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Neuromodulation of Lifespan Cognition

Hirnschema
© MPIB

One of the most striking features of brains is that neurons contain and release a very large number of neurotransmitters. Current consensus is that over 99% of the synapses in the brain use chemical transmissions involving neurotransmitters. Depending on situational or task demands as well as the integrity of brain functions, neurotransmitters modulate the neural networks, so that individuals can adapt their behavior and action to accomplish the tasks according to goals.

Research Topics

QUestions

  • How do the development and aging of various transmitter systems contribute to cognitive and brain development across the lifespan?

  • How do individual differences in genetic predispositions for neuromodulation influence lifespan age differences in the interactions between the neuromodulation–brain–cognition triad?

Topics

  • Executive control, working memory, and episodic memory
  • Goal-directed behavior
  • Perception and attention

     

MethodS

The project uses an integrated array of conceptual tools and empirical paradigms, ranging from neurocomputational studies for theory development over genetically informed behavioral studies to understand the relations between neurally relevant genotypes and cognitive phenotypes, to genomic and pharmacological imaging studies for the investigation of developmental changes and individual differences in brain–behavior relations.

application/pdf iconFurther information from Research Report 2009/10

Team

Shu-Chen Li
Lars Bäckman (visiting scientist)
Hauke Heekeren (adjunct scientist)
Ulman Lindenberger

Agnieska Zofia Burzynska
Ben Eppinger
Dorothea Hämmerer
Viola Störmer (postdoctoral fellows)
Irene Nagel, Freie Universität Berlin (visiting researcher)

Goran Papenberg
Nicolas Schuck (predoctoral fellows)

Kirsten Becker (research assistant)

Key References

Li, S.-C., Chicherio, C., Nyberg, L., Oertzen, T. v., Nagel, I. E., Papenberg, G., et al. (2010). Ebbinghaus revisited: Influences of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on backward serial recall are modulated by human aging. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22, 2164–2173. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21374

Li, S.-C., Lindenberger, U., & Bäckman, L. (Eds.). (2010). Dopaminergic modulation of lifespan cognition [Special section]. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 34(4), 625–720.

Li, S.-C., Lindenberger, U., & Sikström, S. (2001). Aging cognition: From neuromodulation to representation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5, 479–486. doi: 10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01769-1

Lindenberger, U., Nagel, I. E., Chicherio, C., Li, S.-C., Heekeren, H. R., & Bäckman, L. (2008). Age-related decline in brain resources modulates genetic effects on cognitive functioning. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2, 234–244. doi: 10.3389/neuro.01.039.2008