Structural and Functional Brain Connectivity Uniquely Contribute to Episodic Memory Performance in Older Adults
Kylie H Alm1, Anja Soldan2, Corinne Pettigrew2
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
|July 29, 2022
Summary
Structural and functional brain connectivity independently predict episodic memory in older adults. Combining these measures, along with sex, best explains memory performance variations.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Episodic memory declines with age, influenced by brain structural and functional changes.
- Understanding the distinct contributions of brain connectivity to memory variability is crucial for identifying early biomarkers of cognitive aging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the independent and combined contributions of structural and functional brain connectivity to individual differences in episodic memory performance.
- To compare the predictive power of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) markers.
Main Methods:
- 107 cognitively normal older adults underwent DTI and rsfMRI.
- Structural connectivity assessed via radial diffusivity (RD) in the fornix and hippocampal cingulum.
- Functional connectivity analyzed in five large-scale brain networks.
- Hierarchical and stepwise linear regression used to model memory performance, controlling for age, sex, CSF biomarkers, and gray matter volumes.
Main Results:
- Forix RD, hippocampal cingulum RD, and salience network functional connectivity were significant independent predictors of episodic memory.
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and gray matter volumes did not predict memory performance.
- The combined model including sex, fornix RD, hippocampal cingulum RD, and salience network connectivity showed the best predictive value for memory variability.
Conclusions:
- Both structural (DTI) and functional (rsfMRI) connectivity measures uniquely contribute to episodic memory performance in cognitively normal older adults.
- Integrating multiple connectivity markers offers a more comprehensive understanding of individual differences in memory function.
- These findings highlight the potential of multimodal neuroimaging for tracking cognitive aging.
Keywords:
diffusion tensor imagingepisodic memoryindividual differencesmultimodal neuroimagingresting state functional connectivityMore Related Videos
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