Showing papers by "Julie A. Dumas published in 2015"
TL;DR: Recent human studies examined include estradiol and cholinergic antagonist reversal studies in normal older women, examinations of the neural representations of estrogen-cholinergic interactions using functional brain imaging, and studies of the ability of selective estrogen receptor modulators such as tamoxifen to interact with cholinerential-mediated cognitive performance.
58 citations
TL;DR: Normal patterns of cognitive change in healthy aging are described, how some of these processes can be explored with functional neuroimaging is described, and the work attempting to describe differences between normal and pathological cognitive aging is described.
Abstract: The idea that our cognitive abilities change with age has support from empirical research as well as from anecdotal reports. Cognition has many component processes, some of which are impaired by normal aging like attention and memory as a result of changes in perceptual systems or speed of processing. Other cognitive domains improve in functioning as aging continues such as wisdom and some kinds of decision making. Many years of research in the psychology of cognitive aging has described patterns of age-related changes in cognitive processes with older adults performing worse than younger adults on tests of attention, working memory and episodic memory and better on tests of general knowledge. More recent work in task-related functional neuroimaging has further elucidated the effects of aging on brain circuitry related to these cognitive processes. Generally, studies show that older adults activate regions of the frontal cortex more than younger adults while younger adults activate more posterior cortical areas. This paper describes normal patterns of cognitive change in healthy aging, describes how some of these processes can be explored with functional neuroimaging, and briefly describes the work attempting to describe differences between normal and pathological cognitive aging.
25 citations
TL;DR: Cognitive dysfunction in geriatric depression may be related to reorganization of brain networks involved in working memory as well as mood in older adults.
Abstract: Objective Older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) experience poor cognitive and behavioral outcomes as MDD occurs in the context of other age-related brain changes. Patients with depression often have impairments on measures of frontal lobe functioning such as working memory. Understanding the effects of depression on cognitive functioning in older adults is important for the development of treatment strategies that focus on cognitive changes as well as mood. Methods Eleven older adults with current MDD and 12 nondepressed comparison participants (all aged 60 years and older) performed the N-back test of working memory during fMRI. Results Depressed older adults performed worse than nondepressed participants on the N-back task. Depressed older adults had decreased lateral frontal and parietal activation during the most difficult working memory load condition on the N-back compared with nondepressed older adults. Conclusion Cognitive dysfunction in geriatric depression may be related to reorganization of brain networks involved in working memory.
18 citations