A great researcher question; What does the same test show after a stroke?
Why do they think real multitasking even exists?
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=127617&CultureCode=en
The pattern of blood flow in the prefrontal cortex in the brains alters
with age during multi-tasking, finds a new study in BioMed Central’s
open access journal BMC Neuroscience. Increased blood volume, measured
using oxygenated haemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) increased at the start of
multitasking in all age groups. But to perform the same tasks, healthy
older people had a higher and more sustained increase in Oxy-Hb than
younger people.
Age related changes to the brain occur earliest
in the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain associated with memory,
emotion, and higher decision making functions. It is changes to this
area of the brain that are also associated with dementia, depression and
other neuropsychiatric disorders. Some studies have shown that regular
physical activity and cognitive training can prevent cognitive decline
(use it or lose it!) but to establish what occurs in a healthy aging
brain researchers from Japan and USA have compared brain activity during
single and dual tasks for young (aged 21 to 25) and older (over 65)
people.
Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements of Oxy-Hb
showed that blood flow to the prefrontal cortex was not affected by the
physical task for either age group but was affected by the mental task.
For both the young and the over 65s the start of the calculation task
coincided with an increase in blood volume which reduced to baseline
once the task was completed.
The main difference between the
groups was only seen when performing the physical and mental tasks at
the same time - older people had a higher prefrontal cortex response
which lasted longer than the younger group.
Hironori Ohsugi,
from Seirei Christopher University, and one of the team who performed
this research explained “From our observations during the dual task it
seems that the older people turn their attention to the calculation at
the expense of the physical task, while younger people are able to
maintain concentration on both. Since our subjects were all healthy it
seems that this requirement for increased activation of the prefrontal
cortex is part of normal decrease in brain function associated with
aging. Further study will show whether or not dual task training can be
used to maintain a more youthful brain.”
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