title: Decreased resting-state connections within the visuospatial attention-related network in advanced aging.
abstract: Advanced aging is accompanied by a decline in visuospatial attention. Previous neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies have demonstrated dysfunction in specific brain areas related to visuospatial attention. However, it is still unclear how the functional connectivity between brain regions causes the decline of visuospatial attention. Here, we combined task and rest functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the age-dependent alterations of resting-state functional connectivity within the task-related network. Twenty-three young subjects and nineteen elderly subjects participated in this study, and a modified Posner paradigm was used to define the region of interest (ROI). Our results showed that a marked reduction in the number of connections occurred with age, but this effect was not uniform throughout the brain: while there was a significant loss of communication in the anterior portion of the brain and between the anterior and posterior cerebral cortices, communication in the posterior portion of the brain was preserved. Moreover, the older adults exhibited weakened resting-state functional connectivity between the supplementary motor area and left anterior insular cortex. These findings suggest that, the disrupted functional connectivity of the brain network for visuospatial attention that occurs during normal aging may underlie the decline in cognitive performance.
authors: Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430079, China; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China; Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Japan.
authors: Yujie
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, You An Men, Beijing, China.
authors: Chunlin
authors: C
authors: Li
authors: Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Japan.
authors: Qiong
authors: Q
authors: Wu
authors: Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Japan.
authors: Zhihan
authors: Z
authors: Xu
authors: Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Science, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
authors: Tomoko
authors: T
authors: Kurata
authors: Central Division of Radiology, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan.
authors: Seiichiro
authors: S
authors: Ohno
authors: Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
authors: Susumu
authors: S
authors: Kanazawa
authors: Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Science, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Abe
authors: Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronics Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China; Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Japan. Electronic address: wu@mech.okayama-u.ac.jp.
authors: Jinglong
authors: J
authors: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001284:Atrophy; D001288:Attention; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012146:Rest; D013028:Space Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aging effect; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); Posner task; Resting-state; Visual-spatial attention