Aging and Working Memory: Early Deficits in EEG Activation of Posterior Cortical Areas

Using the n-back task, we recently identified, in young subjects, a positive-negative event related potential component (PN(wm)) in a time-range window between 140 and 280 ms after stimulus onset representing an electrophysiological correlate of working memory load. To evaluate age-related electrophysiological changes in working memory processing, we applied the same neuropsychological paradigm and compared densities of the PN(wm) component in 17 young (mean age: 26) and 17 healthy elderly individuals (mean age: 75). Both age groups displayed a PN(wm) component during the two working memory tasks. For the 1-back task, densities were similar in both young and elderly individuals. In contrast, PN(wm) densities increased with higher memory load (2-back>1-back) in the younger but not in the older group. This difference was mainly observed over parietal electrodes suggesting an impaired activation of neural generators within this brain region. The present results are consistent with the hypothesis of decreased brain reserve in the elderly and provide evidence for age-related deficits in the recruitment of posterior cortical neurons with increasing working memory load.