Eckert Mark A
Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC, USA.
Front Neurosci. 2011 Mar 11;5:25. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2011.00025. eCollection 2011.
Processing speed, or the rate at which tasks can be performed, is a robust predictor of age-related cognitive decline and an indicator of independence among older adults. This review examines evidence for neurobiological predictors of age-related changes in processing speed, which is guided in part by our source based morphometry findings that unique patterns of frontal and cerebellar gray matter predict age-related variation in processing speed. These results, together with the extant literature on morphological predictors of age-related changes in processing speed, suggest that specific neural systems undergo declines and as a result slow processing speed. Future studies of processing speed - dependent neural systems will be important for identifying the etiologies for processing speed change and the development of interventions that mitigate gradual age-related declines in cognitive functioning and enhance healthy cognitive aging.
处理速度，即执行任务的速率，是与年龄相关的认知衰退的有力预测指标，也是老年人独立性的一个指标。本综述考察了处理速度与年龄相关变化的神经生物学预测指标的证据，这部分是由我们基于源的形态测量学研究结果所引导的，即额叶和小脑灰质的独特模式可预测处理速度的年龄相关变化。这些结果，连同关于处理速度与年龄相关变化的形态学预测指标的现有文献，表明特定的神经系统会发生衰退，从而导致处理速度减慢。未来对依赖处理速度的神经系统的研究对于确定处理速度变化的病因以及开发减轻与年龄相关的认知功能逐渐衰退并促进健康认知老化的干预措施将具有重要意义。
