TY - JOUR
T1 - Functional changes in the activity of brain regions underlying emotion processing in the elderly
AU - Tessitore, Alessandro
AU - Hariri, Ahmad R.
AU - Fera, Francesco
AU - Smith, William G.
AU - Das, Saumitra
AU - Weinberger, Daniel R.
AU - Mattay, Venkata S.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Sam Lee for technical assistance. This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, Intramural Research Program.
Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005/5/30
Y1 - 2005/5/30
N2 - Aging is associated with a decline in both cognitive and motor abilities that reflects deterioration of underlying brain circuitry. While age-related alterations have also been described in brain regions underlying emotional behavior (e.g., the amygdala), the functional consequence of such changes is less clear. To this end, we used blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore age-related changes in brain regions underlying emotion processing. Twelve young (age < 30 years) and 14 elderly subjects (age > 60 years) were studied with BOLD fMRI during a paradigm that involved perceptual processing of fearful and threatening stimuli. Consistent with previous reports, direct group comparisons revealed relatively increased BOLD fMRI responses in prefrontal cortical regions, including Broca's area, and relatively decreased responses in the amygdala and posterior fusiform gyri in elderly subjects. Importantly, additional analyses using an elderly-specific brain template for spatial normalization of the elderly BOLD fMRI data confirmed these divergent regional response patterns. While there was no difference between groups in accuracy on the task, elderly subjects were significantly slower (delayed reaction times) in performing the task. Our current data suggest that elderly subjects engage a more distributed neocortical network during the perceptual processing of emotional facial expressions. In light of recent converging data from two other studies, our observed effects may reflect age-related compensatory responses and/or alternative strategies in processing emotions, as the elderly appear to engage cognitive/linguistic systems in the context of reduced sensory and/or limbic responses.
AB - Aging is associated with a decline in both cognitive and motor abilities that reflects deterioration of underlying brain circuitry. While age-related alterations have also been described in brain regions underlying emotional behavior (e.g., the amygdala), the functional consequence of such changes is less clear. To this end, we used blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore age-related changes in brain regions underlying emotion processing. Twelve young (age < 30 years) and 14 elderly subjects (age > 60 years) were studied with BOLD fMRI during a paradigm that involved perceptual processing of fearful and threatening stimuli. Consistent with previous reports, direct group comparisons revealed relatively increased BOLD fMRI responses in prefrontal cortical regions, including Broca's area, and relatively decreased responses in the amygdala and posterior fusiform gyri in elderly subjects. Importantly, additional analyses using an elderly-specific brain template for spatial normalization of the elderly BOLD fMRI data confirmed these divergent regional response patterns. While there was no difference between groups in accuracy on the task, elderly subjects were significantly slower (delayed reaction times) in performing the task. Our current data suggest that elderly subjects engage a more distributed neocortical network during the perceptual processing of emotional facial expressions. In light of recent converging data from two other studies, our observed effects may reflect age-related compensatory responses and/or alternative strategies in processing emotions, as the elderly appear to engage cognitive/linguistic systems in the context of reduced sensory and/or limbic responses.
KW - Aging
KW - Amygdala
KW - BOLD-fMRI
KW - Modulating emotions
KW - Prefrontal cortex
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2005.02.009
DO - 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2005.02.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 15936178
AN - SCOPUS:20444381284
VL - 139
SP - 9
EP - 18
JO - Psychiatry Research - Neuroimaging
JF - Psychiatry Research - Neuroimaging
SN - 0925-4927
IS - 1
ER -