Neurocompensatory Effects of the Default Network in Older Adults

The hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults (HAROLD) is a neurocompensatory process that has been observed across several cognitive functions but has not yet been examined in relation to task-induced relative deactivations of the default mode network. The present study investigated the presence of HAROLD effects specific to neural activations and deactivations using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) n-back paradigm. It was hypothesized that HAROLD effects would be identified in relative activations and deactivations during the paradigm, and that they would be associated with better 2-back performance. Forty-five older adults (M age = 63.8; range = 53–83) were administered a verbal n-back paradigm during fMRI. For each participant, the volume of brain response was summarized by left and right frontal regions of interest, and laterality indices (LI; i.e., left/right) were calculated to assess HAROLD effects. Group level results indicated that age was significantly and negatively correlated with LI (i.e., reduced left lateralization) for deactivations, but positively correlated with LI (i.e., increased left lateralization) for activations. The relationship between age and LI for deactivation was significantly moderated by performance level, revealing a stronger relationship between age and LI at higher levels of 2-back performance. Findings suggest that older adults may employ neurocompensatory processes specific to deactivations, and task-independent processes may be particularly sensitive to age-related neurocompensation.