Age-related alterations in default mode network: impact on working memory performance.

ABSTRACT: The default mode network (DMN) is a set of functionally connected brain regions which shows deactivation (task-induced deactivation, TID) during a cognitive task. Evidence shows an age-related decline in task-load-related modulation of the activity within the DMN during cognitive tasks. However, the effect of age on the functional coupling within the DMN and their relation to cognitive performance has hitherto been unexplored. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated functional connectivity within the DMN in older and younger subjects during a working memory task with increasing task load. Older adults showed decreased connectivity and ability to suppress low frequency oscillations of the DMN. Additionally, the strength of the functional coupling of posterior cingulate

SUBMITTER: Sambataro F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2842461 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature