(347) Sex differences in resting state functional connectivity in brain regions implicated in descending pain modulation in healthy older adults

ABSTRACTThough a growing body of literature is addressing the possible longer-term cognitive effects of anesthetics, to date no study has delineated the normal trajectory of neural recovery due to anesthesia alone in older adults. We obtained resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans on 62 healthy human volunteers between ages forty and eighty before, during, and after sevoflurane (general) anesthesia, in the absence of surgery, as part of a larger study on cognitive function post-anesthesia. Resting state networks expression decreased consistently one hour after emergence from anesthesia. This corresponded to a global reduction in anticorrelated functional connectivity post-anesthesia, seen across individual regions-of-interest. Positively correlated functional connectivity remained constant across peri-anesthetic states. All measures returned to baseline 1 day later, with individual regions-of-interest essentially returning to their pre-anesthesia connectivity levels. These results define normal peri-anesthetic changes in resting state connectivity in healthy older adults.

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Sex differences in the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and brain function in older adulthood

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/japplphysiol.01046.2018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 126 (4) ◽

pp. 1032-1041 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Christina J. Dimech ◽

John A. E. Anderson ◽

Amber W. Lockrow ◽

R. Nathan Spreng ◽

Gary R. Turner

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Cardiorespiratory Fitness ◽

Resting State ◽

Brain Function ◽

Network Integration ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Older Adulthood ◽

Fitness Level

We investigated sex differences in the association between a measure of physical health, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and brain function using resting-state functional connectivity fMRI. We examined these sex differences in the default, frontoparietal control, and cingulo-opercular networks, assemblies of functionally connected brain regions known to be impacted by both age and fitness level. Healthy older adults ( n = 49; 29 women) were scanned to obtain measures of intrinsic connectivity within and across these 3 networks. We calculated global efficiency (a measure of network integration) and local efficiency (a measure of network specialization) using graph theoretical methods. Across all three networks combined, local efficiency was positively associated with CRF, and this was more robust in male versus female older adults. Furthermore, global efficiency was negatively associated with CRF, but only in males. Our findings suggest that in older adults, associations between brain network integrity and physical health are sex-dependent. These results underscore the importance of considering sex differences when examining associations between fitness and brain function in older adulthood. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We examined the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and resting state functional connectivity in several brain networks known to be impacted by age and fitness level. We found significant associations between fitness and measures of network integration and network specialization, but in a sex-dependent manner, highlighting the interplay between sex differences, fitness, and aging brain health. Our findings underscore the importance of considering sex differences when examining associations between fitness and brain function in older adulthood.

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Allodynia and Descending Pain Modulation in Migraine: A Resting State Functional Connectivity Analysis

Pain Medicine ◽

10.1111/pme.12267 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 154-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 82

Author(s):

Todd J. Schwedt ◽

Linda Larson-Prior ◽

Rebecca S. Coalson ◽

Tracy Nolan ◽

Soe Mar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Pain Modulation ◽

Connectivity Analysis ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Functional Connectivity Analysis ◽

Descending Pain Modulation

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Resting‐state functional connectivity modulation through a combined a TDCS‐visuospatial training on object‐location memory in healthy older adults and patients with mild cognitive impairment

Alzheimer s & Dementia ◽

10.1002/alz.037850 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (S4) ◽

Author(s):

Daria Antonenko ◽

Friederike Thams ◽

Nadine Külzow ◽

Agnes Flöel

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Object Location ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Location Memory ◽

Object Location Memory

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Individual differences in the relationship between episodic detail generation and resting state functional connectivity vary with age

10.31234/osf.io/ex4mt ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Stephanie Matijevic ◽

Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna ◽

Aubrey Anne Ladd Wank ◽

Lee Ryan ◽

Matthew D. Grilli

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Age Related ◽

Brain Behavior ◽

The Relationship

The ability to generate episodic details while recollecting autobiographical events is believed to depend on a collection of brain regions that form a posterior medial network (PMN). How age-related differences in episodic detail generation relate to the PMN, however, remains unclear. The present study sought to examine individual differences, and the role of age, in PMN resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) associations with episodic detail generation. Late middle-aged and older adults (N = 41, ages 52-81), and young adults (N = 21, ages 19-35) were asked to describe recent personal events, and these memory narratives were coded for episodic, semantic and ‘miscellaneous’ details. Independent components analysis and regions-of-interest analyses were used to assess rsFC within anterior PMN connections (hippocampal and medial prefrontal) and posterior PMN connections (hippocampal, parahippocampal and parieto-occipital). Compared to younger adults, older adults produced memory narratives with lower episodic specificity (ratio of episodic:total details) and a greater amount of semantic detail. Among the older adults, episodic detail amounts and episodic specificity were reduced with increasing age. There were no significant age differences in PMN rsFC. Stronger anterior PMN rsFC was related to lower episodic detail in the older adult group, but not in the young. Among the older adults, increasing age brought on an association between increased anterior PMN rsFC and reduced episodic specificity. The present study provides evidence that functional connectivity within the PMN, particularly anterior PMN, tracks individual differences in the amount of episodic details retrieved by older adults. Furthermore, these brain-behavior relationships appear to be age-specific.

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Resting-State Functional Connectivity Signatures of Apathy in Community-Living Older Adults

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2021.691710 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

Author(s):

Jung Yun Jang ◽

S. Duke Han ◽

Belinda Yew ◽

Anna E. Blanken ◽

Shubir Dutt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Resting State ◽

Neural Mechanism ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

The Right

Apathy predicts poor outcomes in older adults, and its underlying neural mechanism needs further investigation. We examined the association between symptoms of apathy and functional connectivity (FC) in older adults without stroke or dementia. Participants included 48 individuals (mean age = 70.90) living independently in the community, who underwent resting-state fMRI and completed the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES). Seed-to-voxel analysis (cluster-level p-FDR <0.05, voxel threshold p < 0.001) tested the association between AES scores and the whole-brain FC of brain regions involved in reward- and salience-related processing. We found that AES scores were negatively associated with FC of the right insula cortex and right anterior temporal regions (124 voxels, t = −5.10) and FC of the left orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate regions (160 voxels, t = −5.45), and were positively associated with FC of the left orbitofrontal cortex and left lateral prefrontal (282 voxels, t = 4.99) and anterior prefrontal (123 voxels, t = 4.52) regions. These findings suggest that apathy in older adults may reflect disruptions in neural connectivity involved in reward- and salience-related processing.

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The effect of congenital blindness on resting-state functional connectivity revisited

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-91976-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Maria J. S. Guerreiro ◽

Madita Linke ◽

Sunitha Lingareddy ◽

Ramesh Kekunnaya ◽

Brigitte Röder

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Resting State ◽

Visual Experience ◽

Brain Regions ◽

State Condition ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Congenital Blindness ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Congenitally Blind ◽

Eyes Open

AbstractLower resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between ‘visual’ and non-‘visual’ neural circuits has been reported as a hallmark of congenital blindness. In sighted individuals, RSFC between visual and non-visual brain regions has been shown to increase during rest with eyes closed relative to rest with eyes open. To determine the role of visual experience on the modulation of RSFC by resting state condition—as well as to evaluate the effect of resting state condition on group differences in RSFC—, we compared RSFC between visual and somatosensory/auditory regions in congenitally blind individuals (n = 9) and sighted participants (n = 9) during eyes open and eyes closed conditions. In the sighted group, we replicated the increase of RSFC between visual and non-visual areas during rest with eyes closed relative to rest with eyes open. This was not the case in the congenitally blind group, resulting in a lower RSFC between ‘visual’ and non-‘visual’ circuits relative to sighted controls only in the eyes closed condition. These results indicate that visual experience is necessary for the modulation of RSFC by resting state condition and highlight the importance of considering whether sighted controls should be tested with eyes open or closed in studies of functional brain reorganization as a consequence of blindness.

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