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Alterations to task positive and task negative networks during executive functioning in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Rebecca J Melrose1, Amy M Jimenez1, Hannah Riskin-Jones2
1Brain, Behavior & Aging Research Center, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System Building 158, Room 167, 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA; Dept. of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 300 Medical Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Neuroimage. Clinical
|July 14, 2018
Summary
Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) show altered brain activity during working memory tasks. These changes in neural circuitry, particularly in frontoparietal regions and the default mode network (DMN), may be compensatory.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Gerontology
Background:
- Executive functioning is crucial for cognitive health and its decline is a risk factor for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
- Executive functioning can be understood through working memory, which includes information maintenance and manipulation by the central executive.
- Understanding the neural basis of working memory deficits in MCI is vital for early detection and intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural correlates of distinct working memory components in amnestic MCI.
- To compare brain activation patterns during maintenance working memory and visuospatial reasoning tasks between MCI patients and elderly controls (EC).
- To identify the neural basis of the central executive function in MCI.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess brain activity.
- Twenty-five patients with amnestic MCI and 19 elderly controls (EC) performed maintenance working memory and visuospatial reasoning tasks.
- Analysis focused on activation in task-positive networks and the default mode network (DMN).
Main Results:
- In MCI, maintenance working memory showed reduced activation in right frontoparietal regions and increased activation in the left prefrontal cortex, with altered DMN activity compared to EC.
- During reasoning, MCI patients exhibited hypoactivation in parietal regions and modified DMN activity (attenuated anterior, increased posterior deactivation).
- The central executive function in MCI was characterized by hypoactivation in the right parietal lobe and increased posterior DMN deactivation relative to EC.
Conclusions:
- MCI patients display distinct neural circuitry during visuospatial reasoning and working memory tasks compared to elderly controls.
- Observed alterations in frontoparietal networks and DMN deactivation patterns in MCI may represent compensatory mechanisms.
- These findings highlight the complex neural adaptations occurring in MCI affecting executive functions.
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