Aging is associated with contrasting changes in local and distant cortical connectivity in the human motor system

Rowe, James B.; Siebner, Hartwig R.; Filipović, Saša R.; Cordivari, Carla; Gerschlager, Willibald; Rothwell, John C.; Frackowiak, R. S. J.

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.03.061

Cited by 89 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Previously, PPI analysis has been applied to both PET and fMRI data with examples including studies of aging and motor function (Rowe et al. 2006), motor networks (Kasahara et al. 2010), and memory networks in traumatic brain injury patients (Kasahara et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dominant hemisphere functional networks compensate for structural connectivity loss to preserve phonological retrieval with aging

Agarwal

Stamatakis

Geva³

et al. 2016

Brain and Behavior

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IntroductionLoss of hemispheric asymmetry during cognitive tasks has been previously demonstrated in the literature. In the context of language, increased right hemisphere activation is observed with aging. Whether this relates to compensation to preserve cognitive function or dedifferentiation implying loss of hemispheric specificity without functional consequence, remains unclear.MethodsWith a multifaceted approach, integrating structural and functional imaging data during a word retrieval task, in a group of younger and older adults with equivalent cognitive performance, we aimed to establish whether interactions between hemispheres or reorganization of dominant hemisphere networks preserve function. We examined functional and structural connectivity on data from our previously published functional activation study. Functional connectivity was measured using psychophysiological interactions analysis from the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and the left insula (LINS), based on published literature, and the right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) based on our previous study.ResultsAlthough RIFG showed increased activation, its connectivity decreased with age. Meanwhile, LIFG and LINS connected more bilaterally in the older adults. White matter integrity, measured by fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor imaging, decreased significantly in the older group. Importantly, LINS functional connectivity to LIFG correlated inversely with FA.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that left hemispheric language areas show higher functional connectivity in older adults with intact behavioral performance, and thus, may have a role in preserving function. The inverse correlation of functional and structural connectivity with age is in keeping with emerging literature and merits further investigation with tractography studies and in other cognitive domains.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A differential effect on functional connectivity with aging has also been shown in the motor domain (Rowe et al. 2006). How these various functional connectivity changes map to loss of specific white matter tracts remains to be clarified.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant hemisphere functional networks compensate for structural connectivity loss to preserve phonological retrieval with aging

Agarwal

Stamatakis

Geva³

et al. 2016

Brain and Behavior

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“…Conversely, such changes are likely to reflect mechanisms of brain reorganization occurring in pediatric MS patients. Recent studies in healthy individuals have suggested that there might be an enhancement of shorter connections in local networks and a reduction of longer connections with aging [Rowe et al, 2006], indicating a potential adaptive role of increased functional short-range connectivity with CNS damage. In this perspective, the finding of a sort of ''downregulation'' of these connections in pediatric MS patients might be considered as a functional reservoir, which might play a role later on in the course of the disease, when structural damage begins to accumulate at a faster pace.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is a preserved functional reserve a mechanism limiting clinical impairment in pediatric MS patients?

Rocca¹,

Absinta²,

Ghezzi³

et al. 2008

Human Brain Mapping

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We evaluated the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) correlates of simple movement performance in patients with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) and their relation with the extent of T2 lesion volume (LV), to improve our understanding of the mechanisms leading to their short/medium term favorable clinical course. We obtained fMRI during repetitive flexion-extension of the last four fingers of the right hand and brain dual-echo scans from 17 right-handed patients with pediatric relapsing-remitting MS and 9 sex- and age-matched right-handed healthy controls. T2 LV was measured using a local thresholding segmentation technique. fMRI activations and functional connectivity analysis were performed using SPM2. Compared to controls, pediatric MS patients had an increased recruitment of the left (L) primary sensorimotor cortex (SMC). They also showed reduced functional connectivity between the L primary SMC and the L thalamus (P = 0.03), the L insula and the L secondary sensorimotor cortex (SII) (P = 0.02), the supplementary motor area and the L SII (P = 0.02), the L thalamus and the L insula (P = 0.01) and the L thalamus and the L SII (P = 0.003). In patients with pediatric MS, the activity of the L primary SMC was significantly correlated with brain T2 LV (r = 0.78). No correlation was found between coefficients of abnormal connectivity and structural MRI measures. The maintenance of a selective and strictly lateralized pattern of movement-associated brain activations and a modulation of its functional connections suggest a preserved functional reserve in patients with pediatric MS, which, in turn, might contribute to explain their favorable clinical evolution at short/medium term.

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“…Findings of reduced lateralisation in the old, however, do seem to be somewhat task dependent; both motor sequence learning (Daselaar, Rombouts, and Veltman et al, 2003) and cued simple movements (Fang, Li and Lu et al 2005) do not appear to exhibit age-related cortical reorganisation. Rowe, Sibner and Filipovic et al (2006) used low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and positron emission tomography to study age-related changes in connectivity. Rowe et al found that older adults exhibited increased movement-related activation of premotor cortex bilaterally during a button pressing task, and that this cortical region was also more susceptible to the inhibitory effects of rTMS in the old.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced motor asymmetry in older adults when manually tracing paths

et al. 2011

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Handedness, a preference towards using the right or left hand, is established in early childhood. Such specialisation allows a higher level of skill to be maintained in the preferred hand on specific tasks through continuous practice and performance. Hand asymmetries might be expected to increase with age because of the time spent practising with the preferred hand. However, neurophysiological work has suggested reduced hemispheric function lateralisation in the aging brain, and behavioural studies have found reduced motor asymmetries in older adults (Przybla, Haaland, Bagesterio and Sainburg 2011). We therefore tested the predictions of behavioural change from reduced hemispheric function by measuring tracing performance (arguably one of the most lateralised of human behaviours) along paths of different thickness in a group of healthy young and older adults. Participants completed the task once with their preferred (right) hand and once with their non-preferred (left) hand. Movement Time (MT) and Shape Accuracy (SA) were dependant variables. A composite measure of MT and SA, the Speed Accuracy Cost Function (SACF) provided an overall measure of motor performance. Older participants were slower and less accurate when task demands were high. Combined analyses of both hands revealed reduced asymmetries in MT and SACF in the older group. The young were significantly faster when tracing with their preferred hand but older participants were equally slow with either hand. Our results are consistent with the growing literature reporting decreased hemispheric function lateralisation in the aging brain.

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Aging is associated with contrasting changes in local and distant cortical connectivity in the human motor system

Cited by 89 publications

References 70 publications

Dominant hemisphere functional networks compensate for structural connectivity loss to preserve phonological retrieval with aging

Dominant hemisphere functional networks compensate for structural connectivity loss to preserve phonological retrieval with aging

Is a preserved functional reserve a mechanism limiting clinical impairment in pediatric MS patients?

Reduced motor asymmetry in older adults when manually tracing paths

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