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Effects of Task-Irrelevant Emotional Stimuli on Working Memory Processes in Mild Cognitive Impairment
- Source :
- Journal of Alzheimer's disease 44(2), 439-453 (2015). doi:10.3233/JAD-141848
- Publication Year :
- 2015
- Publisher :
- IOS Press, 2015.
-
Abstract
- Background Research suggests generally impaired cognitive control functions in working memory (WM) processes in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and incipient Alzheimer's disease (AD). Little is known how emotional salience of task-irrelevant stimuli may modulate cognitive control of WM performance and neurofunctional activation in MCI and AD individuals. Objective We investigated the impact of emotional task-irrelevant visual stimuli on cortical activation during verbal WM. Methods Twelve AD/MCI individuals and 12 age-matched healthy individuals performed a verbal WM (nback-) task with task-irrelevant emotionally neutral and emotionally negative background pictures during fMRI measurement. Results AD/MCI individuals showed decreased WM performance compared with controls; both AD/MCI and control groups reacted slower during presentation of negative pictures, regardless of WM difficulty. The AD/MCI group showed increased activation in the left hemispheric prefrontal network, higher amygdala and less cerebellar activation with increasing WM task difficulty compared to healthy controls. Correlation analysis between neurofunctional activation and WM performance revealed a negative correlation between task sensitivity and activation in the dorsal anterior cingulum for the healthy controls but not for the AD/MCI group. Conclusion Our data suggest compensatory activation in prefrontal cortex and amygdala, but also dysfunctional inhibition of distracting information in the AD/MCI group during higher WM task difficulty. Additionally, attentional processes affecting the correlation between WM performance and neurofunctional activation seem to be different between incipient AD and healthy aging.
- Subjects :
- Male
medicine.medical_specialty
physiopathology [Cognitive Dysfunction]
Visual perception
Emotions
physiopathology [Brain]
Neuropsychological Tests
Audiology
behavioral disciplines and activities
Amygdala
physiology [Psychomotor Performance]
physiology [Emotions]
Correlation
Salience (neuroscience)
medicine
Humans
Cognitive Dysfunction
ddc:610
Prefrontal cortex
Cognitive impairment
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Brain Mapping
Working memory
General Neuroscience
Brain
Cognition
General Medicine
physiology [Visual Perception]
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Psychiatry and Mental health
Clinical Psychology
Memory, Short-Term
medicine.anatomical_structure
physiology [Memory, Short-Term]
Visual Perception
Female
psychology [Cognitive Dysfunction]
Geriatrics and Gerontology
Psychology
Psychomotor Performance
Photic Stimulation
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18758908 and 13872877
- Volume :
- 44
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....7ef350091304bf9d61d1cf33fa3ca7f1