Book contents
- Cognitive Changes and the Aging Brain
- Cognitive Changes and the Aging Brain
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Anatomic and Histological Changes of the Aging Brain
- Chapter 3 Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms for Age-Related Cognitive Decline
- Chapter 4 Neuroimaging of the Aging Brain
- Chapter 5 Changes in Visuospatial, Visuoperceptual, and Navigational Ability in Aging
- Chapter 6 Chemosensory Function during Neurologically Healthy Aging
- Chapter 7 Memory Changes in the Aging Brain
- Chapter 8 Aging-Related Alterations in Language
- Chapter 9 Changes in Emotions and Mood with Aging
- Chapter 10 Aging and Attention
- Chapter 11 Changes in Motor Programming with Aging
- Chapter 12 Alterations in Executive Functions with Aging
- Chapter 13 Brain Aging and Creativity
- Chapter 14 Attractor Network Dynamics, Transmitters, and Memory and Cognitive Changes in Aging
- Chapter 15 Mechanisms of Aging-Related Cognitive Decline
- Chapter 16 The Influence of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Aging
- Chapter 17 Pharmacological Cosmetic Neurology
- Chapter 18 Cognitive Rehabilitation in Healthy Aging
- Chapter 19 Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia
- Index
- References
Chapter 14 - Attractor Network Dynamics, Transmitters, and Memory and Cognitive Changes in Aging
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 November 2019
- Cognitive Changes and the Aging Brain
- Cognitive Changes and the Aging Brain
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Anatomic and Histological Changes of the Aging Brain
- Chapter 3 Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms for Age-Related Cognitive Decline
- Chapter 4 Neuroimaging of the Aging Brain
- Chapter 5 Changes in Visuospatial, Visuoperceptual, and Navigational Ability in Aging
- Chapter 6 Chemosensory Function during Neurologically Healthy Aging
- Chapter 7 Memory Changes in the Aging Brain
- Chapter 8 Aging-Related Alterations in Language
- Chapter 9 Changes in Emotions and Mood with Aging
- Chapter 10 Aging and Attention
- Chapter 11 Changes in Motor Programming with Aging
- Chapter 12 Alterations in Executive Functions with Aging
- Chapter 13 Brain Aging and Creativity
- Chapter 14 Attractor Network Dynamics, Transmitters, and Memory and Cognitive Changes in Aging
- Chapter 15 Mechanisms of Aging-Related Cognitive Decline
- Chapter 16 The Influence of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Aging
- Chapter 17 Pharmacological Cosmetic Neurology
- Chapter 18 Cognitive Rehabilitation in Healthy Aging
- Chapter 19 Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia
- Index
- References
Summary
An attractor network is used in computational neuroscience to model the neuronal processes important for cognitive functions such as memory as well as motor behaviors. These networks are composed of neurons with excitatory interconnections that can settle into a stable pattern of firing. This chapter describes how attractor networks in the cerebral cortex are important for short- and long-term memory, attention, and decision-making. It then discusses how the random firing of neurons can influence the stability of these networks by introducing stochastic noise, and how these effects are involved in probabilistic decision-making and are implicated in some disorders of cortical function, such as poor short-term memory, attention, and alterations of cognitive functions with aging. Further, this chapter describes how alterations in transmitters that occur with aging, including acetylcholine, dopamine, and norepinephrine, can impair the stability of these memory networks, resulting in poor memory and attention. This computational neuroscience approach has implications for treatment.
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- Cognitive Changes and the Aging Brain , pp. 203 - 225Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
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