Cerebral blood flow regulation during cognitive tasks: Effects of healthy aging

Farzaneh A. Sorond; David M. Schnyer; Jorge M. Serrador; William P. Milberg; Lewis A. Lipsitz

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2006.01.003

Cerebral blood flow regulation during cognitive tasks: Effects of healthy aging

Farzaneh A. Sorond^*, David M. Schnyer, Jorge M. Serrador, William P. Milberg, Lewis A. Lipsitz

^*Corresponding author for this work

Neurology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

72 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aging is associated with frontal subcortical microangiopathy and executive cognitive dysfunction, suggesting that elderly individuals may have impaired metabolic activation of cerebral blood flow to the frontal lobes. We used transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound to examine the cerebral blood flow response to executive control and visual tasks in the anterior and posterior cerebral circulations and to determine the effects of healthy aging on cerebral blood flow regulation during cognitive tasks. Continuous simultaneous anterior cerebral artery (ACA) and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) blood flow velocities (BFVs) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured in response to word stem completion (WSC) and a visual search (VS) task in 29 healthy subjects (14 young, 30 ± 1.5 years; 15 old, 74 ± 1.4 years). We found that: (1) ACA and PCA blood flow velocities are both significantly increased during WSC and VS cognitive tasks, (2) ACA and PCA activations were task specific in our young volunteers, with ACA > PCA BFV during the WSC task and PCA > ACA BFV during the VS task, (3) while healthy elderly subjects also had PCA > ACA BFV during the VS task, they did not have ACA > PCA activation during the WSC task, and (4) healthy elderly subjects tend to have overall greater increases in BFV during both cognitive tasks. We conclude that TCD can be used to monitor cerebrovascular hemodynamics during the performance of cognitive tasks. Our data suggest that there is differential blood flow increase in the ACA and PCA in young versus elderly subjects during cognitive tasks.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	179-184
Number of pages	6
Journal	Cortex
Volume	44
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2006.01.003
State	Published - Feb 2008

Funding

This work was supported by a generous donation from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Krakoff at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged and by grants AG04390, AG08812, and AG05134 from the National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD. Dr. Sorond is the recipient of Mentored Clinical Scientist K12 Award (AG00294) from the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Lipsitz holds the Irving and Edyth S. Usen and Family Chair in Geriatric Medicine.

Keywords

Aging
Cerebral blood flow velocity
Cognition
Transcranial Doppler ultrasound

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Cognitive Neuroscience

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10.1016/j.cortex.2006.01.003

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title = "Cerebral blood flow regulation during cognitive tasks: Effects of healthy aging",

abstract = "Aging is associated with frontal subcortical microangiopathy and executive cognitive dysfunction, suggesting that elderly individuals may have impaired metabolic activation of cerebral blood flow to the frontal lobes. We used transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound to examine the cerebral blood flow response to executive control and visual tasks in the anterior and posterior cerebral circulations and to determine the effects of healthy aging on cerebral blood flow regulation during cognitive tasks. Continuous simultaneous anterior cerebral artery (ACA) and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) blood flow velocities (BFVs) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured in response to word stem completion (WSC) and a visual search (VS) task in 29 healthy subjects (14 young, 30 ± 1.5 years; 15 old, 74 ± 1.4 years). We found that: (1) ACA and PCA blood flow velocities are both significantly increased during WSC and VS cognitive tasks, (2) ACA and PCA activations were task specific in our young volunteers, with ACA > PCA BFV during the WSC task and PCA > ACA BFV during the VS task, (3) while healthy elderly subjects also had PCA > ACA BFV during the VS task, they did not have ACA > PCA activation during the WSC task, and (4) healthy elderly subjects tend to have overall greater increases in BFV during both cognitive tasks. We conclude that TCD can be used to monitor cerebrovascular hemodynamics during the performance of cognitive tasks. Our data suggest that there is differential blood flow increase in the ACA and PCA in young versus elderly subjects during cognitive tasks.",

keywords = "Aging, Cerebral blood flow velocity, Cognition, Transcranial Doppler ultrasound",

author = "Sorond, {Farzaneh A.} and Schnyer, {David M.} and Serrador, {Jorge M.} and Milberg, {William P.} and Lipsitz, {Lewis A.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by a generous donation from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Krakoff at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged and by grants AG04390, AG08812, and AG05134 from the National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD. Dr. Sorond is the recipient of Mentored Clinical Scientist K12 Award (AG00294) from the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Lipsitz holds the Irving and Edyth S. Usen and Family Chair in Geriatric Medicine.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.cortex.2006.01.003",

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AU - Sorond, Farzaneh A.

AU - Schnyer, David M.

AU - Serrador, Jorge M.

AU - Milberg, William P.

AU - Lipsitz, Lewis A.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by a generous donation from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Krakoff at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged and by grants AG04390, AG08812, and AG05134 from the National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD. Dr. Sorond is the recipient of Mentored Clinical Scientist K12 Award (AG00294) from the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Lipsitz holds the Irving and Edyth S. Usen and Family Chair in Geriatric Medicine.

PY - 2008/2

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N2 - Aging is associated with frontal subcortical microangiopathy and executive cognitive dysfunction, suggesting that elderly individuals may have impaired metabolic activation of cerebral blood flow to the frontal lobes. We used transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound to examine the cerebral blood flow response to executive control and visual tasks in the anterior and posterior cerebral circulations and to determine the effects of healthy aging on cerebral blood flow regulation during cognitive tasks. Continuous simultaneous anterior cerebral artery (ACA) and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) blood flow velocities (BFVs) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured in response to word stem completion (WSC) and a visual search (VS) task in 29 healthy subjects (14 young, 30 ± 1.5 years; 15 old, 74 ± 1.4 years). We found that: (1) ACA and PCA blood flow velocities are both significantly increased during WSC and VS cognitive tasks, (2) ACA and PCA activations were task specific in our young volunteers, with ACA > PCA BFV during the WSC task and PCA > ACA BFV during the VS task, (3) while healthy elderly subjects also had PCA > ACA BFV during the VS task, they did not have ACA > PCA activation during the WSC task, and (4) healthy elderly subjects tend to have overall greater increases in BFV during both cognitive tasks. We conclude that TCD can be used to monitor cerebrovascular hemodynamics during the performance of cognitive tasks. Our data suggest that there is differential blood flow increase in the ACA and PCA in young versus elderly subjects during cognitive tasks.

AB - Aging is associated with frontal subcortical microangiopathy and executive cognitive dysfunction, suggesting that elderly individuals may have impaired metabolic activation of cerebral blood flow to the frontal lobes. We used transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound to examine the cerebral blood flow response to executive control and visual tasks in the anterior and posterior cerebral circulations and to determine the effects of healthy aging on cerebral blood flow regulation during cognitive tasks. Continuous simultaneous anterior cerebral artery (ACA) and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) blood flow velocities (BFVs) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured in response to word stem completion (WSC) and a visual search (VS) task in 29 healthy subjects (14 young, 30 ± 1.5 years; 15 old, 74 ± 1.4 years). We found that: (1) ACA and PCA blood flow velocities are both significantly increased during WSC and VS cognitive tasks, (2) ACA and PCA activations were task specific in our young volunteers, with ACA > PCA BFV during the WSC task and PCA > ACA BFV during the VS task, (3) while healthy elderly subjects also had PCA > ACA BFV during the VS task, they did not have ACA > PCA activation during the WSC task, and (4) healthy elderly subjects tend to have overall greater increases in BFV during both cognitive tasks. We conclude that TCD can be used to monitor cerebrovascular hemodynamics during the performance of cognitive tasks. Our data suggest that there is differential blood flow increase in the ACA and PCA in young versus elderly subjects during cognitive tasks.

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KW - Transcranial Doppler ultrasound

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Cerebral blood flow regulation during cognitive tasks: Effects of healthy aging

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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