Practice on conflict tasks promotes executive function of working memory in the elderly

Behavioural Brain Research
Mariko OsakaNaoyuki Osaka

Abstract

Effects of practice on a conflict task in elderly individuals are examined with a focus on its impact on executive function in working memory. During a short-term practice period, healthy elderly participants practiced switching attention using a Stroop task that involved a conflict between a task relevant stimulus and an irrelevant stimulus. To explore neural substrates underlying practice effects, two working memory tasks were used: a focus reading span test (F-RST) and a non-focus reading span test (NF-RST); the NF-RST test demanded greater switching attention due to a conflict between the relevant task stimulus and an irrelevant task stimulus, thus requiring an attention switch from the latter to the former. Following the Stroop task practice, fMRI data showed that participants who had engaged in practice had significant increases in activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the precuneus regions during the NF-RST. By contrast, a control group, which did not practice, showed no significant increases in these regions. Results suggest that practice on conflict tasks in elderly individuals activated regions related to conflict...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 6, 2015·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Elizabeth A WalsheRichard A P Roche
Feb 25, 2015·Medical Science Monitor : International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research·Andrzej BrodziakAlicja Różyk-Myrta
Jul 4, 2020·BMC Geriatrics·Monisha IngoldKaren P Y Liu

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