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Article
Cognitive intraindividual variability and white matter integrity in aging
The Scientific World Journal
  • Nathalie Mella, Université de Genève
  • Sandrine De Ribaupierre, Western University
  • Roy Eagleson, Western University
  • Anik De Ribaupierre, Université de Genève
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-21-2013
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1155/2013/350623
Abstract

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. © 2013 Nathalie Mella et al.

Citation Information
Nathalie Mella, Sandrine De Ribaupierre, Roy Eagleson and Anik De Ribaupierre. "Cognitive intraindividual variability and white matter integrity in aging" The Scientific World Journal Vol. 2013 (2013)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sandrine-deribaupierre/7/