Age-related white-matter correlates of motor sequence learning and consolidation.
Older adults show impaired consolidation in motor sequence learning (MSL) tasks, failing to demonstrate the sleep-dependent performance gains usually seen in young individuals. To date, few studies have investigated the white-matter substrates of MSL in healthy aging, and none have addressed how fiber pathways differences may contribute to the age-related consolidation deficit. Accordingly, we used diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to explore how white-matter characteristics relate to performance using an explicit MSL task in young and older participants. Analysis revealed that initial learning scores were correlated to white-matter microstructure in the corticospinal tract and within the corpus callosum regardless of age. Furthermore, sleep-dependent consolidation scores, in young adults only, were related to white-matter tract organization in a frontal area where several major fiber bundles cross each other. These findings further our understanding of the neural correlates of MSL in healthy aging and provide the first evidence that age-related white-matter differences in tract configuration may underlie the age-related motor memory consolidation deficit.
Functional Neuroimaging Unit, C.R.I.U.G.M., Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Catherine
C
Vien
Functional Neuroimaging Unit, C.R.I.U.G.M., Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Arnaud
A
Boré
Functional Neuroimaging Unit, C.R.I.U.G.M., Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Ovidiu
O
Lungu
NSERM/UPMC, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.
Habib
H
Benali
Functional Neuroimaging Unit, C.R.I.U.G.M., Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Centre of Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Julie
J
Carrier
Functional Neuroimaging Unit, C.R.I.U.G.M., Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; The Brain & Mind Institute, Department of Psychology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Stuart
S
Fogel
Functional Neuroimaging Unit, C.R.I.U.G.M., Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: julien.doyon@umontreal.ca.
Julien
J
Doyon
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D000069077:Memory Consolidation / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
Aging; DTI; DWI; Memory consolidation; Motor sequence learning; Sleep; TBSS; White matter