Published Online:
30 Jun 2010.
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Correspondence:
P. Sörös, University of South Carolina, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Columbia, United States, peter.soros@gmail.com