QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, July 9, 2008, 28(28):7031-7035; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0742-08.2008

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in J. Neurosci. Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (9) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Boyke, J. Articles by May, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Boyke, J. Articles by May, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Development/Plasticity/Repair
Training-Induced Brain Structure Changes in the Elderly

Janina Boyke,¹ Joenna Driemeyer,¹ Christian Gaser,² Christian Büchel,¹ and Arne May¹

¹Department of Systems Neuroscience, University of Hamburg, D-22046 Hamburg, Germany, and ²Department of Psychiatry, University of Jena, 07740 Jena, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Arne May, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Department of Systems Neuroscience, University of Hamburg, Martinistrasse 52, D-22046 Hamburg, Germany. Email: a.may{at}uke.uni-hamburg.de

It has been suggested that learning is associated with a transient and highly selective increase in brain gray matter in healthy young volunteers. It is not clear whether and to what extent the aging brain is still able to exhibit such structural plasticity. We built on our original study, now focusing on healthy senior citizens. We observed that elderly persons were able to learn three-ball cascade juggling, but with less proficiency compared with 20-year-old adolescents. Similar to the young group, gray-matter changes in the older brain related to skill acquisition were observed in area hMT/V5 (middle temporal area of the visual cortex). In addition, elderly volunteers who learned to juggle showed transient increases in gray matter in the hippocampus on the left side and in the nucleus accumbens bilaterally.

Key words: age; brain; plasticity; learning; voxel-based morphometry; hippocampus

---

Received Feb. 18, 2008; revised April 17, 2008; accepted May 22, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Arne May, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Department of Systems Neuroscience, University of Hamburg, Martinistrasse 52, D-22046 Hamburg, Germany. Email: a.may{at}uke.uni-hamburg.de

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

This Week in The Journal

J. Neurosci. 2008 28: i. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Rodriguez-Raecke, A. Niemeier, K. Ihle, W. Ruether, and A. May Brain Gray Matter Decrease in Chronic Pain Is the Consequence and Not the Cause of Pain J. Neurosci., November 4, 2009; 29(44): 13746 - 13750. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. May Morphing voxels: the hype around structural imaging of headache patients Brain, June 1, 2009; 132(6): 1419 - 1425. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help