Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T04:58:53.796Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Frontal/Subcortical Features of Normal Aging: An Empirical Analysis*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Charles Hinkin ,
Jeffrey L. Cummings ,
Wilfred G. Van Gorp ,
Paul Satz ,
Maura Mitrushina  and
David Freeman
Charles Hinkin
Affiliation:
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. UCLA School of Medicine.
Jeffrey L. Cummings
Affiliation:
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. UCLA School of Medicine.
Wilfred G. Van Gorp
Affiliation:
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. UCLA School of Medicine.
Paul Satz
Affiliation:
UCLA School of Medicine.
Maura Mitrushina
Affiliation:
UCLA School of Medicine.
David Freeman
Affiliation:
UCLA School of Medicine.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There has been considerable speculation relating the neuroanatomic changes during normal aging with corresponding neuropsychological sequelae. This paper examines the empirical support for the hypothesis that the greatest structural changes in normal aging occur in the frontal-subcortical axis, and that these produce a similar pattern of neuropsychological performance to that seen in younger individuals with subcortical damage. In this study, 14 normal elderly, 12 younger patients with HIV encephalopathy, and 14 young neurologically intact control subjects were studied with a neuropsychological test battery. The results demonstrated that the normal elderly and HIV encephalopathy patients evidenced a strong similarity in both level and pattern of neuropsychological performance despite their considerable age disparity. These results support the notion that normal aging differentially affects functions subserved by frontal-subcortical brain regions.

Résumé

Plusieurs hypothèses ont été émises reliant les changements neuroanatomiques durant le vieillissement normal aux séquelles neuropsychologiques correspondantes. Cet article examine les observations empiriques à l'appui de l'hypothèse soutenant que les changements structuraux les plus importants du vieillissement normal surviennent au sein de l'axe frontal sous-cortical et que ceux-ci entraînent un comportement neuropsychologique semblable à celui retrouvé chez les jeunes personnes victimes de difformité sous-corticale. Pour les besoins de la présente enquête les chercheurs ont administré une série de tests neuropsychologiques à 14 personnes normales d'âge avancé, à 12 personnes plus jeunes atteintes de VIH encéphalopathie, et à 14 jeunes sujets contrôles neurologiquement intacts. Les résultats ont démontré qu'il existe une forte ressemblance entre les personnes d'âge avancé et celles atteintes de VIH encéphalopathie dans leur niveau et dans leur style de comportement neuropsychologique, et ce en dépit des écarts d'âge considérables. Ces résultats appuient done la notion que le vieillissement normal affecte de façon différentielle les fonctions favorisées par les régions frontales sous-corticales du cerveau.

Keywords

AgingFrontal/SubcorticalNeuropsychologyHIV Encephalopathy.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , Summer/Été 1990 , pp. 104 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albert, M.L., Feldman, R.G., and Willis, A.L. (1974). The ‘subcortical dementia’ of progressive supranuclear palsy. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 37: 121–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Albert, M.S. and Kaplan, E. (1980). Organic implications of neuropsychological deficits in the elderly. In New Directions in Memory and Aging: Proceedings of the George A. Talland Memorial Conference, Poon, L.W., Fozard, J.L., Cermak, L.S., Arenberg, D., and Thompson, L.W. (eds.). Hollsdale N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Alexander, G.E., DeLong, M.R., and Strick, P.L. (1986). Parlallel organization of functionally segregated circuits linking basal ganglia and cortex. Annals of Review Neuroscience, 9: 357–381.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 3rd ed, revised. Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Benton, A.L., Eslinger, P.J., and Damasio, A.R. (1981). Normative observations on neuropsychological test performance in old age. Journal of Clinical Neuro-psychology, 3: 33–42.Google ScholarPubMed
Berg, L. (1985). Does Alzheimer's disease represent an exaggeration of normal aging? Archives of Neurology, 42: 737–739.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birren, J.E. (1974). Translations in gerontology - From lab to life: Psychophysiology and the speed of response. American Psychologist, 29: 808–815.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birren, J. and Schaie, K.W. (1985). The handbook of the psychology of aging, 2nd ed.New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Bowen, D.M., Spillam, J.A., Curzon, G., Meier-Ruge, W., White, P., Goodhardt, M.J., Inungoff, P., and Davison, A.N. (1979). Accelerated aging or selected neuronal loss as an important cause of dementia? Lancet, 1: 11–14.Google ScholarPubMed
Bugiani, O., Salvarani, S., Perdelli, F., et al. (1978). Nerve cell loss with aging in the putamen. European Neurology, 17: 286–291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cattell, R.B. (1963). Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence: A critical experiment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 54: 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Centers for Disease Control. (1987). Revision of the CDC surveillance case definition for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. MMWR, 36: Suppl. 16: 3–15.Google Scholar
