Here we asked whether impaired timing in older adults results from an aging clock or a more general brain and cognitive decline. Healthy aging adults (N = 70, aged 62-83 years) tapped to the beat of a periodic and a syncopated rhythm. Analyses focused on performance differences between rhythms (periodic-syncopated), which reduced the impact of timing unrelated processes. Apart from tapping, participants completed a cognitive assessment and neuroimaging of gray matter volume (GMV) and fractional anisotropy (FA) globally as well as regionally (cortical: auditory, premotor, paracentral; subcortical: putamen, caudate, cerebellum). The rhythm difference showed no significant age effects for tapping asynchrony and an age-related decrease for tapping consistency. Additionally, age reduced cognitive functioning, global GMV/FA, and, beyond this, auditory GMV. Irrespective of age, the rhythm difference in tapping asynchrony was linked, not to GMV, but to caudal, premotor, and paracentral FA after controlling for global FA. Tapping consistency was associated with global rather than regional brain integrity. Additionally, age differences in tapping consistency were mediated by a decline in global brain integrity as well as cognitive functioning. Together these results agree with previous proposals differentiating between timing accuracy and reliability and suggest that aging largely preserves the former but not the latter. Whereas timing accuracy may depend on an internal clock supported by robust striatocortical circuitry, timing reliability may depend on global brain and cognitive functioning, which show a pronounced age-related decline. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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成年人的节律性时机：关于认知功能和大脑结构完整性的作用。

在这里，我们问年龄较大的人的时间安排是否因时钟老化或更普遍的大脑和认知能力下降所致。健康的老年成年人（N = 70，年龄在62-83岁之间）可以拍打周期性和晕动性节律。分析着重于节奏之间的性能差异（周期性不同步），这减少了时序无关进程的影响。除拍打外，参与者还完成了全球以及区域（皮质：听觉，运动前，中央下；皮质下：壳状，尾状，小脑）的灰质体积（GMV）和分数各向异性（FA）的认知评估和神经影像检查。节奏差异显示，对于拍打异步，年龄没有明显影响，而对于拍打一致性，年龄相关的下降却没有。此外，年龄会降低认知功能，整体GMV / FA，此外，听觉GMV。无论年龄大小，控制总体FA后，拍子异步的节律差异与GMV无关，而与尾，前运动和中心旁FA有关。敲击的一致性与整体而不是区域的大脑完整性有关。此外，敲击一致性的年龄差异是由整体脑部完整性和认知功能的下降所介导的。这些结果一起与以前的建议相吻合，可以区分定时精度和可靠性，并且表明老化在很大程度上保留了前者，但并未保留后者。定时精度可能取决于坚固的皮层皮层电路支持的内部时钟，而定时可靠性可能取决于全局大脑和认知功能，这表明与年龄相关的下降明显。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，