Age-related differences in network structure and dynamic synchrony of cognitive control

AbstractCognitive trajectories vary greatly across older individuals, and the neural mechanisms underlying these differences remain poorly understood. Here, we propose a mechanistic framework of cognitive variability in older adults, linking the influence of white matter microstructure on fast and effective communications between brain regions. Using diffusion tensor imaging and electroencephalography, we show that individual differences in white matter network organization are associated with network clustering and efficiency in the alpha and high-gamma bands, and that functional network dynamics partly explain individual cognitive control performance in older adults. We show that older individuals with high versus low structural network clustering differ in task-related network dynamics and cognitive performance. These findings were corroborated by investigating magnetoencephalography networks in an independent dataset. This multimodal brain connectivity framework of individual differences provides a holistic account of how differences in white matter microstructure underlie age-related variability in dynamic network organization and cognitive performance.

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Tract Specificity of Age Effects on Diffusion Tensor Imaging Measures of White Matter Health

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2021.628865 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

Author(s):

Stephanie Matijevic ◽

Lee Ryan

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Diffusion Tensor Imaging ◽

Individual Differences ◽

White Matter ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Mean Diffusivity ◽

White Matter Integrity ◽

White Matter Tracts ◽

Apoe Ε4 ◽

Age Related

Well-established literature indicates that older adults have poorer cerebral white matter integrity, as measured through diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Age differences in DTI have been observed widely across white matter, although some tracts appear more sensitive to the effects of aging than others. Factors like APOE ε4 status and sex may contribute to individual differences in white matter integrity that also selectively impact certain tracts, and could influence DTI changes in aging. The present study explored the degree to which age, APOE ε4, and sex exerted global vs. tract specific effects on DTI metrics in cognitively healthy late middle-aged to older adults. Data from 49 older adults (ages 54–92) at two time-points separated by approximately 2.7 years were collected. DTI metrics, including fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), were extracted from nine white matter tracts and global white matter. Results showed that across timepoints, FA and MD increased globally, with no tract-specific changes observed. Baseline age had a global influence on both measures, with increasing age associated with lower FA and higher MD. After controlling for global white matter FA, age additionally predicted FA for the genu, callosum body, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), and both anterior and posterior cingulum. Females exhibited lower global FA on average compared to males. In contrast, MD was selectively elevated in the anterior cingulum and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), for females compared to males. APOE ε4 status was not predictive of either measure. In summary, these results indicate that age and sex are associated with both global and tract-specific alterations to DTI metrics among a healthy older adult cohort. Older women have poorer white matter integrity compared to older men, perhaps related to menopause-induced metabolic changes. While age-related alterations to white matter integrity are global, there is substantial variation in the degree to which tracts are impacted, possibly as a consequence of tract anatomical variability. The present study highlights the importance of accounting for global sources of variation in DTI metrics when attempting to investigate individual differences (due to age, sex, or other factors) in specific white matter tracts.

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Expert Cognitive Control and Individual Differences Associated with Frontal and Parietal White Matter Microstructure

Journal of Neuroscience ◽

10.1523/jneurosci.4879-10.2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 30 (50) ◽

pp. 17063-17067 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

R. E. Roberts ◽

E. J. Anderson ◽

M. Husain

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

White Matter ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

White Matter Microstructure

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Effect of Cognitive Control on Attentional Processing of Emotional Information Among Older Adults: Evidence From an Eye-Tracking Study

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2021.644379 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

Author(s):

Haining Liu ◽

Haihong Liu ◽

Feng Li ◽

Buxin Han ◽

Cuili Wang

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Eye Tracking ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Older Individuals ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Spatial Cueing ◽

Age Related ◽

Cueing Task ◽

Engagement And Disengagement

Background: Although numerous studies have suggested that the gradually increasing selective preference for positive information over negative information in older adults depends on cognitive control processes, few have reported the characteristics of different attention stages in the emotional processing of older individuals. The present study used a real-time eye-tracking technique to disentangle the attentional engagement and disengagement processes involved in age-related positivity effect (PE).Methods: Eye movement data from a spatial-cueing task were obtained for 32 older and 32 younger healthy participants. The spatial-cueing task with varied cognitive loads appeared to be an effective way to explore the role of cognitive control during the attention engagement and disengagement stages of emotion processing.Results: Compared with younger adults, older participants showed more positive gaze preferences when cognitive resources were sufficient for face processing at the attention engagement stage. However, the age-related PE was not observed at the attention disengagement stage because older adults had more difficulty disengaging from fearful faces than did the younger adults due to the consumption of attention by the explicit target judgment.Conclusion: The present study highlights how cognitive control moderates positive gaze preferences at different attention processing stages. These findings may have far-reaching implications for understanding, preventing, and intervening in unsuccessful aging and, thus, in promoting active and healthy aging.