Craik, F.I.M. (1977). Age differences in human memory. In Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, Birren, J.E. and Schaie, K.W. (eds.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Creasey, H. and Rapoport, S.I. (1985). The aging human brain. Annals of Neurology, 17: 2–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cummings, J.L. (1986). Subcortical dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149: 682–697.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cummings, J.L. and Benson, D.F. (1983). Dementia: a clinical approach. Boston: Butterworths Publishers.Google Scholar
Cummings, J.L. and Benson, D.F. (1984). Subcortical dementia: review of an emerging concept. Archives of Neurology, 41: 874–879.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, P.J.M. and Wright, E.A. (1977). A new method for measuring cranial cavity volume and its application to the assessment of cerebral atrophy at autopsy. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 3: 341–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dekaban, A.S. and Sadowsky, D. (1978). Changes in brain weights during the span of human life: relation of brain weights to body heights and body weights. Annals of Neurology, 4: 345–356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doyan, A.D. (1971). Presenile dementia: some pathological problems and possibilities. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 64: 829–831.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fozard, J.L. (1980). A time for remembering. In Psychological Issues, Poon, L.W. (eds.). Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Gaylord, S.A. and Marsh, G.R. (1975). Age differences in the speed of a spatial cognitive process. Journal of Gerontology, 30: 674–678.Google ScholarPubMed
Grant, I., Atkinson, J., Hesseling, J., et al. (1987). Evidence for early central nervous system involvement in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and other human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. Annals of Internal Medicine, 107: 828–836.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hachinski, V.C., Illiff, L.D., Zilhka, E., Du Boulay, G.H., McAllister, V.L., Marchall, J., Russell, R.W.R., and Symon, L. (1975). Cerebral blood flow in dementia. Archives of Neurology, 32: 632–637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harner, R.N. (1975) ‘EEG evaluation of the patient with dementia.’ In Psychiatric Aspects of Neurological Disease, Benson, D.F. and Blumer, D. (eds.). New York: Grunne and Stratton, chapter 4.Google Scholar
Hicks, L.H. and Birren, J.E. (1970). Aging, brain damage, and psychomotor slowing. Psychological Bulletin, 74: 377–396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horn, J.L. and Cattell, R.B. (1967). Age differences in fluid and crystallized intelligence. Acta Psychologica, 26: 107–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hulicka, I. (1978). Cognitive functioning in late adulthood. American Psychological Association Master Lecture Series. Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Katzman, R. and Karasu, T.B. (1975). The differential diagnosis of dementia. In Neurological and Sensory Disorders of the Elderly, Fields, W.S. (ed.). New York: Stratton.Google Scholar
Katzman, R. and Terry, R. (1983). Normal aging of the nervous system. In The Neurology of Aging, Katzman, R. and Terry, R.D. (eds.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis, pp. 15–50.Google Scholar
Klisz, D. (1978). Neuropsychological evaluation in older persons. In The Clinical Psychology of Aging, Storandt, M., Stiegler, I.C., and Elias, M.F. (eds.). New York: Plenum Press, pp. 71–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
London, E., de Leon, M.J., George, A.E., Englund, E., Ferris, S., Gentes, C, and Reisberg, B. (1986). Periventricular lucencies in the CT scans of aged and demented patients. Biological Psychiatry, 21: 960–962.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGeer, E.G. (1978). Aging and neurotransmitter metabolism in the human brain. In Alzheimer's disease: senile dementia and related disorders, Katzman, R., Terry, R.D., and Bick, K.L. (eds.). Aging Series, Vol. 7, New York: Raven Press, pp. 427–440.Google Scholar
McGeer, P.L., McGeer, E.G., Suzuki, J., Dolman, C.E., and Nagai, T. (1984). Aging, Alzheimer's disease, and the cholinergic system of the basal forebrain. Neurology, 34: 741–745.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McHugh, P.R. and Folstein, M.F. (1975). Psychiatric syndromes of Huntington's chorea: a clinical and phenomenologic study. In Psychiatric aspects of neurologic disease, Benson, D.F. and Blumer, D. (eds.). New York: Grunne and Stratton, pp 267–285.Google Scholar
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., Katzman, R., Price, D., and Stadlan, E.M. (1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: Report of the NINCDS-ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 34: 939–944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mittenberg, W., Seidenberg, M., O'Leary, D.S., and DiGuilio, D.V. (1988). Changes in cerebral functioning associated with normal aging. Paper presented at the 16th annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Moscovitch, M. and Winocur, G. (1983). Paired associate learning in institutionalized and non-institutionalized old people: An Analysis of interference and context effects. Journal of Gerontology, 38: 455–464.Google Scholar
Nauta, W.J.H. (1971). The problem of the frontal lobe: a reinterpretation. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 8: 176–187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Navia, B.A., Cho, E-S., Petito, C.K., and Price, R.W. (1986). The AIDS Dementia Complex: II. Neuropathology. Annals of Neurology, 19: 525–535.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Obrist, W.D. and Busse, E.W. (1960). Temporal lobe EEG abnormalities in normal senescence. Electroencephalography and clinical Neurophysiology, 12: 244.Google Scholar
