Studies highlight cumulative life stress as a significant predictor of accelerated cognitive aging. This study paired electrophysiological with behavioral measures to explore how cumulative stress affects attentional and maintenance processes underpinning working memory retention. We collected electroencephalographic recordings from 60 individuals (30 older, 30 younger) reporting high or low levels of cumulative stress during the performance of a spatial Sternberg task. We measured mid-occipital alpha (8-12 Hz) and frontal-midline theta (4-6 Hz) as indicators of attentional and maintenance processes. Older, high-stress participants' behavioral performance lay significantly below than that of younger adults and low-stress older individuals. Impaired task performance coincided with reduced event-related synchronization in alpha and theta frequency ranges during memory maintenance. Electrophysiological findings suggest that older adults' reduced performance results from a stress-related impact on their ability to retain a stimulus in working memory and inhibit extraneous information from interfering with maintenance. Our results demonstrate the wide-ranging impact of cumulative stress on cognitive health and provide insight into the functional mechanisms disrupted by its influence.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.05.025 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
January 2025
School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, 100055, China.
Air pollution is a critical global environmental issue, further exacerbated by rapid industrialization and urbanization. Accurate prediction of air pollutant concentrations is essential for effective pollution prevention and control measures. The complex nature of pollutant data is influenced by fluctuating meteorological conditions, diverse pollution sources, and propagation processes, underscores the crucial importance of the spatial and temporal feature extraction for accurately predicting air pollutant concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroscience
January 2025
Kansai University of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy, 2-11-1 Wakaba Sennangun Kumatori, Osaka 590-0482, Japan; Graduate School of Kansai University of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Health Sciences, 2-11-1 Wakaba Sennangun Kumatori, Osaka 590-0482, Japan.
Elderly adults may have poorer recall ability than young adults and may not fully enjoy the effects of motor imagery. To understand the age bias of the effect of motor imagery on hand dexterity, we evaluated brain activation and spinal motor nerve excitability. Brain activation was evaluated from changes in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration, while spinal motor nerve excitability was evaluated from F-waves in eight young (mean age 21.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehav Processes
January 2025
Surrey Sleep Research Centre, University of Surrey.
Visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is crucial for navigating complex environments and is known to decline with ageing. The Free-Movement Pattern (FMP) Y-maze, used in animal studies, provides a robust paradigm for assessing VSWM via analyses of individual differences in repeated alternating sequences of left (L) and right (R) responses (LRLR, etc.), the predominant search pattern in many species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Psychophysiol
January 2025
Center for Cognitive & Brain Health, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, & Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address:
Introduction: Prolonged sitting can acutely reduce working memory (WM) in individuals with overweight and obesity (OW/OB) who show executive function deficits. Interrupting prolonged sitting with brief PA bouts may counter these effects. However, the benefits of such interventions on behavioral and neuroelectric indices of WM and whether neurocognitive responses are associated with postprandial glycemic responses in young and middle-aged adults with OW/OB remain unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuron
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address:
Dissecting how membrane receptors regulate neural circuits is critical for deciphering principles of neuromodulation and mechanisms of drug action. Here, we use a battery of optical approaches to determine how presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2) in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) controls anxiety-related behavior in mice. Using projection-specific photopharmacological activation, we find that mGluR2-mediated presynaptic inhibition of ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)-BLA, but not posterior insular cortex (pIC)-BLA, connections produces a long-lasting decrease in spatial avoidance.
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