공간 과제 수행 시 20대와 40대의 두정엽과 전두엽에서의 활성화 차이

Differences between 20s and 40s in Activation of the Parietal and Frontal Areas during Visuospatial Task

The purpose of this study is to examine differences between 20s and 40s in visuospatial performance and brain activation areas using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Eight male college students in their twenties ($21.5{\pm}2.3$ years old) and six male adults in their forties ($45.7{\pm}2.6$ years old) who were graduated from college participated in the study. A visuospatial task was presented while brain images were acquired by a 3T fMRI system. Compared to the 20s the 40s showed lower visuospatial performance. There were more activations observed at the parietal and superior frontal areas at 20s compared to 40s. There were more activations observed at the middle frontal and occipital areas at 40s compared to 20s. The results of this study show that the lowering of visuospatial performance with aging was correlated to the decrease of activation area at the parietal lobe and the change of activation area at the frontal lobe.