Where the brain grows old: Decline in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal function with normal aging

Jose V Pardo; Joel T. Lee; Sohail A. Sheikh; Christa Surerus-Johnson; Hemant Shah; Kristin R. Munch; John V Carlis; Scott M. Lewis; Michael A Kuskowski; Maurice W Dysken

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.12.044

Where the brain grows old: Decline in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal function with normal aging

Jose V Pardo, Joel T. Lee, Sohail A. Sheikh, Christa Surerus-Johnson, Hemant Shah, Kristin R. Munch, John V Carlis, Scott M. Lewis, Michael A Kuskowski, Maurice W Dysken

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

141 Scopus citations

Abstract

Even healthy adults worry about declines in mental efficiency with aging. Subjective changes in mental flexibility, self-regulation, processing speed, and memory are often cited. We show here that focal decreases in brain activity occur with normal aging as measured with fluorodeoxyglucose and positron emission tomography. The largest declines localize to a medial network including the anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial thalamus, and sugenual cingulate/basal forebrain. Declining metabolism in this network correlates with declining cognitive function. The medial prefrontal metabolic changes with aging are similar in magnitude to the hypometabolism found in Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's disease. These results converge with data from healthy elderly indicating dysfunction in the anterior attention system. The interaction of attention in the anterior cingulate cortex with memory in the medial temporal lobe may explain the global impairment that defines dementia. Despite the implications for an aging population, the neurophysiologic mechanisms of these metabolic decreases remain unknown.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1231-1237
Number of pages	7
Journal	NeuroImage
Volume	35
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.12.044
State	Published - Apr 15 2007

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NIH (RO1 AG120852), the Alzheimer's Disease Association, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. We thank the many volunteers who participated in this study for their generosity and patience; the staff at Lifescan, Edina, MN, for excellent technical support; and our colleagues at the Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit. We thank the anonymous reviewers for providing recommendations that improved this work.

Keywords

Aging
Alzheimer's disease
Anterior cingulate cortex
Attention
Brain metabolism
Mild cognitive impairment
Neurodegeneration
PET

Access

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.12.044

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

@article{74613c836a4948878c0898f591c9ee57,

title = "Where the brain grows old: Decline in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal function with normal aging",

abstract = "Even healthy adults worry about declines in mental efficiency with aging. Subjective changes in mental flexibility, self-regulation, processing speed, and memory are often cited. We show here that focal decreases in brain activity occur with normal aging as measured with fluorodeoxyglucose and positron emission tomography. The largest declines localize to a medial network including the anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial thalamus, and sugenual cingulate/basal forebrain. Declining metabolism in this network correlates with declining cognitive function. The medial prefrontal metabolic changes with aging are similar in magnitude to the hypometabolism found in Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's disease. These results converge with data from healthy elderly indicating dysfunction in the anterior attention system. The interaction of attention in the anterior cingulate cortex with memory in the medial temporal lobe may explain the global impairment that defines dementia. Despite the implications for an aging population, the neurophysiologic mechanisms of these metabolic decreases remain unknown.",

keywords = "Aging, Alzheimer's disease, Anterior cingulate cortex, Attention, Brain metabolism, Mild cognitive impairment, Neurodegeneration, PET",

author = "Pardo, {Jose V} and Lee, {Joel T.} and Sheikh, {Sohail A.} and Christa Surerus-Johnson and Hemant Shah and Munch, {Kristin R.} and Carlis, {John V} and Lewis, {Scott M.} and Kuskowski, {Michael A} and Dysken, {Maurice W}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the NIH (RO1 AG120852), the Alzheimer's Disease Association, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. We thank the many volunteers who participated in this study for their generosity and patience; the staff at Lifescan, Edina, MN, for excellent technical support; and our colleagues at the Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit. We thank the anonymous reviewers for providing recommendations that improved this work.",

year = "2007",

month = apr,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.12.044",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "35",

pages = "1231--1237",

journal = "NeuroImage",

issn = "1053-8119",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Where the brain grows old

T2 - Decline in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal function with normal aging

AU - Pardo, Jose V

AU - Lee, Joel T.

AU - Sheikh, Sohail A.

AU - Surerus-Johnson, Christa

AU - Shah, Hemant

AU - Munch, Kristin R.

AU - Carlis, John V

AU - Lewis, Scott M.

AU - Kuskowski, Michael A

AU - Dysken, Maurice W

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the NIH (RO1 AG120852), the Alzheimer's Disease Association, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. We thank the many volunteers who participated in this study for their generosity and patience; the staff at Lifescan, Edina, MN, for excellent technical support; and our colleagues at the Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit. We thank the anonymous reviewers for providing recommendations that improved this work.

PY - 2007/4/15

Y1 - 2007/4/15

N2 - Even healthy adults worry about declines in mental efficiency with aging. Subjective changes in mental flexibility, self-regulation, processing speed, and memory are often cited. We show here that focal decreases in brain activity occur with normal aging as measured with fluorodeoxyglucose and positron emission tomography. The largest declines localize to a medial network including the anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial thalamus, and sugenual cingulate/basal forebrain. Declining metabolism in this network correlates with declining cognitive function. The medial prefrontal metabolic changes with aging are similar in magnitude to the hypometabolism found in Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's disease. These results converge with data from healthy elderly indicating dysfunction in the anterior attention system. The interaction of attention in the anterior cingulate cortex with memory in the medial temporal lobe may explain the global impairment that defines dementia. Despite the implications for an aging population, the neurophysiologic mechanisms of these metabolic decreases remain unknown.

AB - Even healthy adults worry about declines in mental efficiency with aging. Subjective changes in mental flexibility, self-regulation, processing speed, and memory are often cited. We show here that focal decreases in brain activity occur with normal aging as measured with fluorodeoxyglucose and positron emission tomography. The largest declines localize to a medial network including the anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial thalamus, and sugenual cingulate/basal forebrain. Declining metabolism in this network correlates with declining cognitive function. The medial prefrontal metabolic changes with aging are similar in magnitude to the hypometabolism found in Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's disease. These results converge with data from healthy elderly indicating dysfunction in the anterior attention system. The interaction of attention in the anterior cingulate cortex with memory in the medial temporal lobe may explain the global impairment that defines dementia. Despite the implications for an aging population, the neurophysiologic mechanisms of these metabolic decreases remain unknown.

KW - Aging

KW - Alzheimer's disease

KW - Anterior cingulate cortex

KW - Attention

KW - Brain metabolism

KW - Mild cognitive impairment

KW - Neurodegeneration

KW - PET

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33947727499&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33947727499&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.12.044

DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.12.044

M3 - Article

C2 - 17321756

AN - SCOPUS:33947727499

SN - 1053-8119

VL - 35

SP - 1231

EP - 1237

JO - NeuroImage

JF - NeuroImage

IS - 3

ER -

Where the brain grows old: Decline in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal function with normal aging

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access

OpenUrl availability

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this