Heterogeneous factors influence social cognition across diverse settings in brain health and age-related diseases

Abstract

Aging diminishes social cognition, and changes in this capacity can indicate brain diseases. However, the relative contribution of age, diagnosis and brain reserve to social cognition, especially among older adults and in global settings, remains unclear when considering other factors. Here, using a computational approach, we combined predictors of social cognition from a diverse sample of 1,063 older adults across nine countries. Emotion recognition, mentalizing and overall social cognition were predicted via support vector regressions from various factors, including diagnosis (subjective cognitive complaints, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia), demographics, cognition/executive function, brain reserve and motion artifacts from functional magnetic resonance imaging recordings. Higher cognitive/executive functions and education ranked among the top predictors, outweighing age, diagnosis and brain reserve. Network connectivity did not show predictive values. The results challenge traditional interpretations of age-related decline, patient–control differences and brain associations of social cognition, emphasizing the importance of heterogeneous factors.

Viscous dynamics associated with hypoexcitation and structural disintegration in neurodegeneration via generative whole‐brain modeling

“…Expanding model generalization to underrepresented, non-stereotypical, and diverse samples is crucial for understanding brain-phenotype associations. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]63 While future research should consider validations using harmonized datasets, our findings underscore the strength of our results when applied to complex and variable data sources.…”

“…The global challenge of dementia is exacerbated by limited brain‐phenotype associations and dynamic mechanisms in diverse populations. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 By 2050, a 4‐fold increase in dementia is expected in the Global South, where 71% of dementia cases will come from underserved regions and developing countries. 2 , 9 , 10 The lack of robust mechanistic explanations of whole‐brain dynamics 11 and adequate biomarkers make these underserved popualtions even more vulnerable.…”