Peress, N.S., Kane, W.C., and Aronson, S.M. (1973). Central nervous system findings in a tenth decade autopsy population. Progressive British Research, 40: 473–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poon, L.W. (1985). Differences in human memory with aging: nature, causes, and clinical implications. In Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, 2nd ed., Birren, J. and Schaie, K.W. (eds.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, pp. 427–162.Google Scholar
Price, R., Navia, B., and Choe, E. (1986). AIDS encephalopathy. Neurology Clinics, 4: 285–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pumarola-Sune, T., Navia, B.A., Cordon-Cardo, C., Cho, E-S., and Price, R.W. (1987). HIV antigen in the brains of patients with the AIDS dementia complex. Annals of Neurology, 21: 490–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rao, S.M. (1986). Neuropsychology of Multiple Sclerosis: A critical review. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 8: 503–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reed, H.B.C. Jr and Reitan, R.M. (1963). Changes in psychological test performance associated with the normal aging process. Journal of Gerontology, 18: 271–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rezak, D.L., Morris, J.C., Fulling, K.H., and Gado, M.H. (1987). Periventricular white matter lucencies in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type and in normal aging. Neurology, 37: 1365–1368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rottenberg, O., Moeller, J., Strother, S., et al. (1987). The metabolic pathology of the AIDS dementia complex. Annals of Neurology, 22: 700–706.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salgado, E.D., Weinstein, M., Furlan, A.J., Modic, M.T., Beck, G.J., Estes, M., Awad, I., and Little, J.R. (1986). Proton magnetic resonance imaging in ischemic cerebrovascular disease. Annals of Neurology, 20: 502–507.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salthouse, T. (1985). Speed of behavior and its implications for cognition. In Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, 2nd ed., Birren, J. and Schaie, K.W. (eds.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, pp. 400–126.Google Scholar
Schaie, K.W. and Schaie, J.P. (1977) Clinical assessment and aging. In Handbook of Psychology of Aging, Birren, J.E. and Schaie, K.W. (eds.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, pp. 692–723.Google Scholar
Scheibel, M.E. and Scheibel, A.B. (1975). Structural changes in the aging brain. Aging, 1: 11–37.Google Scholar
Shefer, V.F. (1972). Absolute number of neurons and thickness of the cerebral cortex during aging, senile and vascular dementia, and Pick's and Alzheimer's disease. Zh Neuropat Psikhiatr Korsakov, 72: 1024–1029.Google Scholar
Shefer, V.F. (1976). Hippocampal pathology as one of the possible factors in the pathogenesis of several dementias of old age. Zh Neuropat Psikhiatr Korsakov, 76: 1032–1036.Google ScholarPubMed
Shelton, M.D., Parsons, O.A., and Leber, W.R. (1982). Verbal and visuospatial performance and aging: a neuropsychological approach. Journal of Gerontology, 37: 336–341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Terry, R.D., DeTeresa, R., and Hansen, L.A. (1987). Neocortical cell counts in normal human adult aging. Annals of Neurology, 21: 530–539.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomlinson, B.E., Blessed, G., and Roth, M. (1968). Observations on the brains of non-demented old people. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 7: 331–356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Gorp, W.G. and Mahler, M.E. (in press). Subcortical features of normal aging. To appear in: Subcortical dementia, Cummings, J.L. (ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Van Gorp, W., Mitrushina, M., Cummings, J.L., Satz, P., and Modessitt, J. (1989). Normal aging and the subcortical encephalopathy of AIDS: a neuropsychological comparison. Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology & Behavioral Neurology, 2: 5–20.Google Scholar
Van Gorp, W.G., Satz, P., Hinkin, C, Evans, C, and Miller, E. (1989). Neuro-psychological performance in HFV-l spectrum disease. Psychiatric Medicine, 7: 59–78.Google Scholar
Van Gorp, W.G., Satz, P., Kiersch, M., and Henry, R. (1986). Normative data on the Boston Naming Test for a group of normal older adults. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 8: 702–705.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Gorp, W., Satz, P., and Mitrushina, M. (in press). Neuropsychological processes associated with normal aging. To appear in Developmental Neuropsychology.Google Scholar
Veroff, A.E. (1980). The neuropsychology of aging. Psychological Research, 41: 259–268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whelihan, W.M. and Lesher, E.L. (1985). Neuropsychological changes in frontal functions with aging. Developmental Neuropsychology, 1: 371–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, L., Yeo, R.A., Thomas, P., and Garry, P.J. (in press). Differential declines in cognitive function with aging: the possible role of health status. To appear in Developmental Neuropsychology.Google Scholar
Yakovlev, P.I. (1962). Morphological criteria of growth and maturation of the nervous system in man. Research Publications ARMND, 39: 3–46.Google ScholarPubMed
Yamamura, H., Ito, M., Kubota, K., and Matxuzawa, T. (1980). Brain atrophy during aging: a quantitative study with computed tomography. Journal of Gerontology, 35: 492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar