To compensate for cognitive decline due to aging, older adults typically demonstrate what change?

Older adults, in response to cognitive decline associated with aging, often show greater amounts of bilateral activation of prefrontal brain regions during cognitive tasks. This phenomenon is known as compensatory neural recruitment and indicates that as certain cognitive abilities may decline, the brain adapts by utilizing additional neural resources.

The prefrontal cortex is crucial for higher cognitive functions, including decision-making, problem-solving, and working memory. By enhancing bilateral activation, older adults are essentially activating both hemispheres of the brain more to support task performance, thereby compensating for declines in specific cognitive functions. This pattern suggests that older adults can maintain cognitive performance despite age-related changes by engaging more areas of the brain to process information effectively.

The other choices do not align with typical compensatory strategies. While some may think that long-term memory abilities remain stable or improve, the focus of the compensatory mechanism specifically points to activation patterns rather than a straightforward increase in semantic abilities. Similarly, a significant reduction in hippocampal activation would not be indicative of a compensatory response, as the hippocampus is critical for memory formation and retrieval, particularly in aging. Lastly, although there may be shifts in processing strategies, increased dominance in visual-spatial processing does not specifically reflect the compensatory response