Structural and functional correlates of cognitive ability differ across the adult lifespan
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1
University of Texas at Dallas, Center for Vital Longevity, United States
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2
University of Michigan, Psychology, United States
Adults of all ages vary in cognitive abilities"”the shared variance in cognition across multiple domains. While cognitive ability is very stable across adulthood, experience and neurobiological effects of aging still influence levels of cognitive ability. Little is known about the effects of age on the structural and functional neural underpinnings of cognitive ability and major neurocognitive theories on aging do not directly address this issue. Guided by recent maintenance theories of aging, we hypothesized that individuals across the entire adult lifespan with high ability would be characterized by greater structural brain integrity and more efficient neural responsivity than individuals with low ability. To test these ideas, we used data from the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study (N = 302) collected from adults aged 20-89. Cognitive ability was assessed by creating a composite score across measures of processing speed, working memory, and reasoning. Brain structure was indexed using cortical thickness as measured by Freesurfer. Brain function was indexed using fMRI while participants made living/non-living judgments to words with fixation as baseline. Brain function was assessed by contrasting semantic judgments with fixation and a decline in neural efficiency would be evidenced as increases in brain activity from fixation to the easy condition. We report age x ability interactions on structural and functional measures in frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices, indicating that high ability adults exhibited the least age-related declines in cortical thickness, the greatest neural efficiency. These findings have important implications for theories on cognitive aging. It appears that the neural underpinnings of high cognitive ability in middle and old age resemble the structural brain integrity and neural function characteristic of younger adults. Older adults with less structural and functional decline might be able to maintain cognitive function longer.
Keywords:
Intelligence,
fMRI,
cortical thickness,
Lifespan,
Fluid ability
Conference:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Cognition and Executive Processes
Citation:
McDonough
I,
Rieck
J,
Bischof
G,
Reuter-Lorenz
P and
Park
D
(2015). Structural and functional correlates of cognitive ability differ across the adult lifespan.
Conference Abstract:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00243
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Received:
19 Feb 2015;
Published Online:
24 Apr 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Ian McDonough, University of Texas at Dallas, Center for Vital Longevity, Dallas, United States, imcdonough@binghamton.edu