Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, AZ, USA.
Neuropsychologia. 2010 Jan;48(1):319-33. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.09.021.
Evidence of prefrontal cortex decline among healthy older adults has been widely reported, although many questions remain regarding the functional heterogeneity of the prefrontal lobes and the uniformity (or lack thereof) with which discrete regions decline with age. MacPherson, Phillips, and Della Sala (2002) previously reported age differences in tasks associated with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) function (executive control), but not for tasks associated with ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) function (emotional/cognitive integration). The present study, conducted using 39 younger adults and 39 older adults, replicates the MacPherson et al. findings regarding DLPFC functioning. However, and perhaps due to the use of more sensitive tasks, we also find age differences in tasks associated with VMPFC function. Specifically, both univariate and multivariate analyses indicated older adults showed deficits across the DLPFC and VMPFC tasks. Exploratory factor analysis of the task performance scores indicated four underlying dimensions, two related to DLPFC functioning and two related to VMPFC functioning. A set of structural equation models specifying age effects on the four task performance factors was tested, in order to contrast models of process-specific vs. common age effects. Our results suggest that older adults show deficits in emotional/cognitive integration as well as in executive function, and that those effects do include process-specific age deficits.
已有大量研究报告称，健康老年人的前额叶皮层会出现衰退，但对于前额叶叶区的功能异质性，以及不同区域随年龄衰退的一致性（或缺乏一致性），仍存在许多问题。MacPherson、Phillips 和 Della Sala（2002）先前曾报告过与背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）功能（执行控制）相关的任务存在年龄差异，但与腹内侧前额叶皮层（VMPFC）功能（情绪/认知整合）相关的任务则没有。本研究使用 39 名年轻成年人和 39 名老年成年人重复了 MacPherson 等人关于 DLPFC 功能的发现。然而，也许是由于使用了更敏感的任务，我们也发现了与 VMPFC 功能相关的任务存在年龄差异。具体来说，单变量和多变量分析都表明，老年成年人在 DLPFC 和 VMPFC 任务中都存在缺陷。对任务表现得分进行的探索性因子分析表明，有四个潜在维度，两个与 DLPFC 功能相关，两个与 VMPFC 功能相关。还测试了一组指定年龄对四个任务表现因素影响的结构方程模型，以对比特定过程与常见年龄影响的模型。我们的结果表明，老年成年人在情绪/认知整合以及执行功能方面都存在缺陷，而且这些影响确实包括特定于过程的年龄缺陷。
