Using within-subject multivariate pattern-classification to understand lifespan-age differences in oscillatory mechanisms of working memory selection and maintenance

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Using within-subject multivariate pattern-classification to understand lifespan-age differences in oscillatory mechanisms of working memory selection and maintenance Markus Werkle-Bergner1*, Julian Karch1, Myriam C. Sander1, Timo VonOertzen2 and Ulman Lindenberger1 1 Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany 2 University of Virginia, United States Working memory (WM) processes, related to information selection and maintenance, develop gradually during childhood and show senescent decline in late adulthood. How age-associated changes in WM processes are reflected in neuronal mechanisms related to alpha (~8-14 Hz) and theta (~4-8 Hz) oscillations is still an open question. In part, the difficulty to understand age- differences in brain oscillatory mechanisms supporting WM can be attributed to the large intra-group heterogeneity at the extreme ends of the lifespan, i.e., in children and older adults. To accommodate the large inter-individual variability and to derive age-fair measures across participants we suggest to rely on reliable within-subject measures for the effects of interest as the basis for age-group comparisons. In the present study, children, younger, and older adults performed a cued change-detection WM task, while the amount of to be maintained information was varied. Multivariate pattern classification algorithms were adapted to estimate time-varying spatial filters maximally sensitive for differences in oscillatory activity on a within-subject trial-to-trial level. Filters were trained to predict: a) the focus of attention (left vs. right) or b) the amount of maintained information. Cross-validation was applied to select the most reliable filters sensitive for the contrast of interest. The accompanying power/phase time-courses were extracted for age-group comparisons across subjects. Results suggest commonalities in spatial patterns of oscillatory activity in the presence of differences in the timing of neuronal interactions. Overall, we demonstrate that within-subject pattern classification is a promising tool to derive valid lifespan age-comparisons in light of large within-group heterogeneity. Keywords: development, memory and learning Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neural Bases of Memory and Learning Citation: Werkle-Bergner M, Karch J, Sander MC, VonOertzen T and Lindenberger U (2011). Using within-subject multivariate pattern-classification to understand lifespan-age differences in oscillatory mechanisms of working memory selection and maintenance. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00223 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 21 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Mr. Markus Werkle-Bergner, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany, werkle@mpib-berlin.mpg.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Markus Werkle-Bergner Julian Karch Myriam C Sander Timo VonOertzen Ulman Lindenberger Google Markus Werkle-Bergner Julian Karch Myriam C Sander Timo VonOertzen Ulman Lindenberger Google Scholar Markus Werkle-Bergner Julian Karch Myriam C Sander Timo VonOertzen Ulman Lindenberger PubMed Markus Werkle-Bergner Julian Karch Myriam C Sander Timo VonOertzen Ulman Lindenberger Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.