Citation

Hermans L, Maes C, Pauwels L, Cuypers K, Heise KF, Swinnen SP, Leunissen I. Aging (Albany NY) 2019; 11(2): 371-385.

Affiliation

KU Leuven, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Impact Journals, LLC)

DOI

10.18632/aging.101741

PMID

30670675

Abstract

We investigated the effect of age on the ability to modulate GABA_A-ergic and GABA_B-ergic inhibitory activity during stopping of action (reactive inhibition) and preparation to stop (proactive inhibition). Twenty-five young and twenty-nine older adults performed an anticipated response version of the stop-signal task with varying levels of stop-signal probability. Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied to left primary motor cortex to assess the modulation of GABA_A-mediated short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) during stopping and GABA_B-mediated long-interval intracortical inhibition (LICI) during the anticipation of a stop-signal. At the behavioral level, reactive inhibition was affected by aging as indicated by longer stop-signal reaction times in older compared to young adults. In contrast, proactive inhibition was preserved at older age as both groups slowed down their go response to a similar degree with increasing stop-signal probability. At the neural level, the amount of SICI was higher in successful stop relative to go trials in young but not in older adults. LICI at the start of the trial was modulated as a function of stop-signal probability in both young and older adults. Our results suggest that specifically the recruitment of GABA_A-mediated intracortical inhibition during stopping of action is affected by aging.

Language: en

Keywords

GABA; healthy aging; proactive inhibition; reactive inhibition; stop-signal; transcranial magnetic stimulation