Healthy Brain Aging

Identifying the Neural Signature of Healthy Brain Aging

NEUROSCIENCE NEWSMARCH 7, 2017Summary: A new study reports
the ability to modulate brain activity when it comes
to shutting off processes irrelevant to a task may be
compromised in older people.

Source: UT Dallas.

Younger people efficiently engage brain processes necessary to perform a task, while at the same time “shut down” processes irrelevant to the task, according to new research from the Center for Vital Longevity (CVL) at UT Dallas.

In addition, this ability to modulate, or control, brain activity appears compromised in older adults, said Dr. Kristen Kennedy, assistant professor at the center and the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

“To use a car analogy, the ‘neuroflexibility’ involved in pressing on the gas to meet a cognitive task, while simultaneously tapping on the brakes on anything that doesn’t help you get to the finish line of a task at hand, is one of the neural phenomena we’ve singled out,” said Kennedy, who led the research published in the February issue of NeuroImage./.../