Effects of age on spatial orientation neural network and default mode network : an fMRI study.

Abstract

Age-related changes on the neural substrates of visuospatial processing were examined in the context of a line orientation judgment task in 23 younger and 21 older Japanese adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Task induced deactivations were also employed to evaluate for age-related changes in the default mode network. Group-specific activation maps for the visuospatial task and default mode network revealed differences between the younger and older subjects (e.g., bilateral precuneus activations in the younger subjects but right precuneus activations in the older subjects for the line task). However, these differences did not survive after controlling for normal brain atrophy and task difficulty suggesting relatively preserved visuospatial processing in normal aging. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.