Frontal theta oscillations and cognitive flexibility: Age-related modulations in EEG activity

IF 2.7 Q3 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Aging brain Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1016/j.nbas.2025.100142

Margarita Darna , Christopher Stolz , Hannah-Sophia Jauch , Hendrik Strumpf , Jens-Max Hopf , Constanze I. Seidenbecher , Björn H. Schott , Anni Richter

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Abstract

Cognitive flexibility, the ability to adapt one’s behaviour in changing environments, declines during aging. Electroencephalography (EEG) studies have implicated midfrontal theta oscillations in attentional set-shifting, a measure of cognitive flexibility. Little is known about the electrocortical underpinnings of set-shifting in aging. Here, we investigated aging effects on set-shifting performance by analysing theta power in 20 young (mean age: 22.5 ± 2.9 years) and 19 older (mean age: 69.4 ± 6.1 years) adults. Increasing shift difficulty (i.e., intra- vs. extra-dimensional shifts) elicited worse performance in both age groups, with older adults showing overall longer reaction times (RTs) and increased RT variability. Young adults exhibited amplified midfrontal theta power increases with higher shift difficulty whereas older adults showed overall lower theta power and no task-related midfrontal theta power modulation, indicating potentially distinct underlying neural mechanisms.

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额叶θ波振荡与认知灵活性：脑电图活动的年龄相关调节

认知灵活性，即在不断变化的环境中适应自己行为的能力，随着年龄的增长而下降。脑电图（EEG）研究表明，中额波振荡与注意力转移有关，这是一种认知灵活性的测量方法。人们对老化过程中设置转移的电皮层基础知之甚少。在此，我们通过分析20名年轻人（平均年龄：22.5±2.9岁）和19名老年人（平均年龄：69.4±6.1岁）的theta功率来研究年龄对set-shift性能的影响。增加转换难度（即，内维度与外维度转换）在两个年龄组中都引起了更差的表现，老年人表现出更长的反应时间（RTs）和更大的RT变异性。年轻人的前额叶中波功率随着移位难度的增加而增加，而老年人的前额叶中波功率总体较低，且没有任务相关的前额叶中波功率调节，这表明潜在的不同神经机制。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Aging brain Neuroscience (General), Geriatrics and Gerontology

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