Journal of Aging Science

Abstract

Developmental Changes of Prefrontal Cortex and Cerebro-Cerebellar Functioning in Older Adults: Evidence from Stabilometer and Cognitive Tests

Takeshi Hatta, Taketoshi Hatta, Yukiharu Hasegawa, Akihoko Iwahara, Emi Ito, Junko Hatta, Naoko Nagakaha, Kazumi Fujiwara, Chie Hotta and Nobuyuki Hamajima

The relation between cognitive and postural functioning was examined as developmental changes among healthy older adults. The 339 participants (207 women and 132 men) of four age groups (50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s) were given the Digit Cancellation Test (D-CAT) for the assessment of prefrontal cortex related cognitive functioning, and the Logical Memory Test for the assessment of fronto-parietal cortex related cognitive functioning. The postural functioning of the participants was measured by a stabilometer for the assessment of cerebro-cerebellar related motor functioning. The results showed that the developmental changes in performances for non-automatic intentional cognitive and automatic motor postural functioning were not parallel. Cognitive functioning did not show clear sex difference while motor postural functioning showed robust sex difference. Largely, cognitive functioning DCAT and Logical Memory Test showed gradual performance decrease 23-48% for each age group from 50’s to 80’s while robust motor postural functioning performance decreased approximately 60% from 70’s to 80’s in men and approximately 65% from 60’s to 70’s in women. Based upon these findings, characteristics of age-related changes in cerebro-cerebellar brain systems in middle aged and older healthy people are discussed.