Dominguez Elena Nicole, Stark Shauna M, Ren Yueqi, Corrada Maria M, Kawas Claudia H, Stark Craig E L
Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States.
Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology Graduate Program, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2021 Nov 4;13:751375. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.751375. eCollection 2021.
While aging is typically associated with cognitive decline, some individuals are able to diverge from the characteristic downward slope and maintain very high levels of cognitive performance. Prior studies have found that cortical thickness in the cingulate cortex, a region involved in information processing, memory, and attention, distinguish those with exceptional cognitive abilities when compared to their cognitively more typical elderly peers. Others major areas outside of the cingulate, such as the prefrontal cortex and insula, are also key in successful aging well into late age, suggesting that structural properties across a wide range of areas may better explain differences in cognitive abilities. Here, we aim to assess the role of regional cortical thickness, both in the cingulate and the whole brain, in modeling Top Cognitive Performance (TCP), measured by performance in the top 50th percentile of memory and executive function. Using data from National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center and The 90 + Study, we examined healthy subjects aged 70-100 years old. We found that, while thickness in cingulate regions can model TCP status with some degree of accuracy, a whole-brain, network-level approach out-performed the localist, cingulate models. These findings suggests a need for more network-style approaches and furthers our understanding of neurobiological factors contributing to preserved cognition.
虽然衰老通常与认知能力下降有关,但一些人能够偏离这种典型的下降趋势,保持非常高的认知表现水平。先前的研究发现,扣带回皮质的皮质厚度,这是一个参与信息处理、记忆和注意力的区域,与认知能力更典型的老年同龄人相比,能区分出具有超常认知能力的人。扣带回之外的其他主要区域,如前额叶皮质和脑岛,对于成功地衰老至高龄也很关键,这表明广泛区域的结构特性可能更好地解释认知能力的差异。在这里,我们旨在评估扣带回和全脑区域皮质厚度在模拟顶级认知表现(TCP)中的作用,TCP通过记忆和执行功能前50%的表现来衡量。使用来自国家阿尔茨海默病协调中心和90 +研究的数据,我们研究了70 - 100岁的健康受试者。我们发现,虽然扣带回区域的厚度可以在一定程度上准确模拟TCP状态,但全脑网络水平的方法优于局部的扣带回模型。这些发现表明需要更多的网络式方法,并进一步加深我们对有助于保持认知的神经生物学因素的理解。