Associations between a neurophysiological marker of central cholinergic activity and cognitive functions in young and older adults

doi:10.1186/1744-9081-8-17

Behav Brain Funct. 2012; 8: 17.

Published online 2012 June 20. doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-8-17

PMCID: PMC3379946

Associations between a neurophysiological marker of central cholinergic activity and cognitive functions in young and older adults

Marielle Young-Bernier,^1,² Yael Kamil,¹ François Tremblay,^1,^2,³ and Patrick SR Davidson^1,^2,⁴

¹School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean Jacques Lussier Private, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada

²Élisabeth Bruyère Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

³School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

⁴Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Corresponding author.

Marielle Young-Bernier: myoun006/at/uottawa.ca; Yael Kamil: ykami033/at/uottawa.ca; François Tremblay: ftrembla/at/uottawa.ca; Patrick SR Davidson: patrick.davidson/at/uottawa.ca

Received October 13, 2011; Accepted April 26, 2012.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract

Background

The deterioration of the central cholinergic system in aging is hypothesized to underlie declines in several cognitive domains, including memory and executive functions. However, there is surprisingly little direct evidence regarding acetylcholine’s specific role(s) in normal human cognitive aging.

Methods

We used short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI) with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a putative marker of cholinergic activity in vivo in young (n

24) and older adults (n

31).

Results

We found a significant age difference in SAI, concordant with other evidence of cholinergic decline in normal aging. We also found clear age differences on several of the memory and one of the executive function measures. Individual differences in SAI levels predicted memory but not executive functions.

Conclusion

Individual differences in SAI levels were better predictors of memory than executive functions. We discuss cases in which the relations between SAI and cognition might be even stronger, and refer to other age-related biological changes that may interact with cholinergic activity in cognitive aging.

Keywords: Acetylcholine, Aging, Cortical inhibition, Executive function, Memory, Transcranial magnetic stimulation

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