What Does the n-Back Task Measure as We Get Older? Relations Between Working-Memory Measures and Other Cognitive Functions Across the Lifespan

Abstract

Working memory (WM) declines with increasing age. The WM capacity is often measured by means of the computerized version of the n-back task. Although the n-back task is widely used in aging research, little is known about its construct validity and specific cognitive functions involved in this task. Moreover, to date, no studies analyzed the construct validity as a function of age. To this end, we conducted a study in a sample of N = 533 individuals aged between 20 and 80 years. The sample was divided into three age groups: young (20–40), middle-aged (41–60), and old (61–80 years). A number of psychometric tests was selected that measure attention, memory, and executive control to elucidate the impact of these constructs on n-back performance. A series of correlation analyses was conducted to assess the relationship between n-back performance and specific cognitive functions in each age group separately. The results show a progressive increase in reaction times and a decrease in the proportion of detected targets from young to old subjects. Age-related impairments were also found in all psychometric tests except for the vocabulary choice test measuring crystallized intelligence. Most importantly, correlations yielded different age-related patterns of functions contributing to performance in the n-back task: whereas performance was most related to executive functions in young age, a combination of attentional and executive processes was associated with performance in middle-aged subjects. In contrast, in older age, mainly attentional, verbal memory, and updating and to a lesser extent executive processes seem to play a crucial role in the n-back task, suggesting a shift of processing strategies across the lifespan.

Does traditional asian vegetables (ulam) consumption correlate with brain activity using fMRI? A study among aging adults from low‐income households

“…The N-back task has face validity as a working memory task since it seems to require maintaining continuous updating and processing of information. 24 These findings are also been supported by a previous study in which a significant improvement was reported in the executive functioning and working memory of 20 healthy Malaysian participants after 3 weeks of being supplemented with the Superulam capsules (a combination of ulam or traditional Asian vegetables extracts). 25 Another systematic review on the common ulam, Centella asiatica, was also reported in Thailand, where the herb was not only discovered for improving working memory and alertness, but also in relieving anger as well.…”

“…0‐back and 1‐back tasks were designed to assess the cognitive functions like attention, working memory, and short and long‐term memory in middle‐age and older age. The N‐back task has face validity as a working memory task since it seems to require maintaining continuous updating and processing of information . These findings are also been supported by a previous study in which a significant improvement was reported in the executive functioning and working memory of 20 healthy Malaysian participants after 3 weeks of being supplemented with the Superulam capsules (a combination of ulam or traditional Asian vegetables extracts) .…”

The Noisy Brain: Power of Resting-State Fluctuations Predicts Individual Recognition Performance

“…The current results thus indicate that resting-state fluctuations can be diagnostic of individual long-term cognitive capabilities. While the particular cognitive construct implicated by the 1-back visual task used here has not been directly studied, performance on a 2-back visual task has been found to moderately correlate with fluid intelligence (Jaeggi et al, 2010), as well as with psychometric measures of processing speed and attentional focus (Gajewski et al, 2018;Miller et al, 2009). It should be emphasized that the putative constraints imposed by erratic cortical activity studied here are likely to be specific to tasks that require maintained external focus over extended periods of time and are therefore particularly susceptible to such intrinsic disruptions, whereas other, more internally generated behaviors, may benefit from higher variability (for a detailed review see Dinstein et al, 2015).…”

Abnormal brain activity patterns during spatial working memory task in patients with end-stage renal disease on maintenance hemodialysis: a fMRI study

“…None of the healthy controls underwent the above laboratory tests and therefore no data were available for analysis of healthy subjects. (Gong et al 1989;Kimmel et al 2007;Nasreddine et al 2005;Theofilou 2011;Wang et al 2010;Zung 1971). The above neuropsychological tests were performed by two experienced neuropsychiatrists within 1 h after MR scanning.…”

“…The average BOLD response amplitude of each subject's ROIs in the three n-back conditions was calculated and analyzed to determine whether there was a load effect on each ROI. As Gajewski et al (Gajewski et al 2018) reported that working memory declines with age, in this study the brain activation differences between HD-ESRD patients and control group were tested using nonparametric permutation testing, and were corrected for age, body weight, and behavioral symptoms. Data were corrected for multiple comparisons using a threshold-free cluster enhancement, which allows the identification of clusters of significant voxels without having to define them in a binary way, as well as family-wise error, using a final FDR correction, P < 0.05, cluster size ≥20 voxels.…”