Abstract
Cognitive decline is a major concern in the aging population. It is normative to experience some deterioration in cognitive abilities with advanced age such as related to memory performance, attention distraction to interference, task switching, and processing speed. However, intact cognitive functioning in old age is important for leading an independent day-to-day life. Thus, studying ways to counteract or delay the onset of cognitive decline in aging is crucial. The literature offers various explanations for the decline in cognitive performance in aging; among those are age-related gray and white matter atrophy, synaptic degeneration, blood flow reduction, neurochemical alterations, and change in connectivity patterns with advanced age. An emerging literature on neurofeedback and Brain Computer Interface (BCI) reports exciting results supporting the benefits of volitional modulation of brain activity on cognition and behavior. Neurofeedback studies based on real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) have shown behavioral changes in schizophrenia and behavioral benefits in nicotine addiction. This article integrates research on cognitive and brain aging with evidence of brain and behavioral modification due to rtfMRI neurofeedback. We offer a state-of-the-art description of the rtfMRI technique with an eye towards its application in aging. We present preliminary results of a feasibility study exploring the possibility of using rtfMRI to train older adults to volitionally control brain activity. Based on these first findings, we discuss possible implementations of rtfMRI neurofeedback as a novel technique to study and alleviate cognitive decline in healthy and pathological aging.
Highlights
Age-Related Cognitive Decline and Underlying Brain MechanismsGiven current demographic developments with adults over the age of 65 years representing the fastest growing segment of the population in the USA and other industrialized nations (Census, 2012), cognitive decline in aging is of increasing societal and economic relevance, in addition to its relevance to individual lives (Williams and Kemper, 2010)
We aimed to examine whether older adults could learn to self-regulate anterior insula with contingent real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) neurofeedback and whether learned selfregulation could lead to behavioral modification in this age group
Improvement of neuroimaging techniques has advanced the investigation of cognitive decline in aging with a particular focus on brain processes underlying age-related change
Summary
Given current demographic developments with adults over the age of 65 years representing the fastest growing segment of the population in the USA and other industrialized nations (Census, 2012), cognitive decline in aging is of increasing societal and economic relevance, in addition to its relevance to individual lives (Williams and Kemper, 2010). Real-Time fMRI and Aging interindividual variation (Ram et al, 2011), to experience some deterioration in cognitive abilities with advanced age These age-related cognitive deficits are typically characterized by slow processing speed (Eckert et al, 2010), increased difficulty in encoding and retrieving memories (Wilckens et al, 2012), increased forgetfulness (Gazzaley et al, 2005), reduced ability to selectively attend to or ignore irrelevant information (Prakash et al, 2009), increased distraction to interference (Wais et al, 2012), and reduced task switching abilities (Buchler et al, 2008). Most of these current approaches target training of behavioral aspects of cognitive aging without consideration of brain processes
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