Abstract
Performance on tasks that require saccadic inhibition declines with age and altered inhibitory functioning has also been reported in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Although mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is assumed to be a high-risk factor for conversion to AD, little is known about changes in saccadic inhibition and its neural correlates in this condition. Our study determined whether the neural activation associated with saccadic inhibition is altered in persons with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed decreased activation in parietal lobe in healthy elderly persons compared to young persons and decreased activation in frontal eye fields in aMCI patients compared to healthy elderly persons during the execution of anti-saccades. These results illustrate that the decline in inhibitory functions is associated with impaired frontal activation in aMCI. This alteration in function might reflect early manifestations of AD and provide new insights in the neural activation changes that occur in pathological ageing.
Highlights
Ageing is associated with a decline in cognitive functioning along with structural and functional changes in the brain
Functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed decreased activation in parietal lobe in healthy elderly persons compared to young persons and decreased activation in frontal eye fields in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients compared to healthy elderly persons during the execution of anti-saccades
This alteration in function might reflect early manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and provide new insights in the neural activation changes that occur in pathological ageing
Summary
Ageing is associated with a decline in cognitive functioning along with structural and functional changes in the brain. The complexity and heterogeneity of this condition is reflected in the considerable variability in the definition, characterization and application of the MCI diagnosis in the clinical practice (for the review see: Stephan et al, 2012a). It is widely accepted, that there are many subtypes of MCI. According to Petersen (2004), amnestic (aMCI) or non-amnestic MCI (naMCI) should be differentiated from each other This classification depends on whether memory decline is exhibited in MCI patients. There is some evidence that individuals demonstrate deficits in executive functions 2–3 years before diagnosis of AD (Johnson et al, 2009)
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