Age-related changes in early novelty processing as measured by ERPs

This study investigated age-related changes in the early processing of novel visual stimuli using ERPs. Well-matched old (n=30), middle-aged (n=30), and young (n=32) subjects were presented standard, target/rare, and perceptually novel visual stimuli under Attend and Ignore conditions. Our results suggest that the anterior P2 component indexes the motivational salience of a stimulus as determined by either task relevance or novelty. Its enhancement by focused attention does not decrease with age. Its responsiveness to novel stimuli is particularly striking in older adults. The age-related increase in the anterior P2 to novel visual stimuli does not appear to be due to impaired inhibitory control associated with aging. Rather, the enhanced anterior P2 to novel stimuli in older adults may be linked to age-related changes in the process of matching unusual visual stimuli to stored representations, which is indexed by the temporally overlapping anterior N2 component whose amplitude substantially decreases with age

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(Technical Report 38). Min ne ap o lis, MN: Uni ver si ty of Min ne so ta, Na tion al Center on Ed u ca tion al Out comes. NATIONA

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All rights reserved. Any or all portions of this document may be reproduced and distributed without prior permission, provided the source is cited as: Albus, D. A., & Thurlow, M. L. (2007). English language learners with disabilities in state English language proficiency assessments: A review of state accommodatio

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All rights reserved. Any or all portions of this document may be reproduced and distributed without prior permission, provided the source is cited as: Nelson, J. R. (2006). High stakes graduation exams: The intended and unintended consequences of Minnesota’s Basic Standards Tests for student

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All rights reserved. Any or all portions of this document may be reproduced and distributed without prior permission, provided the source is cited as: Johnstone, C., Liu, K., Altman, J., & Thurlow, M. (2007). Student think aloud reflections on comprehensible and readable assessment items: Perspectives on what does and does not make an item readable (Technical Report 48). Minneapolis

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projects, including those on English language learners, is provided b

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exam participation and performance (2000-2001) of English language learners with disabilities (ELLs with Disabilities Report 3). Min ne ap o lis, MN

Sex Mediates Relationships Between Regional Tau Pathology and Cognitive Decline

Objective: The goal of this study was to examine sex differences in tau distribution across the brain of older adults, using positron emission tomography (PET), and investigate how these differences might associate with cognitive trajectories. Methods: Participants were 343 clinically normal individuals (women, 58%; 73.8 [8.5] years) and 55 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI; women, 38%; 76.9 [7.3] years) from the Harvard Aging Brain Study and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. We examined 18 F-Flortaucipir (FTP)-positron emission tomography (PET) signal across 41 cortical and subcortical regions of interest (ROIs). Linear regression models estimated the effect of sex on FTP-signal for each ROI after adjusting for age and cohort. We also examined interactions between sex*Aβ-PET positive / negative (+ / -) and sex*apolipoprotein ε4 (APOEε4) status. Linear mixed models estimated the moderating effect of sex on the relationship between a composite of sex-differentiated tau ROIs and cognitive decline. Results: Women showed significantly higher FTP-signals than men across multiple regions of the cortical mantle (p < 0.007). β-amyloid (Aβ)-moderated sex differences in tau signal were localized to medial and inferio-lateral temporal regions (p < 0.007); Aβ + women exhibited greater FTP-signal than other groups. APOEε4-moderated sex differences in FTP-signal were only found in the lateral occipital lobe. Women with higher FTP-signals in composite ROI exhibited faster cognitive decline than men (p = 0.04). Interpretation: Tau vulnerability in women is not just limited to the medial temporal lobe and significantly contributed to greater risk of faster cognitive decline. Interactive effects of sex and Aβ were predominantly localized in the temporal lobe, however, sex differences in extra-temporal tau highlights the possibility of accelerated tau proliferation in women with the onset of clinical symptomatology

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was funded with partial support from the Multi-state GSEG Toward a Defensible AA-MAS and the Alabama GSEG projects. These projects are supported by General Supervision Enhancement Grants (#H373X07002