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White matter in the older brain is more plastic than in the younger brain.

ABSTRACT: Visual perceptual learning (VPL) with younger subjects is associated with changes in functional activation of the early visual cortex. Although overall brain properties decline with age, it is unclear whether these declines are associated with visual perceptual learning. Here we use diffusion tensor imaging to test whether changes in white matter are involved in VPL for older adults. After training on a texture discrimination task for three daily sessions, both older and younger subjects show performance improvements. While the older subjects show significant changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) in the white matter beneath the early visual cortex after training, no significant change in FA is observed for younger subjects. These results suggest that the mechanism for VPL in older individuals is considerably different from that in younger individuals and that VPL of older individuals involves reorganization of white matter.

SUBMITTER: Yotsumoto Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4238045 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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White matter in the older brain is more plastic than in the younger brain.

Yotsumoto Yuko Y Chang Li-Hung LH Ni Rui R Pierce Russell R Andersen George J GJ Watanabe Takeo T Sasaki Yuka Y

Nature communications 20141119

Visual perceptual learning (VPL) with younger subjects is associated with changes in functional activation of the early visual cortex. Although overall brain properties decline with age, it is unclear whether these declines are associated with visual perceptual learning. Here we use diffusion tensor imaging to test whether changes in white matter are involved in VPL for older adults. After training on a texture discrimination task for three daily sessions, both older and younger subjects show pe ...[more]

PMID: 25407566

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Project description:Background White matter abnormalities are a common feature of aging and Alzheimer disease, and tend to be more severe among Black individuals. However, the extent to which white matter abnormalities relate to amyloid deposition, a marker of Alzheimer pathology, remains unclear. This cross-sectional study examined the association of white matter abnormalities with cortical amyloid in a community sample of older adults without dementia and examined the moderating effect of race. Methods and Results Participants from the ARIC-PET (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities-Positron Emission Tomography) study underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging, which quantified white matter hyperintensity volume and microstructural integrity using diffusion tensor imaging. Participants received florbetapir positron emission tomography imaging to measure brain amyloid. Associations between measures of white matter structure and elevated amyloid status were examined using multivariable logistic regression. Among 322 participants (43% Black), each SD increase in white matter hyperintensity volume was associated with a greater odds of elevated amyloid (odds ratio [OR], 1.37; 95% CI, 1.03-1.83) after adjusting for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors. In race-stratified analyses, a greater white matter hyperintensity volume was more strongly associated with elevated amyloid among Black participants (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.15-3.50), compared with White participants (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 0.89-1.89). However, the race interaction was not statistically significant (P interaction=0.09). We found no association between white matter microstructure and elevated amyloid. Conclusions The results suggest a modest positive relationship between white matter hyperintensity and elevated amyloid in older adults without dementia. Although the results indicate that this association is nonsignificantly stronger among Black participants, these findings will need to be confirmed or refuted using larger multiracial cohorts.

Dataset Information

White matter in the older brain is more plastic than in the younger brain.

Publications

White matter in the older brain is more plastic than in the younger brain.

Similar Datasets

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