Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.
Neurobiol Aging. 2021 Aug;104:92-101. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.04.002. Epub 2021 Apr 20.
Enriching early life experiences (e.g., sport, art, music, volunteering, language learning) during a critical period of brain development may promote structural and functional brain changes that are still present decades later (>60 years). We assessed whether a greater variety of enriching early life activities (EELA) before age 13 years were associated with individual differences in cortical and subcortical (hippocampus and amygdala) structure and function later in life (older adults aged 60-80 years). Results indicated no association between EELA and amygdala and hippocampus volumes, but higher functional connectivity between the amygdala and the insula was associated with more variety of EELA. EELA was not associated with cortical thickness controlling for sex, but sex-specific associations with the right pars opercularis were found. EELA was further associated with variations in functional connectivity patterns of the orbitofrontal cortex, driven by connecitivty to regions within the visual, somatosensory and limbic networks. Early life enriching activities appear to contribute to potential mechanisms of cognitive reserve (functional processes) more so than brain reserve (structure) later in life.
在大脑发育的关键时期丰富早期生活经历（例如运动、艺术、音乐、志愿活动、学习语言），可能会促进结构和功能上的大脑变化，这些变化在几十年后仍然存在（>60 岁）。我们评估了在 13 岁之前进行更多种类的丰富早期生活活动（EELA）是否与皮质和皮质下（海马体和杏仁核）结构和功能的个体差异相关，这些差异存在于晚年（60-80 岁的老年人）。结果表明，EELA 与杏仁核和海马体体积之间没有关联，但杏仁核和脑岛之间的功能连接性越高，EELA 的种类就越多。EELA 与皮质厚度无关，但在控制性别后，发现右额下回与性别存在特定关联。EELA 还与眶额皮层的功能连接模式的变化相关，这是由与视觉、躯体感觉和边缘网络内区域的连接驱动的。在晚年，早期生活中的丰富活动似乎更多地与认知储备（功能过程）的潜在机制有关，而不是与大脑储备（结构）有关。