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Disrupted neural synchrony mediates the relationship between white matter integrity and cognitive performance in older adults

10.1101/2019.12.29.890228 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

T. Hinault ◽

M. Kraut ◽

A. Bakker ◽

A. Dagher ◽

S.M. Courtney

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Individual Differences ◽

White Matter ◽

Cognitive Functioning ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Cognitive Aging ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Individual Variability ◽

White Matter Integrity ◽

Neural Basis

AbstractOur main goal was to determine the influence of white matter integrity on the dynamic coupling between brain regions and the individual variability of cognitive performance in older adults. EEG was recorded while participants performed a task specifically designed to engage working memory and inhibitory processes, and the associations among functional activity, structural integrity, and cognitive performance were assessed. We found that the association between white matter microstructural integrity and cognitive functioning with aging is mediated by time-varying alpha and gamma phase-locking value (PLV). Specifically, older individuals with better preservation of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus showed greater task-related modulations of alpha and gamma long-range PLV between the inferior frontal gyrus and occipital lobe, lower local phase-amplitude coupling in occipital lobes, and better cognitive control performance. Our results help delineate the role of individual variability of white matter microstructure in dynamic synchrony and cognitive performance during normal aging, and show that even small reductions in white matter integrity can lead to altered communications between brain regions, which in turn can result in reduced efficiency of cognitive functioning.Significance statementCognitive aging is associated with large individual differences, as some individuals maintain cognitive performance similar to that of young adults while others are significantly impaired. We hypothesized that individual differences in white matter integrity would influence the functional synchrony between frontal and posterior brain regions, and cognitive performance in older adults. We found that the association between reduced tract integrity and worse cognitive performance in older adults was mediated by task-related modulations of coupling synchrony in the alpha and gamma bands. Results offer a mechanistic explanation for the neural basis of the variability of cognitive performance in older adults who do not have any clinically diagnosable neuropathology, and for the association between structural network integrity and cognition in older adults.

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Disrupted Neural Synchrony Mediates the Relationship between White Matter Integrity and Cognitive Performance in Older Adults

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhaa141 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (10) ◽

pp. 5570-5582 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

T Hinault ◽

M Kraut ◽

A Bakker ◽

A Dagher ◽

S M Courtney

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

White Matter ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Structural Integrity ◽

Phase Locking ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Individual Variability ◽

White Matter Integrity ◽

Older Individuals ◽

Phase Locking Value

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Linking individual differences in cognitive control and perception: Meta-perception in older and younger adults

10.1101/2021.07.07.451419 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lena Klever ◽

Pascal Mamassian ◽

Jutta Billino

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Age Groups ◽

Age Effects ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Age Related ◽

Perceptual Performance ◽

Metacognitive Ability ◽

Specific Challenge

Visual perception is not only shaped by sensitivity, but also by confidence, i.e. the ability to estimate the accuracy of a visual decision. There is robust evidence that younger observers have access to a reliable measure of their own uncertainty when making visual decisions. This metacognitive ability might be challenged during aging due to increasing sensory noise and decreasing cognitive control resources. We investigated age effects on visual confidence using a confidence forced-choice paradigm. We determined discrimination thresholds for trials in which perceptual judgements were indicated as confident and for those in which they were declined as confident. Younger adults (19-38 years) showed significantly lower discrimination thresholds than older adults (60-78 years). In both age groups, perceptual performance was linked to confidence judgements, but overall results suggest reduced confidence efficiency in older adults. However, we observed substantial variability of confidence effects across all particpants. This variability was closely linked to individual differences in cognitive control capacities, i.e. executive function. Our findings provide evidence for age-related differences in meta-perceptual efficiency that present a specific challenge to perceptual performance in old age. We propose that these age effects are primarily mediated by cognitive control resources, supporting their crucial role for metacognitive efficiency.

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White Matter Correlates of Cognitive Performance on the UCSF Brain Health Assessment

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617719000225 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 25 (6) ◽

pp. 654-658 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrea G. Alioto ◽

Paige Mumford ◽

Amy Wolf ◽

Kaitlin B. Casaletto ◽

Sabrina Erlhoff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

White Matter ◽

Corpus Callosum ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Health Assessment ◽

The Body ◽

Superior Cerebellar Peduncle ◽

Brain Health ◽

Age Related

AbstractObjective: White matter (WM) microstructural changes are increasingly recognized as a mechanism of age-related cognitive differences. This study examined the associations between patterns of WM microstructure and cognitive performance on the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Brain Health Assessment (BHA) subtests of memory (Favorites), executive functions and speed (Match), and visuospatial skills (Line Orientation) within a sample of older adults. Method: Fractional anisotropy (FA) in WM tracts and BHA performance were examined in 84 older adults diagnosed as neurologically healthy (47), with mild cognitive impairment (19), or with dementia (18). The relationships between FA and subtest performances were evaluated using regression analyses. We then explored whether regional WM predicted performance after accounting for variance explained by global FA. Results: Memory performance was associated with FA of the fornix and the superior cerebellar peduncle; and executive functions and speed, with the body of the corpus callosum. The fornix–memory association and the corpus callosum–executive association remained significant after accounting for global FA. Neither tract-based nor global FA was associated with visuospatial performance. Conclusions: Memory and executive functions are associated with different patterns of WM diffusivity. Findings add insight into WM alterations underlying age- and disease-related cognitive decline.

