Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research (CIBR), Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2024 Aug 15;45(12):e26755. doi: 10.1002/hbm.26755.
During aging the inter-individual variability in both the neural and behavioral functions is likely to be emphasized. Decreased competence particularly in working memory and general executive control compromises many aspects of the quality of life also within the nonclinical population. We aimed, first, to clarify the brain basis of visual working memory and inhibition during multi-stage natural-like task performance, and second, to identify associations between variation in task-related neural activity and relevant cognitive skills, namely inhibition and general working memory capacity. We recorded, using magnetoencephalography (MEG), the neural modulations associated with encoding, maintenance, and retrieval, as well as interference suppression during a visual working memory task in older adults. We quantified the neural correlates of these cognitive processes through two complementary approaches: evoked responses and oscillatory activity. Neural activity during memory retrieval and interference suppression were correlated with behavioral measures of task switching and general executive functions. Our results show that general inhibitory control induced frontocentral neural modulation across a broad range of frequencies whereas domain-specific inhibition was limited to right posterior areas. Our findings also suggest that modulations particularly in phase-locked evoked neural activity can be reliably associated with explicit measures of cognitive skills, with better inhibitory control linked with an early neural effect of distractor inhibition during retrieval. In general, we show that exploiting the inherent inter-individual variability in neural measures and behavioral markers of cognition in aging populations can help establish reliable links between specific brain functions and their behavioral manifestations.
随着年龄的增长，神经和行为功能的个体间变异性可能会被强调。在非临床人群中，工作记忆和一般执行控制能力下降尤其会影响生活质量的许多方面。我们的目的是，首先，阐明在多阶段自然任务表现过程中视觉工作记忆和抑制的大脑基础，其次，确定与相关认知技能（即抑制和一般工作记忆能力）相关的任务相关神经活动的变化之间的关联。我们使用脑磁图（MEG）记录了与编码、保持和检索相关的神经调制，以及在老年人大脑视觉工作记忆任务期间的干扰抑制。我们通过两种互补的方法来量化这些认知过程的神经相关性：诱发反应和振荡活动。记忆检索和干扰抑制期间的神经活动与任务转换和一般执行功能的行为测量相关。我们的研究结果表明，一般抑制控制诱导了额中央广泛频率范围内的神经调制，而特定领域的抑制仅限于右后区域。我们的研究结果还表明，调制特别是在锁相诱发神经活动中，可以与认知技能的明确测量可靠相关，更好的抑制控制与检索期间分心抑制的早期神经效应相关。总的来说，我们表明，在衰老人群中利用神经测量和认知行为标志物的固有个体间变异性，可以帮助建立特定大脑功能与其行为表现之间的可靠联系。
