Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Hippocampus. 2011 Jul;21(7):753-66. doi: 10.1002/hipo.20794. Epub 2010 May 17.
The hippocampus is deteriorated in various pathologies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and such deterioration has been linked to memory impairment. By contrast, the structural and functional effects of normal aging on the hippocampus is a matter of debate, with some findings suggesting deterioration and others providing evidence of preservation. This constitutes a crucial question since many investigations on AD are based on the assumption that the deterioration of the hippocampus is the breaking point between normal and pathological aging. A growing number of fMRI studies specifically aimed at investigating hippocampal engagement in various cognitive tasks, notably memory tasks, but the results have been inconclusive. Here, we optimized the episodic face-name paired-associates task in order to test the functioning of the hippocampus in normal aging. Critically, we found no difference in the activation of the hippocampus between the young and a group of older participants. Analysis of individual patterns of activation substantiated this impression. Collectively, these findings provide evidence of preserved hippocampal functioning in normal aging.
海马体在各种疾病中（如阿尔茨海默病）会退化，这种退化与记忆障碍有关。相比之下，正常衰老对海马体的结构和功能影响存在争议，一些研究结果表明存在退化，而另一些研究则提供了保护的证据。这是一个关键问题，因为许多关于 AD 的研究都是基于这样的假设，即海马体的退化是正常衰老和病理性衰老之间的临界点。越来越多的 fMRI 研究专门针对不同认知任务（尤其是记忆任务）中涉及的海马体参与情况展开研究，但结果尚无定论。在这里，我们优化了情景面孔-名字配对联想任务，以测试海马体在正常衰老中的功能。关键的是，我们在年轻人和一组老年参与者的海马体激活中没有发现差异。激活个体模式的分析进一步证实了这一印象。总的来说，这些发现为正常衰老中海马体功能的保留提供了证据。
