White matter disconnection is related to age-related phonological deficits.

ABSTRACT: Older adults have more language production difficulties than younger adults but display largely comparable language comprehension abilities. The Transmission Deficit Hypothesis suggests that production difficulties stem from an age-related increase in phonological signal transmission failures, while the semantic system, being more redundant than the phonological system, allows comprehension to be relatively preserved despite signal failures. Though the neural instantiation of the Transmission Deficit Hypothesis remains an open question, white matter represents one important factor to investigate. Metrics indicative of white matter connectivity across the brain, namely, Radial Diffusivity (RD) and Fractional Anisotropy (FA) have also been linked to age-related cognitive differences includin

SUBMITTER: Troutman SBW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7034773 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature