Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged Adults
Spatial navigation is a cognitive skill fundamental to successful interaction with our environment, and aging is associated with weaknesses in this skill. Identifying mechanisms underlying individual differences in navigation ability in aged adults is important to understanding these age-related wea...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-02-01
|
| Series: | Brain Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/2/245 |
| _version_ | 1797396456630386688 |
|---|---|
| author | Lauren Zajac Ronald Killiany |
| author_facet | Lauren Zajac Ronald Killiany |
| author_sort | Lauren Zajac |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Spatial navigation is a cognitive skill fundamental to successful interaction with our environment, and aging is associated with weaknesses in this skill. Identifying mechanisms underlying individual differences in navigation ability in aged adults is important to understanding these age-related weaknesses. One understudied factor involved in spatial navigation is self-motion perception. Important to self-motion perception is optic flow–the global pattern of visual motion experienced while moving through our environment. A set of optic flow-sensitive (OF-sensitive) cortical regions was defined in a group of young (<i>n</i> = 29) and aged (<i>n</i> = 22) adults. Brain activity was measured in this set of OF-sensitive regions and control regions using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants performed visual path integration (VPI) and turn counting (TC) tasks. Aged adults had stronger activity in RMT+ during both tasks compared to young adults. Stronger activity in the OF-sensitive regions LMT+ and RpVIP during VPI, not TC, was associated with greater VPI accuracy in aged adults. The activity strength in these two OF-sensitive regions measured during VPI explained 42% of the variance in VPI task performance in aged adults. The results of this study provide novel support for global motion processing as a mechanism underlying visual path integration in normal aging. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:50:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-787756c3b9ca47df8a71d9c5a42db4bf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:50:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-787756c3b9ca47df8a71d9c5a42db4bf2023-12-11T17:12:40ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252021-02-0111224510.3390/brainsci11020245Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged AdultsLauren Zajac0Ronald Killiany1Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 East Concord Street (L 1004), Boston, MA 02118, USADepartment of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 East Concord Street (L 1004), Boston, MA 02118, USASpatial navigation is a cognitive skill fundamental to successful interaction with our environment, and aging is associated with weaknesses in this skill. Identifying mechanisms underlying individual differences in navigation ability in aged adults is important to understanding these age-related weaknesses. One understudied factor involved in spatial navigation is self-motion perception. Important to self-motion perception is optic flow–the global pattern of visual motion experienced while moving through our environment. A set of optic flow-sensitive (OF-sensitive) cortical regions was defined in a group of young (<i>n</i> = 29) and aged (<i>n</i> = 22) adults. Brain activity was measured in this set of OF-sensitive regions and control regions using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants performed visual path integration (VPI) and turn counting (TC) tasks. Aged adults had stronger activity in RMT+ during both tasks compared to young adults. Stronger activity in the OF-sensitive regions LMT+ and RpVIP during VPI, not TC, was associated with greater VPI accuracy in aged adults. The activity strength in these two OF-sensitive regions measured during VPI explained 42% of the variance in VPI task performance in aged adults. The results of this study provide novel support for global motion processing as a mechanism underlying visual path integration in normal aging.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/2/245spatial navigationfMRIagingpath integrationoptic flow |
| spellingShingle | Lauren Zajac Ronald Killiany Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged Adults Brain Sciences spatial navigation fMRI aging path integration optic flow |
| title | Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged Adults |
| title_full | Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged Adults |
| title_fullStr | Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged Adults |
| title_short | Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged Adults |
| title_sort | activity strength within optic flow sensitive cortical regions is associated with visual path integration accuracy in aged adults |
| topic | spatial navigation fMRI aging path integration optic flow |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/2/245 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT laurenzajac activitystrengthwithinopticflowsensitivecorticalregionsisassociatedwithvisualpathintegrationaccuracyinagedadults AT ronaldkilliany activitystrengthwithinopticflowsensitivecorticalregionsisassociatedwithvisualpathintegrationaccuracyinagedadults |