TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations between age-related differences in occipital alpha power and the broadband parameters of the EEG power spectrum
T2 - A cross-sectional cohort study
AU - Clark, Mindie
AU - Euler, Matthew J.
AU - King, Bradley R.
AU - Williams, A. Mark
AU - Lohse, Keith R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - In adulthood, neurological structure and function are often affected by aging, with negative implications for daily life as well as laboratory-based tasks. Some of these changes include decreased efficiency modulating cortical activity and lower signal-to-noise ratios in neural processing (as inferred from surface electroencephalography). To better understand mechanisms influencing age-related changes in cortical activity, we explored the effects of aging on narrow-band alpha power (7.5–12.5 Hz) and broadband/aperiodic components that span a wider range (1.5–30.5 Hz) over the occipital region during eyes-open and eyes-closed wakeful rest in 19 healthy young adults (18–35 years) and 21 community-dwelling older adults (59+ years). Older adults exhibited a smaller change in alpha power across conditions compared to younger adults. Older adults also showed flatter aperiodic slopes in both conditions. These changes in narrow-band alpha are consistent with previous work and suggest that older adults may have a reduced ability to modulate state-specific activity. Differences in the aperiodic slope suggest age-related changes in the signal-noise-ratio in cortical oscillations. However, the relationship between narrow-band alpha modulation and the aperiodic slope was unclear, warranting further investigation into how these variables relate to each other in the aging process. In summary, aging is associated with a broadband flattening of the EEG power spectrum and reduced state-specific modulation of narrow-band alpha power, but these changes appear to be (at least partially) independent of each other. The present findings suggest that separate mechanisms may underlie age-related differences in aperiodic power and narrow-band oscillations.
AB - In adulthood, neurological structure and function are often affected by aging, with negative implications for daily life as well as laboratory-based tasks. Some of these changes include decreased efficiency modulating cortical activity and lower signal-to-noise ratios in neural processing (as inferred from surface electroencephalography). To better understand mechanisms influencing age-related changes in cortical activity, we explored the effects of aging on narrow-band alpha power (7.5–12.5 Hz) and broadband/aperiodic components that span a wider range (1.5–30.5 Hz) over the occipital region during eyes-open and eyes-closed wakeful rest in 19 healthy young adults (18–35 years) and 21 community-dwelling older adults (59+ years). Older adults exhibited a smaller change in alpha power across conditions compared to younger adults. Older adults also showed flatter aperiodic slopes in both conditions. These changes in narrow-band alpha are consistent with previous work and suggest that older adults may have a reduced ability to modulate state-specific activity. Differences in the aperiodic slope suggest age-related changes in the signal-noise-ratio in cortical oscillations. However, the relationship between narrow-band alpha modulation and the aperiodic slope was unclear, warranting further investigation into how these variables relate to each other in the aging process. In summary, aging is associated with a broadband flattening of the EEG power spectrum and reduced state-specific modulation of narrow-band alpha power, but these changes appear to be (at least partially) independent of each other. The present findings suggest that separate mechanisms may underlie age-related differences in aperiodic power and narrow-band oscillations.
KW - Aging
KW - Alpha modulation
KW - Electroencephalography (EEG)
KW - Neural noise
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178320681&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.112272
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.112272
M3 - Article
C2 - 38000446
AN - SCOPUS:85178320681
SN - 0167-8760
VL - 195
JO - International Journal of Psychophysiology
JF - International Journal of Psychophysiology
M1 - 112272
ER -