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Functional MRI of Letter Cancellation Task Performance in Older Adults
- Source :
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Vol 13 (2019)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Frontiers Media SA, 2019.
-
Abstract
- The letter cancellation task (LCT) is a widely used pen-and-paper probe of attention in clinical and research settings. Despite its popularity, the neural correlates of the task are not well understood. The present study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and specialized tablet technology to identify the neural correlates of the LCT in 32 healthy older adults between 50-85 years of age, and further investigates the effect of healthy aging on performance. Subjects performed the LCT in its standard pen-and-paper administration and with the tablet during fMRI. Performance on the tablet was significantly slower than on pen-and-paper, with both response modes showing slower performance as a function of age. Across all ages, bilateral brain activation was observed in the cerebellum, superior temporal lobe, precentral gyrus, frontal gyrus, and occipital and parietal areas. Increasing age correlated with reduced brain activity in the frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobe, precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, anterior cingulate and cerebellum. Better LCT performance was correlated with increased activity in the frontal gyrus, and reduced activity in bilateral cerebellum, occipital gyrus, left calcarine sulcus and left inferior temporal gyrus. The brain regions activated are associated with visuospatial attention and motor control, and are consistent with the neural correlates of LCT performance previously identified in lesion studies.
- Subjects :
- neuropsychological tests
medicine.medical_specialty
Brain activity and meditation
Audiology
Brain mapping
050105 experimental psychology
lcsh:RC321-571
Temporal lobe
03 medical and health sciences
Behavioral Neuroscience
letter cancellation
0302 clinical medicine
medicine
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
lcsh:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Biological Psychiatry
medicine.diagnostic_test
business.industry
Postcentral gyrus
fMRI
05 social sciences
Parietal lobe
Precentral gyrus
Frontal gyrus
Psychiatry and Mental health
Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
healthy aging
nervous system
Neurology
brain mapping
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
business
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 16625161
- Volume :
- 13
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....37cb1cb15fa645104abc8ec9d423468d
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00097