Lost in Transition: Aging-Related Changes in Executive Control by the Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Open accessAbstract
Neural correlates of aging in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were studied using an operant delayed response task. The task used blocks of trials with memory-guided (delayed alternation) and visually-guided (stimulus-response) responding. Older rats (24 months) performed at a slow pace compared with younger rats (6 months). They wasted time engaged in nonessential behaviors (e.g., licking on spouts beyond the period of reward delivery) and were slow to respond at the end of the delay period. Aged mPFC neurons showed normal spatial processing. They differed from neurons in younger rats by having reduced modulations by imperative stimuli indicating reward availability and reduced activity associated with response latencies for reward collection. Older rats showed reduced sensitivity to imperative stimuli at three levels of neural activity: reduced fractions of neurons with changes in firing rate around the stimulus, reduced correlation over neurons at the time of the stimulus as measured with analysis of population activity, and reduced amplitudes of event-related fluctuations in intracortical field potentials at the time of the imperative stimulus. Our findings suggest that aging alters the encoding of time-sensitive information and impairs the ability of prefrontal networks to keep subjects “on task.”
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Layer V response-like cells appear to be the type of neuron most common in rodent PFC.
“Layer V response-like cells appear to be the type of neuron most common in rodent PFC15.”
From Stress weakens prefrontal networks: molecular insults to higher cognition (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
The Results section, “Neural sensitivity to the Go stimulus” (page unavailable), reports that more than 55% of recorded medial PFC neurons in younger rats changed firing rate around the Go stimulus, compared with 25% in older rats. This supports the presence of response-related neurons, but the paper does not identify them as layer V cells or establish that they are the most common neuron type throughout rodent PFC. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Caetano, M. S., Horst, N. K., Harenberg, L., Liu, B., Arnsten, A. F. T., & Laubach, M.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- John B. Pierce Laboratory (US)
- Corresponding author
- Laubach, Mark
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2012-03-14
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 3765-3777
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC3328309
- OpenAlex
- W1969825312
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Ellison Medical Foundation
- National Institute on Aging (P01AG030004)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- aging, medial prefrontal cortex, executive function, memory-guided behavior, visually guided behavior, response latency, population activity
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Animals, Conditioning, Operant, Male, Photic Stimulation, Psychomotor Performance, Random Allocation, Rats, Inbred BN, Reaction Time, Prefrontal Cortex, Rats, Executive Function
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