Frontal theta as a mechanism of aging-related differences in cognitive control

项目摘要/摘要 衰老与认知控制的下降有关，认知控制是促进目标实现的心理过程。 定向行为。认知控制能力下降会影响老年人拥有健康和多产的能力 个人和职业互动，这降低了生活质量，增加了住院和 死亡率。目前，几乎没有有效的疗法来治疗与年龄相关的认知能力下降。 控制力。因此，有一种尚未得到满足的需求，即开发治疗与衰老相关的认知衰退的新方法。 然而，我们对衰老相关认知的潜在机制的理解存在差距 拒绝。 认知控制与大脑活动的协调模式有关 包括额叶皮质在内的大脑区域。特别是，theta中的低频振荡 额叶皮质的频段(4-7赫兹)已被证明对认知控制很重要。这个 这项拟议研究的总体目标是确定衰老如何影响这些电路机制。我的 总体假设是额叶皮质内侧区域以theta频段频率振荡 支持认知控制，老年人额叶中叶皮质theta振荡减弱 认知控制中与年龄相关的差异。 我将采用两种截然不同的实验设计来检验这一总体假设。首先，我将测试 假设额叶皮质内侧区域的theta振荡表现为任务相关 Theta的力量比额叶皮质的外侧区域要大得多。我将使用以下工具验证这一假设 认知完全性帕金森病患者在颅脑手术中的人脑记录 和特发性震颤患者。第二，我将检查年轻人和老年人的大脑活动，因为他们 完成两项旨在进行认知控制的任务。在这里，我将检验这一假设：衰老- 认知控制方面的相关差异与额叶皮质中的theta振荡减少相对应。这 假说预测，与年轻人相比，老年人的theta-band振荡会更低， 而较少的theta振荡将与较差的认知控制相关。 总之，拟议中的实验将有助于建立一个模型，建立如何改变大型- 额叶皮质精确区域的尺度振荡动力学对应于年龄相关性的下降 认知控制。这项提案的数据结果预计将是候选人的知识 认知障碍治疗的靶点。这与老化以及与老化相关的问题高度相关 阿尔茨海默病和其他与阿尔茨海默病相关的痴呆和 帕金森氏症。

Project Summary/Abstract Aging is associated with declines in cognitive control, the mental process that facilitates goal- oriented behaviors. Declining cognitive control affects older adults' ability to have healthy and productive personal and professional interactions, which decreases quality of life and increases hospitalization and mortality rates. There are currently few effective therapies to treat age-related declines in cognitive control. Thus, there is an unmet need to develop new treatments for aging-related cognitive decline. However, there is a gap in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of aging-related cognitive decline. Cognitive control is associated with coordinated patterns of brain activity across a network of brain regions that includes the frontal cortex. In particular, low-frequency oscillations in the theta frequency band (4-7 hz) in the frontal cortex have been shown to be important for cognitive control. The overall goal of the proposed research is to identify how aging affects these circuit mechanisms. My overall hypothesis is that the medial region of the frontal cortex oscillates at theta-band frequency to support cognitive control, and attenuated midfrontal cortex theta oscillations in older adults accounts for aging-related differences in cognitive control. I will employ two distinct experimental designs to test this overall hypothesis. First, I will test the hypothesis that theta oscillations in the medial regions of the frontal cortex demonstrate task-relevant theta power to a great extent than lateral regions in the frontal cortex. I will test this hypothesis using human intraoperative recordings during intracranial surgeries in cognitively-intact Parkinson's disease and essential tremor patients. Second, I will examine brain activity of both young and older adults as they complete two tasks designed to engage cognitive control. Here I will test the hypothesis that aging- related differences in cognitive control correspond to reduced theta oscillations in the frontal cortex. This hypothesis predicts that theta-band oscillations will be lower in older adults compared to young adults, and reduced theta oscillations will be associated with worse cognitive control. Together, the proposed experiments will contribute to a model establishing how changes in large- scale oscillatory dynamics in precise regions of the frontal cortex correspond to aging-related declines in cognitive control. An outcome of the data from this proposal is expected to be knowledge of candidate targets for therapies for cognitive impairment. This is highly relevant for aging and for aging-related disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease and other Alzheimer's disease-related dementias and Parkinson's disease.