Age differences of multivariate network expressions during task-switching and their associations with behavior

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Aging
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Task-switching is a fundamental cognitive process.
• Aging can impact cognitive functions and underlying neural networks.
• Understanding age-related changes in brain activation during task-switching is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify shared and age-specific functional brain networks during task-switching.
• To investigate the relationship between these networks and behavioral performance (reaction time and accuracy) in young and older adults.
• To elucidate the neural mechanisms of cognitive aging in task-switching.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to measure brain activity.
• Ordinal trend covariance analysis was used to identify task-related networks.
• Participants included young (mean age 25.2) and older adults (mean age 65.2).

Main Results:

• Two task-related networks were identified: a shared network and a young-adult-specific network.
• The shared network, involving regions like the middle frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate, correlated with reaction time in both age groups.
• Older adults showed reduced activation in the young-specific network with increased task demand, and this network's expression correlated with accuracy only in young adults.

Conclusions:

• A neural network supporting reaction time during task-switching is largely preserved in older adults.
• A distinct network associated with accuracy appears disrupted with aging.
• These findings highlight age-related dissociations in the neural underpinnings of task-switching performance.