The hemodynamic response characteristics underlying the age-related change of brain activation during motor execution

Introduction Brain areas are additionally activated in elderly subjects [1,2]. It was suggested that this additional recruitment of brain areas in elderly subjects was consistent with the compensation hypothesis and characterized neuroplasticity at the systems level in the aging brain, rather than dedifferentiation hypothesis [2]. On the other hand, age-related reduction of BOLD signal (hemodynamic response function; HRF) has been reported in the primary visual area [3]. These age-related changes are of interest from the viewpoints of early detection of cognitive impairments. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of the HRF underlying the age-related change in order to estimate how the hemodynamic response is contributing to the statistical evaluation. Sequential finger tapping task was used, since it strongly demands activities of both primary and higher motor areas.