The impact of accuracy on functional neural correlates of the useful field of view (UFOV) task

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundRapid declines in processing speed performance occur in aging and serve as a critical marker of cognitive abilities. Studies suggest that Useful Field of View (UFOV) training may ameliorate cognitive decline. The ACTIVE trial, consisting of over 2,800 participants, found a 29% reduction in ADRD risk 10 years following intervention. Recent clinical trials aimed at slowing cognitive decline in AD have focused on UFOV‐based interventions. Despite its efficacy, little is known about its neural correlates. The current study investigated blood‐oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activation patterns of the UFOV task.Method233 older adults completed the UFOV task while undergoing task‐based fMRI. The UFOV task requires participants to identify a central target, as well as a peripheral target amongst distractors, presented for a brief period of time. First‐level contrasts modeled hemodynamic response, while second‐level analyses assessed unique BOLD activation associated with encoding and recall components of the task. Age, education, sex and scanner were included as covariates. Significant clusters were defined as >10 voxels, and all clusters were corrected at a false discovery rate (FDR) of p<0.05.ResultPrevious data have shown widespread bilateral whole‐brain activation associated with the encoding component, whereas discrete activation patterns were related to the recall component of the task. Additionally, numerous shared brain regions were critical to both the encoding and recall components of the UFOV task. We further investigated cortical activation patterns associated with age‐related differences in UFOV performance. Variability in performance was related to widespread patterns of activation during the encoding component of the UFOV task, namely the superior parietal lobule, insula, hippocampus and DLPFC. Assessing UFOV performance variability within recall, no significant clusters survived FDR correction. Furthermore, the inferior parietal lobule, cerebellum, and inferior frontal gyrus were critical in both encoding and recall in UFOV performance.ConclusionThe present study elucidates pivotal regions associated with UFOV task performance. Notably, we found that variability in UFOV performance is directly associated with neural activation during the presentation/apprehension of the stimuli, but not during recall. These findings suggest that variation in neural activation during speeded attentional processing is central to age‐related UFOV performance differences, and interventions targeting these neural processes may be of benefit.