Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

Objective—To assess the neuropsychological and anatomical correlates of anti-saccade (AS) task performance in normal elders.

Background—The AS task correlates with neuropsychological measures of executive function and frontal lobe volume in neurological diseases, but has not been studied in a well-characterized normal elderly population. Because executive dysfunction can indicate an increased risk for cognitive decline in cognitively normal elders, we hypothesized that AS performance might be a sensitive test of age-related processes that impair cognition.

Method—The percentage of correct AS responses was evaluated in forty-eight normal elderly subjects and compared with neuropsychological test performance using linear regression analysis and gray matter volume measured on MRI scans using voxel-based morphometry.

Results—The percentage of correct AS responses was associated with measures of executive function, including modified trails, design fluency, Stroop inhibition, abstraction, and backward digit span, and correlated with gray matter volume in two brain regions involved in inhibitory control: the left inferior frontal junction and the right supplementary eye field. The association of AS correct responses with neuropsychological measures of executive function was strongest in individuals with fewer years of education.

Conclusions—The AS task is sensitive to executive dysfunction and frontal lobe structural alterations in normal elders.

Comments

This work is the Accepted Author Manuscript (not the final published version) of an article published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins http://www.lww.com/

The published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/WNN.0b013e318223f6c6

DOI

10.1097/WNN.0b013e318223f6c6

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