LinLi Zeqiang, Hu Kang, Guo Qingdong, Guo Shuixia
School of Mathematics and Statistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou 510004, PR China; MOE-LCSM, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, PR China.
School of Information Engineering, Wuhan Business University, Wuhan 430056, PR China; MOE-LCSM, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, PR China.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2025 Jan 10;136:111252. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2025.111252. Epub 2025 Jan 12.
Aging of the human brain involves intricate biological processes, resulting in complex changes in structure and function. While the effects of aging on gray matter (GM) connectivity are extensively studied, white matter (WM) functional changes have received comparatively less attention. This study examines age-related WM functional dynamics using resting-state fMRI across the adult lifespan. We identified GM and WM functional networks (FNs) using k-means clustering. Static and dynamic analyses of WM functional network connectivity (FNC) were performed to explore age effects on WM-FNs and recurrent patterns of dynamic FNC. We identified 9 WM and 12 GM FNs. Age-related effects on WM FNC strength and WM-GM FNC dynamics included linear positive and U-shaped age trajectories in static FNC strength, and linear negative and inverted U-shaped trajectories in FNC temporal variability. Three distinct brain states with significant age-related differences were identified and validated. These findings were largely replicated in the validation analysis. High integration and low temporal variability in WM-GM FNC may indicate reduced adaptability of the network system in older adults, offering insights into brain aging processes.
人类大脑的衰老涉及复杂的生物学过程，导致结构和功能发生复杂变化。虽然衰老对灰质（GM）连接性的影响已得到广泛研究，但白质（WM）功能变化受到的关注相对较少。本研究使用静息态功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究了成年期全生命周期中与年龄相关的白质功能动态变化。我们使用k均值聚类识别了灰质和白质功能网络（FNs）。对白质功能网络连接性（FNC）进行了静态和动态分析，以探讨年龄对白质功能网络的影响以及动态FNC的循环模式。我们识别出9个白质功能网络和12个灰质功能网络。年龄对白质FNC强度和白质-灰质FNC动态的影响包括：静态FNC强度呈线性正相关和U形年龄轨迹，FNC时间变异性呈线性负相关和倒U形轨迹。识别并验证了三种与年龄相关存在显著差异的不同脑状态。这些发现在验证分析中得到了很大程度的重复。白质-灰质FNC中的高整合性和低时间变异性可能表明老年人网络系统的适应性降低，这为大脑衰老过程提供了见解。
