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Functional dedifferentiation and reduced task-related deactivations underlie the age-related decline of prospective memory

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Abstract

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember to execute an intention at the appropriate moment in the future, which can be performed either at the appearance of an event (event-based, EBPM) or after a certain amount of time (time-based, TBPM). PM is generally impaired during aging but the cerebral substrates of this decline have been little investigated. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we investigated the neural bases of PM in 20 young and 20 healthy older adults. They were proposed a task of semantic categorisation of pictures (ongoing task). For some blocks, participants only had to perform this ongoing task while, for others, a PM instruction was added. In this case, a supplementary answer in response to a specific colour of border for EBPM or at specific time intervals for TBPM was expected. PM, and more particularly TBPM, declined in older adults. For both PM conditions, older adults recruited additional brain areas, but also showed reduced deactivations of other regions. These results are discussed in light of models of the aging brain.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank F. Lamberton for his help in the fMRI sequences, J. Chavant, J. Dayan, C. Lebouleux, M.H. Noel, M.C. Onfroy, A. Quillard and C. Schupp for data acquisition and recruitment of participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14000, Caen, France

    Julie Gonneaud, Grégory Lecouvey, Mathilde Groussard, Malo Gaubert, Brigitte Landeau, Florence Mézenge, Vincent de La Sayette, Francis Eustache, Béatrice Desgranges & Géraldine Rauchs

  2. CHU de Caen, Service de Neurologie, 14000, Caen, France

    Vincent de La Sayette

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  1. Julie Gonneaud
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  2. Grégory Lecouvey
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  3. Mathilde Groussard
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  4. Malo Gaubert
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  5. Brigitte Landeau
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  6. Florence Mézenge
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  7. Vincent de La Sayette
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  9. Béatrice Desgranges
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  10. Géraldine Rauchs
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Correspondence to Géraldine Rauchs.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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This work was supported by the Association France-Alzheimer and the French Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche.

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Gonneaud, J., Lecouvey, G., Groussard, M. et al. Functional dedifferentiation and reduced task-related deactivations underlie the age-related decline of prospective memory. Brain Imaging and Behavior 11, 1873–1884 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-016-9661-z

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