Cognitive ability in the elderly is related to the timing not degree of lateralisation of the functional cerebrovascular response.
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1
The University of South Australia, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, Australia
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2
Macquarie University, ARC Centre for Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australia
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3
Flinders University, School of Psychology, Australia
i. Background
There is growing awareness of cerebrovascular contributions to cognitive impairment that accompanies aging and dementia. However, in vivo investigations are often hampered by feasibility issues and cost. We investigated associations between cerebrovascular system functioning during a cognitive task and overall cognitive performance in healthy adults 60 years and over, using a cost-effective and well tolerated method – transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD).
ii. Methods
Twenty-five healthy right-handed individuals (17 female, 9 male) between the ages of 60 and 84 years underwent cognitive testing via the Weschler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale Vocabulary and Matrix sub-tests, and functional TCD testing during a word-generation task. TCD blood flow velocity data was collected from the right and left middle cerebral arteries. This data was averaged relative to stimulus onset (i.e. the letter required for the word generation task; 24 trials in total) and an evoked-flow plot for each individual was created.
iii. Results
The degree of lateralisation (i.e. left minus right middle cerebral artery blood flow velocities) during the word generation task was unrelated to overall cognitive ability. There was however a significant positive correlation between when peak lateralisation occurred (i.e. seconds post-stimulus) and cognitive ability. There was no relationship between resting blood flow velocity measures and cognitive ability, including the pulsatility index which is a measure of vessel resistance.
iv. Discussion
Those with higher cognitive ability in later adulthood appear to take longer to reach their 'peak lateralised state' than those with lower cognitive ability. The degree of cerebral lateralisation to a verbal task appears unrelated to cognitive performance. The timing of the cerebrovascular response during a cognitive operation may prove a useful marker of age-related cognitive decline, and we intend to run a follow-up of this sample.
Keywords:
Aging,
Language,
Cognition,
transcranial Doppler,
cerebrovascular
Conference:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Language
Citation:
Hofmann
J,
Flitton
A,
Kurylowicz
L,
Lavrencic
L,
Badcock
NA,
Churches
OF,
Kohler
MJ and
Keage
HA
(2013). Cognitive ability in the elderly is related to the timing not degree of lateralisation of the functional cerebrovascular response..
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00110
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Received:
12 Sep 2013;
Published Online:
25 Nov 2013.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Hannah A Keage, The University of South Australia, School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, Adelaide, Australia, hannah.keage@unisa.edu.au