College of Information and Computer, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, China.
The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
Brain Behav. 2020 Jul;10(7):e01652. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1652. Epub 2020 May 27.
As aging attracted attention globally, revealing changes in brain function across the lifespan was largely concerned. In this study, we aimed to reveal the changes of functional networks of the brain (via local functional connectivity, local FC) in lifespan and explore the mechanism underlying them.
A total of 523 healthy participants (258 males and 265 females) aged 18-88 years from part of the Cambridge Center for Ageing and Neuroscience (CamCAN) were involved in this study. Next, two data-driven measures of local FC, local functional connectivity density (lFCD) and four-dimensional spatial-temporal consistency of local neural activity (FOCA), were calculated, and then, general linear models were used to assess the changes of them in lifespan.
Local functional connectivity (lFCD and FOCA) within visual networks (VN), sensorimotor network (SMN), and default mode network (DMN) decreased across the lifespan, while within basal ganglia network (BGN), local connectivity was increased across the lifespan. And, the fluid intelligence decreased within BGN while increased within VN, SMN, and DMN.
These results might suggest that the decline of executive control and intrinsic cognitive ability in the aging population was related to the decline of functional connectivity in VN, SMN, and DMN. Meanwhile, BGN might play a regulatory role in the aging process to compensate for the dysfunction of other functional systems. Our findings may provide important neuroimaging evidence for exploring the brain functional mechanism in lifespan.
随着老龄化问题在全球范围内受到关注，人们越来越关注大脑功能在整个生命周期中的变化。在这项研究中，我们旨在揭示大脑功能网络（通过局部功能连接，局部 FC）在整个生命周期中的变化，并探讨其背后的机制。
本研究共纳入了来自剑桥衰老与神经科学中心（CamCAN）部分参与者的 523 名健康成年人（男性 258 名，女性 265 名），年龄在 18-88 岁之间。接下来，我们计算了两种数据驱动的局部功能连接测量方法，即局部功能连接密度（lFCD）和局部神经活动的四维时空一致性（FOCA），然后使用一般线性模型评估了它们在整个生命周期中的变化。
视觉网络（VN）、感觉运动网络（SMN）和默认模式网络（DMN）中的局部功能连接（lFCD 和 FOCA）随着年龄的增长而降低，而基底节网络（BGN）中的局部连接随着年龄的增长而增加。此外，流体智力在 BGN 中降低，而在 VN、SMN 和 DMN 中增加。
这些结果可能表明，执行控制和内在认知能力的下降与 VN、SMN 和 DMN 中功能连接的下降有关。同时，BGN 可能在衰老过程中发挥调节作用，以补偿其他功能系统的功能障碍。我们的发现可能为探索大脑功能机制提供重要的神经影像学证据。
