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Cortical thickness changes following spatial navigation training in adulthood and aging

Wenger, Elisabeth ; Schaefer, Sabine ; Noack, Hannes ; Kuehn, Simone ; Mårtensson, Johan LU ; Heinze, Hans-Jochen ; Duezel, Emrah ; Backman, Lars ; Lindenberger, Ulman and Lövdén, Martin LU (2012) In NeuroImage 59(4). p.3389-3397
Abstract
A widespread network involving cortical and subcortical brain structures forms the neural substrate of human spatial navigation. Most studies investigating plasticity of this network have focused on the hippocampus. Here, we investigate age differences in cortical thickness changes evoked by four months of spatial navigation training in 91 men aged 20-30 or 60-70 years. Cortical thickness was automatically measured before, immediately after, and four months after termination of training. Younger as well as older navigators evidenced large improvements in navigation performance that were partly maintained after termination of training. Importantly, training-related cortical thickening in left precuneus and paracentral lobule were observed... (More)
A widespread network involving cortical and subcortical brain structures forms the neural substrate of human spatial navigation. Most studies investigating plasticity of this network have focused on the hippocampus. Here, we investigate age differences in cortical thickness changes evoked by four months of spatial navigation training in 91 men aged 20-30 or 60-70 years. Cortical thickness was automatically measured before, immediately after, and four months after termination of training. Younger as well as older navigators evidenced large improvements in navigation performance that were partly maintained after termination of training. Importantly, training-related cortical thickening in left precuneus and paracentral lobule were observed in young navigators only. Thus, spatial navigation training appears to affect cortical brain structure of young adults, but there is reduced potential for experience-dependent cortical alterations in old age. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Spatial navigation, Aging, Cortical thickness, Plasticity
in
NeuroImage
volume
59
issue
4
pages
3389 - 3397
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000301090100035
  • scopus:84855174302
  • pmid:22108645
ISSN
1095-9572
DOI
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.11.015
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5e59f6c0-2706-42d0-b0b0-0ba8b931f311 (old id 2515753)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:00:04
date last changed
2022-03-12 19:02:54
@article{5e59f6c0-2706-42d0-b0b0-0ba8b931f311,
  abstract     = {{A widespread network involving cortical and subcortical brain structures forms the neural substrate of human spatial navigation. Most studies investigating plasticity of this network have focused on the hippocampus. Here, we investigate age differences in cortical thickness changes evoked by four months of spatial navigation training in 91 men aged 20-30 or 60-70 years. Cortical thickness was automatically measured before, immediately after, and four months after termination of training. Younger as well as older navigators evidenced large improvements in navigation performance that were partly maintained after termination of training. Importantly, training-related cortical thickening in left precuneus and paracentral lobule were observed in young navigators only. Thus, spatial navigation training appears to affect cortical brain structure of young adults, but there is reduced potential for experience-dependent cortical alterations in old age. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Wenger, Elisabeth and Schaefer, Sabine and Noack, Hannes and Kuehn, Simone and Mårtensson, Johan and Heinze, Hans-Jochen and Duezel, Emrah and Backman, Lars and Lindenberger, Ulman and Lövdén, Martin}},
  issn         = {{1095-9572}},
  keywords     = {{Spatial navigation; Aging; Cortical thickness; Plasticity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{3389--3397}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{NeuroImage}},
  title        = {{Cortical thickness changes following spatial navigation training in adulthood and aging}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.11.015}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.11.015}},
  volume       = {{59}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}