Age effect on functional connectivity changes of right anterior insula after partial sleep deprivation

Neuroimaging studies revealed that emotion and cognition dysfunction after sleep deprivation is associated with the disturbance of the salience network. However, the age effect on the functional connectivity changes of the network after sleep deprivation remains unclear. The current study investigated the functional connectivity changes of the right anterior insula after partial sleep deprivation in young and old adults by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We found a significant age × deprivation interaction effect on the functional connectivity between the right ventral anterior insula and the right ventral lateral prefrontal cortex and between the right dorsal anterior insula and the right anterior temporoparietal junction and left medial prefrontal cortex. Post-hoc analysis indicated that only young adults showed reduced functional connectivity of the right anterior insula. The changes in the functional connectivity between the right anterior insula and the right ventral lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior temporoparietal junction were negatively correlated with the insomnia severity index. Results suggested that sleep deprivation affects the salience network of young and old adults differently and highlighted the crucial role of age in sleep deprivation-related studies.