Cognitive Intraindividual Variability and White Matter Integrity in Aging

The intraindividual variability (IIV) of cognitive performance has been shown to increase with aging. While brain research has generally focused on mean performance, little is known about neural correlates of cognitive IIV. Nevertheless, some studies suggest that IIV relates more strongly than mean...

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Main Authors: Nathalie Mella, Sandrine de Ribaupierre, Roy Eagleson, Anik de Ribaupierre
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/350623
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author Nathalie Mella
Sandrine de Ribaupierre
Roy Eagleson
Anik de Ribaupierre
author_facet Nathalie Mella
Sandrine de Ribaupierre
Roy Eagleson
Anik de Ribaupierre
author_sort Nathalie Mella
collection DOAJ
description The intraindividual variability (IIV) of cognitive performance has been shown to increase with aging. While brain research has generally focused on mean performance, little is known about neural correlates of cognitive IIV. Nevertheless, some studies suggest that IIV relates more strongly than mean level of performance to the quality of white matter (WM). Our study aims to explore the relation between WM integrity and cognitive IIV by combining functional (fMRI) and structural (diffusion tensor imaging, DTI) imaging. Twelve young adults (aged 18–30 years) and thirteen older adults (61–82 years) underwent a battery of neuropsychological tasks, along with fMRI and DTI imaging. Their behavioral data were analyzed and correlated with the imaging data at WM regions of interest defined on the basis of (1) the fMRI-activated areas and (2) the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) WM tractography atlas. For both methods, fractional anisotropy, along with the mean, radial, and axial diffusivity parameters, was computed. In accord with previous studies, our results showed that the DTI parameters were more related to IIV than to mean performance. Results also indicated that age differences in the DTI parameters were more pronounced in the regions activated primarily by young adults during a choice reaction-time task than in those also activated in older adults.
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spelling doaj-art-007b1a7332ee4e0686d4fe22c8a7f6fc2025-08-20T02:03:13ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal1537-744X2013-01-01201310.1155/2013/350623350623Cognitive Intraindividual Variability and White Matter Integrity in AgingNathalie Mella0Sandrine de Ribaupierre1Roy Eagleson2Anik de Ribaupierre3FPSE, University of Geneva, Boul du Pont d’Arve 40, 1211 Geneva 4, SwitzerlandClinical Neurological Sciences, Western University, 339 Windermere Road, London, ON, N6A 5A5, CanadaElectrical and Computer Engineering, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, N6A 3K7, CanadaFPSE, University of Geneva, Boul du Pont d’Arve 40, 1211 Geneva 4, SwitzerlandThe intraindividual variability (IIV) of cognitive performance has been shown to increase with aging. While brain research has generally focused on mean performance, little is known about neural correlates of cognitive IIV. Nevertheless, some studies suggest that IIV relates more strongly than mean level of performance to the quality of white matter (WM). Our study aims to explore the relation between WM integrity and cognitive IIV by combining functional (fMRI) and structural (diffusion tensor imaging, DTI) imaging. Twelve young adults (aged 18–30 years) and thirteen older adults (61–82 years) underwent a battery of neuropsychological tasks, along with fMRI and DTI imaging. Their behavioral data were analyzed and correlated with the imaging data at WM regions of interest defined on the basis of (1) the fMRI-activated areas and (2) the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) WM tractography atlas. For both methods, fractional anisotropy, along with the mean, radial, and axial diffusivity parameters, was computed. In accord with previous studies, our results showed that the DTI parameters were more related to IIV than to mean performance. Results also indicated that age differences in the DTI parameters were more pronounced in the regions activated primarily by young adults during a choice reaction-time task than in those also activated in older adults.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/350623
spellingShingle Nathalie Mella
Sandrine de Ribaupierre
Roy Eagleson
Anik de Ribaupierre
Cognitive Intraindividual Variability and White Matter Integrity in Aging
The Scientific World Journal
title Cognitive Intraindividual Variability and White Matter Integrity in Aging
title_full Cognitive Intraindividual Variability and White Matter Integrity in Aging
title_fullStr Cognitive Intraindividual Variability and White Matter Integrity in Aging
title_full_unstemmed Cognitive Intraindividual Variability and White Matter Integrity in Aging
title_short Cognitive Intraindividual Variability and White Matter Integrity in Aging
title_sort cognitive intraindividual variability and white matter integrity in aging
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/350623
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AT royeagleson cognitiveintraindividualvariabilityandwhitematterintegrityinaging
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