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Age-Related Differences in Motivational Integration and Cognitive Control

10.31234/osf.io/a96nw ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Debbie Marianne Yee ◽

Sarah L Adams ◽

Asad Beck ◽

Todd Samuel Braver

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Decision Making ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Task Performance ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Monetary Reward ◽

Potential Candidate ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Age Related ◽

Cognitive Task Performance

Motivational incentives play an influential role in value-based decision-making and cognitive control. A compelling hypothesis in the literature suggests that the brain integrates the motivational value of diverse incentives (e.g., motivational integration) into a common currency value signal that influences decision-making and behavior. To investigate whether motivational integration processes change during healthy aging, we tested older (N=44) and younger (N=54) adults in an innovative incentive integration task paradigm that establishes dissociable and additive effects of liquid (e.g., juice, neutral, saltwater) and monetary incentives on cognitive task performance. The results reveal that motivational incentives improve cognitive task performance in both older and younger adults, providing novel evidence demonstrating that age-related cognitive control deficits can be ameliorated with sufficient incentive motivation. Additional analyses revealed clear age-related differences in motivational integration. Younger adult task performance was modulated by both monetary and liquid incentives, whereas monetary reward effects were more gradual in older adults and more strongly impacted by trial-by-trial performance feedback. A surprising discovery was that older adults shifted attention from liquid valence toward monetary reward throughout task performance, but younger adults shifted attention from monetary reward toward integrating both monetary reward and liquid valence by the end of the task, suggesting differential strategic utilization of incentives. Together these data suggest that older adults may have impairments in incentive integration, and employ different motivational strategies to improve cognitive task performance. The findings suggest potential candidate neural mechanisms that may serve as the locus of age-related change, providing targets for future cognitive neuroscience investigations.

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CHARACTERIZATION OF COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE, GRAY MATTER VOLUME AND WHITE MATTER MICROSTRUCTURE IN COGNITIVELY UNIMPAIRED ADULTS WITH INSOMNIA SYMPTOMS

Alzheimer s & Dementia ◽

10.1016/j.jalz.2019.06.4549 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (7) ◽

pp. P207-P209

Author(s):

Oriol Grau-Rivera ◽

Grégory Operto ◽

Carles Falcon ◽

Raffaele Cacciaglia ◽

Gonzalo Sánchez-Benavides ◽

...

Keyword(s):

White Matter ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Matter Volume ◽

White Matter Microstructure ◽

Insomnia Symptoms

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Health Among Sexual Minority Older Adults: Individual Differences and Implications for Improving Health

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.3170 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 860-860

Author(s):

Britney Wardecker ◽

Cara Exten

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Sexual Minority ◽

Health Care Access ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Health Problems ◽

Future Research ◽

Care Access ◽

Age Related

Abstract The number of sexual minority (SM) older adults is increasing rapidly, yet this population continues to be underrepresented in research (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Kim, 2017) and experiences significant disparities in health and health care access (Fredriksen-Goldsen, 2016; Wallace et al., 2011). In the current symposium, we analyze data from U.S. national probability samples of middle-aged and older adults (MIDUS, HRS, NESARC-III) to consider how age-related concerns and challenges may be experienced differently by SM individuals compared to their heterosexual counterparts. This symposium includes novel methods and statistical tools, such as daily diary assessments, multilevel modeling, and time-varying effects models. Individual presentations evaluate how: (1) SM women, compared to heterosexual women, may respond differently to menopause through norms and values surrounding womanhood; (2) midlife and older SM individuals use alcohol and cigarettes more frequently across a typical week than their heterosexual counterparts, though their substance use may not be tied to common triggers (e.g., negative mood, stress); (3) despite bisexual older adults reporting more health problems compared to lesbian and gay counterparts, they are less prepared for health concerns and crises (e.g., reporting a lower number of valid wills); and (4) the prevalence of depression and anxiety varies across age, such that older SM adults—especially women—are particularly vulnerable to psychological health problems. These presentations collectively examine complex issues facing older SM adults while emphasizing individual differences (i.e., women’s concerns, bisexual people’s issues). We discuss challenges in researching this growing at-risk population, and we highlight areas of future research and intervention.

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