Age-related changes in time-space interferences and their relation to dysfuntions of the medial temporal lobe

年龄相关的时空干扰变化及其与内侧颞叶功能障碍的关系

• 批准号: 452179073
• 负责人: Dr. Martin Riemer
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Universitätsklinikum Magdeburg
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/452179073?language=en
• 关键词: Age; related; changes; time; space

The representations of time and space are inherently linked and a mutual interference between these two dimensions has been demonstrated in infants, children and adults. The proposed project represents the first investigation of time-space interferences in advanced age (>65 years). This endeavor is important, because the neuronal systems underlying temporal and spatial processing are located in the medial temporal lobe (MTL), a brain region that is known to be extremely sensitive to the process of aging. It shows increased neuronal atrophy during healthy aging and exhibits the earliest signs of pathology in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. As the drastic changes detectable by structural or metabolic neuroimaging are often preceded by subtle behavioral changes, the study of time-space interferences in older adults is a promising approach to differentiate between normal and pathological age-related deficits in an early stage.The research outlined in this proposal aims to answer two key questions. First, are time-space interferences increased in the elderly? And second, are these age-related changes associated with MTL dysfunctions? We will approach these questions using advanced virtual reality (VR) techniques, testing young and old healthy adults, as well as patients with circumscribed MTL lesions.If successful, this project could be a crucial first step towards establishing novel behavioral markers for an early detection of pathological cognitive decline, which could support clinical assessment, monitoring of disease progression and the evaluation of intervention strategies.

时间和空间的表征是内在地联系在一起的，这两个维度之间的相互干扰已经在婴儿、儿童和成人中得到证明。这项拟议的项目代表了对高龄(65岁)时空干扰的首次调查。这一努力很重要，因为支撑时间和空间处理的神经系统位于内侧颞叶(MTL)，这是一个已知的大脑区域，对衰老过程极其敏感。它显示在健康老化过程中神经元萎缩增加，并在轻度认知障碍和阿尔茨海默病中表现出最早的病理迹象。由于结构或代谢神经成像可检测到的剧烈变化往往先于细微的行为变化，因此研究老年人的时空干扰是一种很有前途的方法，可以在早期阶段区分正常和病理性的年龄相关缺陷。首先，老年人的时空干扰增加了吗？第二，这些与年龄相关的变化是否与MTL功能障碍有关？我们将使用先进的虚拟现实(VR)技术来解决这些问题，测试年轻的和年老的健康成年人，以及局限性MTL病变的患者。如果成功，这个项目可能是建立新的行为标记物的关键的第一步，以早期发现病理性认知能力下降，这可以支持临床评估、监测疾病进展和评估干预策略。