Age-related memory impairment associated with loss of parietal deactivation but preserved hippocampal activation

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Feb 12;105(6):2181-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0706818105. Epub 2008 Jan 31.

Abstract

The neural underpinnings of age-related memory impairment remain to be fully elucidated. Using a subsequent memory face-name functional MRI (fMRI) paradigm, young and old adults showed a similar magnitude and extent of hippocampal activation during successful associative encoding. Young adults demonstrated greater deactivation (task-induced decrease in BOLD signal) in medial parietal regions during successful compared with failed encoding, whereas old adults as a group did not demonstrate a differential pattern of deactivation between trial types. The failure of deactivation was particularly evident in old adults who performed poorly on the memory task. These low-performing old adults demonstrated greater hippocampal and prefrontal activation to achieve successful encoding trials, possibly as a compensatory response. Findings suggest that successful encoding requires the coordination of neural activity in hippocampal, prefrontal, and parietal regions, and that age-related memory impairment may be primarily related to a loss of deactivation in medial parietal regions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging / pathology
  • Aging / psychology*
  • Female
  • Hippocampus / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Memory Disorders / pathology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Parietal Lobe / pathology*