Older adults exhibit decreased speed and accuracy in naming objects, more slips of the tongue, more pauses in speech, and more tip-of-the-tongue experiences, in which one cannot produce a word even though there is a vivid sense of knowing it. Importantly, older adults rank these experiences as a frustrating, embarrassing, and frequent memory problem. While word retrieval failures reflect a common aspect of aging that affects the vast majority of older individuals, the neural bases of language production in healthy aging has received little attention. Research suggests that these failures result from a phonological deficit. Indeed, results from the prior funding period demonstrated significant age-related decline and weakened brain-behavior links underlying phonological aspects of language production. However, we have only begun to examine the causal factors that contribute to word retrieval difficulty. Thus, the overarching goal of the present proposal is to use behavioral measures, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the causal factors that contribute to age-related declines in word retrieval. We propose a series of 5 experiments that will investigate the influence of lexical and behavioral factors that contribute to word retrieval difficulty to advance theoretical accounts of age-related differences in language production. The multimodal approach will allow us to examine the relations between cognitive abilities, language production, and neural factors such as white matter integrity and functional activation in healthy aging. Our long-term goal is to advance theoretical accounts of age-related differences in language production. Our work is guided by the Transmission Deficit Theory (TDT), which proposes that age weakens connections within the language system, and that age-related transmission deficits disrupt word production more than word comprehension because of differences between the architecture of phonological and semantic representations. This research will improve the current scientific understanding of age-related changes in language, and provide a characterization of the neural factors that contribute to cognitive decline. These results will provide essential information for differentiating normal age-related changes in language from the effects of disease, forge advances in our theoretical conceptualization of age- related differences in language, and provide insight into rehabilitative therapies for cognitive decline in both healthy aging and clinical patients.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed research benefits public healthy by improving our basic knowledge of the neural and behavioral foundations underlying age-related declines in spoken language. Speech errors are a frustrating and embarrassing aspect of age-related decline, and one which older adults rank as their most frequent memory problem. This research will further our knowledge about the causes of language failures in older adults, facilitate our ability to differentiate healthy aging from clinical conditions, and provide insight into rehabilitative therapies for cognitive decline.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AG034138-09
Application #
9702724
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Wagster, Molly V
Project Start
2017-09-15
Project End
2022-05-31
Budget Start
2019-06-01
Budget End
2020-05-31
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2019
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Pennsylvania State University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
003403953
City
University Park
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
16802
Zhuang, Jie; Madden, David J; Duong-Fernandez, Xuan et al. (2018) Language processing in age-related macular degeneration associated with unique functional connectivity signatures in the right hemisphere. Neurobiol Aging 63:65-74
Zhang, Haoyun; Eppes, Anna; Beatty-Martínez, Anne et al. (2018) Task difficulty modulates brain-behavior correlations in language production and cognitive control: Behavioral and fMRI evidence from a phonological go/no-go picture-naming paradigm. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci :
Rossi, Eleonora; Newman, Sharlene; Kroll, Judith F et al. (2018) Neural signatures of inhibitory control in bilingual spoken production. Cortex 108:50-66
Rizio, Avery A; Moyer, Karlee J; Diaz, Michele T (2017) Neural evidence for phonologically based language production deficits in older adults: An fMRI investigation of age-related differences in picture-word interference. Brain Behav 7:e00660
Chou, Ying-Hui; Sundman, Mark; Whitson, Heather E et al. (2017) Maintenance and Representation of Mind Wandering during Resting-State fMRI. Sci Rep 7:40722
Rossi, Eleonora; Diaz, Michele; Kroll, Judith F et al. (2017) Late Bilinguals Are Sensitive to Unique Aspects of Second Language Processing: Evidence from Clitic Pronouns Word-Order. Front Psychol 8:342
Madden, David J; Parks, Emily L; Tallman, Catherine W et al. (2017) Frontoparietal activation during visual conjunction search: Effects of bottom-up guidance and adult age. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2128-2149
Rossi, Eleonora; Cheng, Hu; Kroll, Judith F et al. (2017) Changes in White-Matter Connectivity in Late Second Language Learners: Evidence from Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Front Psychol 8:2040
Rizio, Avery A; Diaz, Michele T (2016) Language, aging, and cognition: frontal aslant tract and superior longitudinal fasciculus contribute toward working memory performance in older adults. Neuroreport 27:689-93
Rossi, Eleonora; Diaz, Michele T (2016) How aging and bilingualism influence language processing: theoretical and neural models. Linguist Approaches Biling 6:9-42

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