Structural impairments in hippocampal and occipitotemporal networks specifically contribute to decline in place and face category processing but not to other visual object categories in healthy aging.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Functional neuroimaging studies have identified a set of nodes in the occipital-temporal cortex that preferentially respond to faces in comparison with other visual objects. By contrast, the processing of places seems to rely on parahippocampal cortex and structures heavily implicated in memory (e.g., the hippocampus). It has been suggested that human aging leads to decreased neural specialization of core face and place processing areas and impairments in face and place perception.

Methods

Using mediation analysis, we tested the potential contribution of micro- and macrostructure within the hippocampal and occipitotemporal systems to age-associated effects in face and place category processing (as measured by 1-back working memory tasks) in 55 healthy adults (age

SUBMITTER: Bourbon-Teles J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8413757 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature