Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (38)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nielsen-Bohlman, L.
Right arrow Articles by Knight, R. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nielsen-Bohlman, L.
Right arrow Articles by Knight, R. T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Cerebral Cortex 1995; 5:541-549
© Oxford University Press 1995

research-article

Prefrontal Alterations during Memory Processing in Aging

L. Nielsen-Bohlman and R. T. Knight

Department of Neurology and Center for Neuroscience, University of California Davis, Martinez, California 94553

Studies of human amnesia provide evidence for a short-term memory store with information transfer to long-term memory occurring within 60 sec of encoding. Frontal cortical activation is critical for maintenance of the short-term store, and limbic structures are necessary for access to the long-term store. The P3 and N4 components of the eventrelated potential (ERP) are generated during memory processes mediated by these brain regions. The current study examines the effects of age on ERPs generated to correctly identified stimuli presented at delays of 1–150 sec in a visual recognition memory task. Consistently different evoked potentials and performance were obtained to stimuli repeated at 1.2 sec delay as opposed to stimuli repeated at delays of over 4 sec in all subjects. At the 1.2 sec delay, the performance and posterior P3 amplitudes generated by old and young subjects were comparable. At longer delays, the older subjects had impaired performance and decreased P3 amplitude at posterior scalp sites. In addition, fronto-central N4 activity was reduced at long delays in the elderly. Older subjects generated a sustained frontal positivity (50–800 msec) to both short and long delay stimuli that was not observed in the younger group. The late phase of the frontal positivity was enhanced at long delays in the elderly. The data provide evidence of intact rapid and impaired delayed recognition memory in aging. Alternations in frontal cortical control of posterior and limbic regions may contribute to the memory changes observed in aging.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 BrainHome page
M. N. Rajah and M. D'Esposito
Region-specific changes in prefrontal function with age: a review of PET and fMRI studies on working and episodic memory
Brain, September 1, 2005; 128(9): 1964 - 1983.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
S. Windmann, T. P. Urbach, and M. Kutas
Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Decision Biases in Recognition Memory
Cereb Cortex, August 1, 2002; 12(8): 808 - 817.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
D. J. Madden, L. R. Gottlob, L. L. Denny, T. G. Turkington, J. M. Provenzale, T. C. Hawk, and R. E. Coleman
Aging and Recognition Memory: Changes in Regional Cerebral Blood Flow Associated with Components of Reaction Time Distributions
J. Cogn. Neurosci., September 1, 1999; 11(5): 511 - 520.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 BrainHome page
G. Esposito, B. S. Kirkby, J. D. Van Horn, T. M. Ellmore, and K. F. Berman
Context-dependent, neural system-specific neurophysiological concomitants of ageing: mapping PET correlates during cognitive activation
Brain, May 1, 1999; 122(5): 963 - 979.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.