Aging in nucleus accumbens and its impact on alcohol use disorders

Konar-Nié, Macarena; Guzman-Castillo, Alejandra; Armijo-Weingart, Lorena; Aguayo, Luis G.

doi:10.1016/j.alcohol.2022.08.004

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…However, especially in OA there are a number of regions, particularly in the RH hippocampus, bilateral nucleus accumbens, and RH ventral occipital-temporal stream, that relate to better cognitive ability with increased hubness as measured by nodal efficiency. The nucleus accumbens has been noted in research on the aging brain to be somewhat unique, in that although volume reductions have been noted with age, it is spared from neuronal loss, unlike much of the rest of the brain (see Konar-Nié et al, 2023 for a review). It may be that greater connectivity bilaterally to this relatively protected subcortical region serves to spare the network, especially considering the role the nucleus accumbens plays in decision making, particularly when there is uncertainty, ambiguity, or when distractors are involved, owing to the role of neurons in this region for integrating information from multiple sources that can be conflicting (see Floresco, 2015 for a review).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reorganization of Structural Connectivity in the Brain Supports Preservation of Cognitive Ability in Healthy Aging

Neudorf,

Shen,

McIntosh

2023

Preprint

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The global population is aging rapidly, and a research question of critical importance is why some older adults suffer tremendous cognitive decline while others are mostly spared. Past aging research has shown that older adults with spared cognition have better local short-range information processing while global long-range processing is less efficient. We took this research a step further to investigate whether the underlying structural connections, measured in vivo using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI), show a similar shift to support cognitive ability. We analyzed the structural connectivity streamline counts and nodal efficiency and local efficiency regional graph theory metrics to determine if age and cognition are related to structural network differences. We found that the relationship between structural connectivity and cognition with age was nuanced, with some differences with age that were associated with poorer cognitive outcomes, but other reorganizations that were associated with spared cognitive ability. These changes included strengthened local intrahemispheric connectivity and increased nodal efficiency of the ventral occipital-temporal stream, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus for older adults, and widespread local efficiency primarily for middle-aged individuals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%