Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158.
Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610.
eNeuro. 2023 Feb 24;10(2). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0329-22.2023. Print 2023 Feb.
Age-related cognitive decline is related to cellular and systems-level disruptions across multiple brain regions. Because age-related cellular changes within different structures do not show the same patterns of dysfunction, interventions aimed at optimizing function of large-scale brain networks may show greater efficacy at improving cognitive outcomes in older adults than traditional pharmacotherapies. The current study aimed to leverage a preclinical rat model of aging to determine whether cognitive training in young and aged male rats with a computerized paired-associates learning (PAL) task resulted in changes in global resting-state functional connectivity. Moreover, seed-based functional connectivity was used to examine resting state connectivity of cortical areas involved in object-location associative memory and vulnerable in old age, namely the medial temporal lobe (MTL; hippocampal cortex and perirhinal cortex), retrosplenial cortex (RSC), and frontal cortical areas (prelimbic and infralimbic cortices). There was an age-related increase in global functional connectivity between baseline and post-training resting state scans in aged, cognitively trained rats. This change in connectivity following cognitive training was not observed in young animals, or rats that traversed a track for a reward between scan sessions. Relatedly, an increase in connectivity between perirhinal and prelimbic cortices, as well as reduced reciprocal connectivity within the RSC, was found in aged rats that underwent cognitive training, but not the other groups. Subnetwork activation was associated with task performance across age groups. Greater global functional connectivity and connectivity between task-relevant brain regions may elucidate compensatory mechanisms that can be engaged by cognitive training.
与多个大脑区域的细胞和系统水平破坏有关的与年龄相关的认知能力下降。由于不同结构内与年龄相关的细胞变化没有表现出相同的功能障碍模式,因此旨在优化大规模大脑网络功能的干预措施可能比传统的药物治疗更能提高老年人的认知结果。本研究旨在利用衰老的临床前大鼠模型来确定在使用计算机化配对联想学习(PAL)任务对年轻和老年雄性大鼠进行认知训练是否会导致全局静息状态功能连接发生变化。此外,基于种子的功能连接用于检查与物体位置联想记忆相关且在老年时易受影响的皮质区域的静息状态连接,即内侧颞叶(MTL;海马皮质和旁海马皮质)、后扣带皮层(RSC)和额皮质区域(边缘前皮质和边缘下皮质)。在认知训练后的老年大鼠中,基线和训练后静息状态扫描之间的全局功能连接随年龄增长而增加。在年轻动物或在扫描期间穿越奖励轨道的大鼠中未观察到这种认知训练后的连接变化。相关地,在接受认知训练的老年大鼠中发现了旁海马和边缘前皮质之间的连接增加,以及 RSC 内的相互连接减少,但在其他组中则没有。子网络激活与年龄组的任务表现相关。更大的全局功能连接和与任务相关的大脑区域之间的连接可能阐明认知训练可以利用的代偿机制。