| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥2,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥540,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The BOLD signals produced in the regions responsible for working memory (WM) are augmented in a task load-dependent manner and are also affected by aging. The purpose of this study is 1) to investigate the effect of meaningfulness of visual information for WM in older adults, 2) to examine whether the WM load-dependent BOLD response gradient (WBG) can be used to assess age-related effects on WM and 3) to identify the optimal brain regions for objectively evaluating the extent of such changes. An analysis of the subjects’ imaging data detected an interactive effect between age and WM load on the WBG, which was derived from greater recruitment of neuronal resources and a reduced WM capacity in older adults. In addition, it was found that the age-related differences in the WBG were particularly marked in the bilateral frontal and the left parietal regions. Focusing on these areas might be useful for detecting the effects of aging on WM in the clinical setting.
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