Right-lateralized fronto-parietal network and phasic alertness in healthy aging

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Aging Research

Background:

• Phasic alerting cues enhance brain arousal and improve visual processing speed.
• This benefit is observed in both younger and older adults.
• The neural underpinnings of how older adults utilize these cues are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) and the ability of older adults to benefit from phasic alerting cues.
• To determine if age-related differences exist in the association between neural connectivity and phasic alerting effects.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from 31 healthy older adults.
• Independent component analysis and dual regression were used to assess iFC in the cingulo-opercular and right fronto-parietal networks.
• Voxel-wise multiple regression analyzed the link between iFC and visual processing speed improvements from alerting cues.

Main Results:

• Higher phasic alerting effects on visual processing speed in older adults correlated with lower iFC in the right fronto-parietal network.
• The association between phasic alerting and cingulo-opercular network iFC was significantly weaker in older adults compared to younger adults.

Conclusions:

• Lower right fronto-parietal network iFC may support the ability to benefit from phasic alerting in aging.
• Age-related differences in cingulo-opercular network connectivity influence how individuals utilize phasic alerting cues.