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Age-related changes in brain function are complex. Although ageing is associated with a reduction in cerebral blood flow and neuronal activity, task-related processing is often correlated with an enlargement of the corresponding and additionally recruited brain areas. This supplemental employment is considered an attempt to compensate for deficits in the ageing brain. Although there are contradictory reports regarding the role of the primary somatosensory cortex (SI), currently, there is little knowledge about age-related functional changes in other brain areas in the somatosensory network (secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), and insular, anterior (ACC) and posterior cingulate cortices (PCC)). We investigated 16 elderly (age range, 62-71 years) and 18 young subjects (age range, 21-28 years) by determining the current perception threshold (CPT) and applying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a 3.0 Tesla scanner under tactile stimulation of the right hand. CPT was positively correlated with age. fMRI analysis revealed significantly increased activation in the contralateral SI and ipsilateral motor cortex in elderly subjects. Furthermore, we demonstrated age-related reductions in the activity in the SII, ACC, PCC, and dorsal parts of the corpus callosum. Our study revealed dramatic age-related differences in the processing of a simple tactile stimulus in the somatosensory network. Specifically, we detected enhanced activation in the contralateral SI and ipsilateral motor cortex assumingly caused by deficient inhibition and decreased activation in later stages of somatosensory processing (SII, cingulate cortex) in elderly subjects. These results indicate that, in addition to over-activation to compensate for impaired brain functions, there are complex mechanisms of modified inhibition and excitability involved in somatosensory processing in the ageing brain.
Pubmed ID: 23123141
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Software package for analysis of brain imaging data sequences. Sequences can be a series of images from different cohorts, or time-series from same subject. Current release is designed for analysis of fMRI, PET, SPECT, EEG and MEG.
View all literature mentionsA MATLAB toolbox which uses three dimensional probabilistic cytoarchitechtonic maps to correlate microscopic, anatomic and functional data of the cerebral cortex. Correlating the activation foci identified in functional imaging studies of the human brain with structural (e.g., cytoarchitectonic) information on the activated areas is a major methodological challenge for neuroscience research. We here present a new approach to make use of three-dimensional probabilistic cytoarchitectonic maps, as obtained from the analysis of human post-mortem brains, for correlating microscopical, anatomical and functional imaging data of the cerebral cortex. We introduce a new, MATLAB based toolbox for the SPM2 software package which enables the integration of probabilistic cytoarchitectonic maps and results of functional imaging studies. The toolbox includes the functionality for the construction of summary maps combining probability of several cortical areas by finding the most probable assignment of each voxel to one of these areas. Its main feature is to provide several measures defining the degree of correspondence between architectonic areas and functional foci. The software, together with the presently available probability maps, is available as open source software to the neuroimaging community. This new toolbox provides an easy-to-use tool for the integrated analysis of functional and anatomical data in a common reference space.
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