Age-related changes in processing speed: unique contributions of cerebellar and prefrontal cortex

• Main Authors: Mark A Eckert, Noam I Keren, Donna R Roberts, Vince D Calhoun, Kelly C Harris
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2010-03-01
• Series: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
• Subjects: Aging; Cerebellum; processing speed; Cerebral small vessel disease; structural covariance
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/neuro.09.010.2010/full

Age-related declines in processing speed are hypothesized to underlie the widespread changes in cognition experienced by older adults. We used a structural covariance approach to identify putative neural networks that underlie age-related structural changes associated with processing speed for 42 adults ranging in age from 19-79 years. To characterize a mechanism by which age-related gray matter changes lead to slower processing speed, we examined the extent to which cerebral small vessel disease influenced the association between age-related gray matter changes and processing speed. A frontal pattern of gray matter and white matter variation that was related to cerebral small vessel disease, as well as a cerebellar pattern of gray matter and white matter variation were uniquely related to age-related declines in processing speed. These results demonstrate that at least 2 distinct factors affect age-related changes in processing speed, which might be slowed by mitigating cerebral small vessel disease and factors affecting declines in cerebellar morphology.