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Working Memory Training, Neural Correlates, and Aging

工作记忆训练、神经相关性和衰老

基本信息

批准号：
8877382
负责人：
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz
金额：
$ 22.57万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2014
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2014-07-01 至 2018-03-31
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Working memory (WM) is a fundamental cognitive ability that declines steadily over the course of normal aging. Mounting evidence suggests however, that with training there is potential for considerable improvement in WM even in older adults (OA). Performance on the WM training tasks can improve markedly and reliably especially when adaptive methods continually adjust task difficulty to changing performance level. While younger adults (YA) typically achieve higher performance than OA and show greater preservation of WM gains over time, OA benefit from WM training, and sustain training benefits even months after training. Critically, the mechanisms underlying such plasticity and the effects of age are largely unknown. Thus, the significant problem addressed by the proposed research is the need to identify the neural markers of working memory plasticity and how they differ due to age. The proposed research uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural bases of improvement on a WM training task in three aims, framed within the Compensation Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis (CRUNCH), and other hypothesized mechanisms of plasticity. CRUNCH proposes that the relationship between brain activation and memory load is an inverted-U function regardless of age, as depicted in the specific aims. To compensate for age-related declines, the OA function is shifted left relative to the YA function and consequently OA reach a resource limit at lower loads. This model predicts that training should increase neural efficiency thereby shifting the functions rightward, for both YA and OA, and increasing the range of task demands to which the brain can respond. The CRUNCH framework also makes predictions about how distinctiveness (as measured with multi-voxel pattern analyses, MVPA) and functional connectivity should change due to training. MVPA can provide new evidence about plasticity of domain-specific resources, and connectivity analyses can reveal the plasticity of network circuitry associated WM training. We propose one training experiment (with 20 OA and 20 YA) to conduct a preliminary assessment of (1) univariate, (2) multivariate, and (3) connectivity predictions of CRUNCH in three aims (respectively). The proposed research will test the sensitivity of these measures to WM training in YA and OA in order to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach and establish a strong empirical base to inform power estimates, design and data analysis decisions for a future R01. By identifying the neural correlates of the plasticity underlying training gains, future research cn determine whether such markers can predict the magnitude and maintenance of training gains, the extent and limits of transfer and potentially other cognitive outcomes in YA and OA. The development of interventions that achieve even modest improvements of WM function, especially in the elderly, can potentially maintain effective levels of functioning and stave off further decline.

描述（由申请人提供）：工作记忆（WM）是一种基本的认知能力，在正常衰老过程中会稳步下降。然而，越来越多的证据表明，通过训练，即使在老年人（OA）中，WM也有相当大的改善潜力。工作记忆训练任务的表现可以显着和可靠地提高，特别是当自适应方法不断调整任务难度，以改变性能水平。虽然年轻的成年人（YA）通常比OA获得更高的性能，并显示出随着时间的推移，WM收益的保存更大，OA受益于WM训练，并保持训练效益，甚至在训练后几个月。重要的是，这种可塑性的机制和年龄的影响在很大程度上是未知的。因此，拟议的研究所解决的重要问题是需要确定工作记忆可塑性的神经标志物以及它们如何因年龄而不同。拟议的研究使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI），以调查改善的WM训练任务的神经基础，在三个目标，框架内的补偿相关利用神经回路假说（CRUNCH），和其他假设机制的可塑性。CRUNCH提出，大脑激活和记忆负荷之间的关系是一个倒U型函数，与年龄无关，如特定目标所述。为了补偿与年龄相关的下降，OA函数相对于YA函数向左移位，因此OA在较低负载下达到资源限制。该模型预测，训练应该提高神经效率，从而改变YA和OA的功能，并增加大脑可以响应的任务需求范围。CRUNCH框架还预测了独特性（通过多体素模式分析（MVPA）测量）和功能连接性应如何因训练而改变。MVPA可以为特定领域资源的可塑性提供新的证据，连接分析可以揭示与WM训练相关的网络回路的可塑性。我们提出了一个训练实验（20 OA和20 YA）进行初步评估（1）单变量，（2）多变量，（3）连接预测CRUNCH在三个目标（分别）。拟议的研究将测试这些措施的敏感性，以WM培训在YA和OA，以证明我们的方法的可行性，并建立一个强大的经验基础，为未来的R01通知功率估计，设计和数据分析决策。通过识别潜在训练增益的可塑性的神经相关性，未来的研究可以确定这些标记物是否可以预测训练增益的大小和维持，转移的程度和限制以及YA和OA的潜在其他认知结果。即使是适度改善WM功能的干预措施的发展，特别是在老年人中，也可能保持有效的功能水平，并避免进一步下降。