title: Age differences in brain systems supporting transient and sustained processes involved in prospective memory and working memory.
abstract: In prospective memory (PM), an intention to act in response to an external event is formed, retained, and at a later stage, when the event occurs, the relevant action is performed. PM typically shows a decline in late adulthood, which might affect functions of daily living. The neural correlates of this decline are not well understood. Here, 15 young (6 female; age range=23-30years) and 16 older adults (5 female; age range=64-74years) were scanned with fMRI to examine age-related differences in brain activation associated with event-based PM using a task that facilitated the separation of transient and sustained components of PM. We show that older adults had reduced performance in conditions with high demands on prospective and working memory, while no age-difference was observed in low-demanding tasks. Across age groups, PM task performance activated separate sets of brain regions for transient and sustained responses. Age-differences in transient activation were found in fronto-striatal and MTL regions, with young adults showing more activation than older adults. Increased activation in young, compared to older adults, was also found for sustained PM activation in the IFG. These results provide new evidence that PM relies on dissociable transient and sustained cognitive processes, and that age-related deficits in PM can be explained by an inability to recruit PM-related brain networks in old age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Box 1225, 751 42 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Peira
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of QLD, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ziaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden; Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Gävlegatan 16, 113 30 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: jonas.persson.1@ki.se.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Persson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aging; Prospective memory; Working memory; fMRI