-transparent.png){kind=logo}
To examine how neurophysiological signals of working memory (WM) change with normal aging, we recorded EEGs from healthy groups (n=10 each) of young (mean age=21 years), middle-aged (mean=47 years), and older (mean=69 years) adults. EEGs were recorded while subjects performed easy and difficult versions of a spatial WM task. Groups were matched for IQ (mean=123; WAIS-R) and practiced in task performance. Responses slowed with age, particularly in the more difficult task. Advanced age was associated with decreased amplitude and increased latency of the parietal P300 component of the event-related potential and an increase in the amplitude of a frontal P200 component. Spectral features of the EEG also differed between groups. Younger subjects displayed an increase in the frontal midline θ rhythm with increased task difficulty, a result not observed in older subjects. Age-related changes were also observed in the task-related alpha signal, the amplitude of which decreases as more neurons become involved in task-related processing. Young adults showed a decrease in alpha power with increased task difficulty over parietal regions but not over frontal regions. Middle-aged and older adults showed decreased alpha power with increased task difficulty over both frontal and parietal regions. This suggests that normal aging may be associated with changes in the fronto-parietal networks involved with spatial WM processes. Younger subjects appear to use a strategy that relies on parietal areas involved with spatial processing, whereas older subjects appear to use a strategy that relies more on frontal areas.
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
November 2004,
Psychopharmacology,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
March 2008,
The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
April 2010,
Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
August 2019,
Acta neurologica Scandinavica,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
July 2020,
BMC psychology,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
January 2010,
Neuropsychologia,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
October 2005,
Nature neuroscience,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
May 1998,
Memory & cognition,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
September 2015,
The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences,
L K McEvoy, and
E Pellouchoud, and
M E Smith, and
A Gevins
June 2020,
Geriatrie et psychologie neuropsychiatrie du vieillissement,
