This phenomenon has been coined HAROLD (
hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults) and reflects the reorganisation of the brain as compensation for reduced brain capacity and efficiency due to age -
related structural and physiological decline.
So, like age -
related overactivation generally, this age -
related alteration in
hemispheric specialization, a pattern dubbed «
hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults» or HAROLD (Cabeza, 2002), means that cognitive neuroscience studies of brain aging are raising new questions with broad neuroscientific implications (Figure 1A).