Conferencia "Genetic modulation of training, transfer and attentional control in older adults"

Fecha: viernes 27 de abril de 2012
Lugar: Auditorio VI de la facultad de Psicología
Horario: 13 horas
Descripción: Conferencia impartida por os profesores visitantes Lorenza Colzato y Bernhard Hommel (Leiden University)
Abstract: Western society has an increasing proportion of older adults. Increasing age is associated with a general decrease in the control over task-relevant mental processes. In the present study we investigated the possibility that successful transfer of game-based cognitive improvements to untrained tasks in elderly people is modulated by preexisting neuro-developmental factors as genetic variability related to levels of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important neuromodulator underlying cognitive processes. We trained participants, genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, on cognitive tasks developed to improve dynamic attention. Pre-training (baseline) and post-training measures of attentional processes (divided and selective attention) were acquired by means of the Useful Field of View (UFOV) task. As expected, Val/Val homozygous individuals showed larger beneficial transfer effects than Met/-carriers. Our findings support the idea that genetic predisposition modulates transfer effects.
La asistencia será libre hasta completar el aforo.
Organiza: Máster en Neurociencia Cognitiva y del Comportamiento de la Universidad de Granada.

Conferencia «Genetic modulation of training, transfer and attentional control in older adults»