Functional deactivations: Change with age and dementia of the Alzheimer type

Young adults typically deactivate specific brain regions during active task performance. Deactivated regions overlap with those that show reduced resting metabolic activity in aging and dementia, raising the possibility of a relation. Here, the magnitude and dynamic temporal properties of these typically deactivated regions were explored in aging by using functional MRI in 82 participants. Young adults (n = 32), older adults without dementia (n = 27), and older adults with early-stage dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) (n = 23) were imaged while alternating between blocks of an active semantic classification task and a passive fixation baseline. Deactivation in lateral parietal regions was equivalent across…

• HH
  Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• JS
  James S. McDonnell Foundation
• AA
  Alzheimer's Association

  Award: AG05681
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: P50 AG05681, AG00030, AG05681, NS06833, AG03991