Work

Language in the aging brain: The network dynamics of cognitive decline and preservation

Year: 2014

Type: review

Abstract: Language is a crucial and complex lifelong faculty, underpinned by dynamic interactions within and between specialized brain networks. Whereas normal aging impairs specific aspects of language production, most core language processes are robust to brain aging. We review recent behavioral and neuroimaging evidence showing that language systems remain largely stable across the life span and that both younger and older adults depend on dynamic neural responses to linguistic demands. Although some aspects of network dynamics change with age, there is no consistent evidence that core language processes are underpinned by different neural networks in younger and older adults.

Source: Science

DOI: 10.1126/science.1254404

Authors: Meredith A. Shafto, Lorraine K. Tyler

Institution: University of Cambridge

Language: English

Topic: Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council

Awards: Systems Cognitive Neuroscience of Healthy Ageing: Population-Representative Studies of Functional Plasticity and Neural Change, From perception to conception: How the brain processes meaningful concepts