Aging Effects on Whole-Brain Functional Connectivity in Adults Free of Cognitive and Psychiatric Disorders

In this study, resting-state fMRI was acquired from 59 adults free of cognitive and psychiatric disorders according to standardized criteria and based on extensive neuropsychological and clinical assessments. We tested for associations between age and whole-brain RSFC using Partial Least Squares, a multivariate technique. We found that normal aging is not only characterized by decreased RSFC within the DMN but also by ubiquitous increases in internetwork positive correlations and focal internetwork losses of anticorrelations (involving mainly connections between the DMN and the attentional networks). Our results reinforce the notion that the aging brain undergoes a dedifferentiation processes with loss of functional diversity. These findings advance the characterization of healthy aging effects on RSFC and highlight the importance of adopting a broad, system-wide perspective to analyze brain connectivity.

Source: Cerebral Cortex - August 29, 2016 Category: Neurology Authors: Ferreira, L. K., Regina, A. C. B., Kovacevic, N., Martin, M. d. G. M., Santos, P. P., Carneiro, C. d. G., Kerr, D. S., Amaro, E., McIntosh, A. R., Busatto, G. F. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research