Sentence comprehension among healthy cognitive ageing adults: an fMRI study

Language performance issues can occur before impairments in episodic memory, visuospatial construction ability, or mental state in those at risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the neural basis for this change is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the neural correlates of sentence comprehension in healthy cognitive ageing (HCA). Thirteen healthy, elderly subjects between the age of 50-70 years old were recruited within Klang Valley. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning was conducted while participants engaged in a Malay picture-to-sentence matching comprehension task. During the task, participants silently read a sentence and were required to select one of three images that best describes the context of the sentence. The fMRI data were analysed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM12) to identify brain regions involved in sentence comprehension. Results showed activation in the left inferior occipital gyrus (IOG), medial temporal gyrus (MTG), inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and left parietal lobe, suggesting that these areas are involved in sentence processing. We conclude that HCAs present similar patterns of neural brain activation, and these regions are integrated to support sentence comprehension processing. Further research may include younger adults and a larger population sample to better represent findings in the Malaysian ageing population.