Resting-State Functional Connectivity Dynamics in Healthy Aging: An Approach Through Network Change Point Detection

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Network Science
• Aging Research

Background:

• Brain functional connectivity (FC) dynamics are crucial for cognitive function.
• Understanding how aging affects these dynamic brain processes is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of age on short-term temporal dynamics of whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) networks.
• To investigate the association between participant age and changes in network topological properties.

Main Methods:

• Utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 114 healthy individuals.
• Applied the Network Change Point Detection algorithm to identify dynamic changes in FC networks.
• Analyzed topological properties (strength, transitivity, path length, small-worldness) using mixed-effects models.

Main Results:

• Identified statistically significant relationships between age and FC network dynamics.
• Observed regular patterns of change in brain networks during rs-fMRI.
• Found that these dynamic changes are related to the age of the studied individuals.

Conclusions:

• Healthy aging is characterized by specific patterns in brain functional connectivity dynamics.
• Age significantly impacts the temporal evolution of brain network topology.