The Role of the Locus Coeruleus in Age-related Distractibility
About this study
A growing body of research has highlighted the importance of frontal regions, at both the functional and structural levels, in age-related declines in attentional and cognitive processing. However, the underlying neurobiological pathophysiological changes in the brain that contribute to these declines are still largely unclear. The objective of this proposal is to investigate neural mechanisms of age-related attentional distractibility, focusing on the neural circuit initiated from the locus coeruleus (LC). In the current proposal, the investigators will test the hypothesis that the neural disconnectivity of LC with the salience network (SN) drives failures of ignoring distractors in older adults. The investigators will examine how LC-SN connectivity is associated with selective attention performance, and how improved LC-SN connectivity through a cognitive training program may lead to improved attentional performance.
- Condition
- Aging, Alzheimer Disease
- Tested
- Tablet based adaptive multimodal attention practice program, Tablet based adaptive criterion task practice program
- Sponsor
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Who can join
- Age
- 18 to 75 years
- Sex
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
Inclusion 17
- Minimum age: 18 years
- Maximum age: 75 years
- Study condition: Aging, Alzheimer Disease
- Inclusion:
- Healthy adult participants
- No younger than 18 and no older than 75 yrs of age
- Ability to provide written informed consent
- Exclusion:
- History of surgery involving metal implants
- Possible metal fragments in the eyes
- Pacemaker
- A history of claustrophobia
- Braces
- Weighing over 250 pounds
- Pregnant or possibility of being pregnant.
- Severe medical or psychiatric conditions (e.g., blind or deaf, head trauma)
- Learning disabilities or developmental disabilities
Where
1 site, 1 recruiting
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
Contact
-
Tae-Ho Lee, PhD
540-231-6174 taehol@vt.edu
-
Benjamin Katz, PhD
540-231-9816 katzben@vt.edu
Potential match only. Final eligibility is determined by the study team.