Ageing increases reliance on sensorimotor prediction through structural and functional differences in frontostriatal circuits

Noham Wolpe (), James N. Ingram, Kamen A. Tsvetanov, Linda Geerligs, Rogier A. Kievit, Richard N. Henson, Daniel M. Wolpert and James B. Rowe
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Noham Wolpe: University of Cambridge
James N. Ingram: Computational and Biological Learning Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Kamen A. Tsvetanov: Centre for Speech, Language and the Brain, University of Cambridge
Linda Geerligs: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
Rogier A. Kievit: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
Richard N. Henson: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
Daniel M. Wolpert: Computational and Biological Learning Laboratory, University of Cambridge
James B. Rowe: University of Cambridge

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract The control of voluntary movement changes markedly with age. A critical component of motor control is the integration of sensory information with predictions of the consequences of action, arising from internal models of movement. This leads to sensorimotor attenuation—a reduction in the perceived intensity of sensations from self-generated compared with external actions. Here we show that sensorimotor attenuation occurs in 98% of adults in a population-based cohort (n=325; 18–88 years; the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience). Importantly, attenuation increases with age, in proportion to reduced sensory sensitivity. This effect is associated with differences in the structure and functional connectivity of the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), assessed with magnetic resonance imaging. The results suggest that ageing alters the balance between the sensorium and predictive models, mediated by the pre-SMA and its connectivity in frontostriatal circuits. This shift may contribute to the motor and cognitive changes observed with age.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13034

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