Brain Advance Access originally published online on November 7, 2003
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Brain, Vol. 127, No. 2, 351-362, 2004
© 2004 Guarantors of Brain
doi: 10.1093/brain/awh042
Sensorimotor slowing with ageing is mediated by a functional dysregulation of motor-generation processes: evidence from high-resolution event-related potentials
1 Institute of Occupational Physiology, Ardeystr. 67, D-44139 Dortmund, Germany and 2 Institute of Physiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev str., bl. 23, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Correspondence to: Dr Juliana Yordanova, MD, PhD, Institute of Physiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev str., bl. 23, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria E-mail: jyord{at}iph.bio.bas.bg
The objective of the present study was to identify the origin(s) of ageing-related behavioural slowing in sensorimotor tasks. For this aim, event-related potentials (ERPs) were analysed at 64 electrodes to evaluate the strength and timing of different stages of information processing in the brain. Electrophysiological indices of stimulus processing, sensorimotor integration/response selection and motor-related processing were used to compare the processing speed of young (n = 13, mean age = 22.5 years) and older adults (n = 14, mean age = 58.3 years) in simple- and choice-reaction tasks presented in two modalities, auditory and visual. The behavioural results showed significant ageing-related slowing, but only in the choice-reaction task. The quantification of separate central processing stages, in combination with advanced ERP methodology, helped to reveal that this slowing did not originate from the early processes of stimulus processing and response selection. Instead, it was produced by slower activation patterns over the contralateral motor cortex underlying response generation. It is concluded that ageing is accompanied by a functional dysregulation of motor cortex excitability during sensorimotor processing, with this deficit becoming progressively evident with greater task complexity.
Key Words: ageing; electroencephalography; event-related potentials; motor-related potentials; executive functions
Abbreviations: CRT= four-choice-reaction task; CSD = current source density; ERP = event-related potential; LRP = lateralized readiness potential; MRP = motor-related potential; r-ERP = response-related ERP; r-LRP = response-locked LRP; RT = reaction time; s-ERP = stimulus-related ERP; SR1, SR2, SR3, SR4 = stimulus–response types;s-LRP = stimulus-locked LRP; SRT = simple reaction task
Received June 26, 2003. Revised September 21, 2003. Accepted September 23, 2003.
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