Agnieszka Z. Burzynska1, Irene E. Nagel1,
Claudia Preuschhof1, Sebastian Gluth1, Lars Bckmann1,2,
Shu-Chen Li1, Ulman Lindenberger1, Hauke R. Heekeren1,3
1Max Planck Institute for Human
Development, Berlin, Germany; 2Aging Research Center, Karolinska
Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; 3Max Planck Institute for Human
Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
We
investigated the cortical structural underpinnings of executive functioning
in 129 healthy adults (73 younger, 20-32 years; 56 older, 60-71 years). We
measured executive functions by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and
cortical thickness by applying surface-based segmentation (Freesurfer). The
structural underpinnings of WCST largely overlapped with previously defined
WCST functional patterns and the structure-performance relationship was
stronger in later than in earlier adulthood. Our data suggest that the extent
of structural preservation in old age differentiates between high and low performers,
underscoring the need of taking performance level into account when studying
changes in brain structure across adulthood.
Keywords