title: Age, executive function, and social decision making: a dorsolateral prefrontal theory of cognitive aging.
abstract: Current neuropsychological models propose that some age-related cognitive changes are due to frontal-lobe deterioration. However, these models have not considered the possible subdivision of the frontal lobes into the dorsolateral and ventromedial regions. This study assessed the age effects on 3 tasks of executive function and working memory, tasks dependent on dorsolateral prefrontal dysfunction; and 3 tasks of emotion and social decision making, tasks dependent on ventromedial prefrontal dysfunction. Age-related differences in performance were found on all tasks dependent on dorsolateral prefrontal dysfunction. In contrast, age-related differences were not found on the majority of the tasks dependent on ventromedial prefrontal dysfunction. The results support a specific dorsolateral prefrontal theory of cognitive changes with age, rather than a global decline in frontal-lobe function.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Aberdeen, Scotland. s.macpherson@abdn.ac.uk
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: MacPherson
authors.forename: Louise H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Della Sala
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis