title: Age- and function-related regional changes in cortical folding of the default mode network in older adults.
abstract: Healthy aging is accompanied by changes in the functional architecture of the default mode network (DMN), e.g. a posterior to anterior shift (PASA) of activations. The putative structural correlate for this functional reorganization, however, is largely unknown. Changes in gyrification, i.e. decreases of cortical folding were found to be a marker of atrophy of the brain in later decades of life. Therefore, the present study assessed local gyrification indices of the DMN in relation to age and cognitive performance in 749 older adults aged 55-85 years. Age-related decreases in local gyrification indices were found in the anterior part of the DMN [particularly; medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)] of the right hemisphere, and the medial posterior parts of the DMN [particularly; posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus] of both hemispheres. Positive correlations between cognitive performance and local gyrification indices were found for (1) selective attention and left PCC/precuneus, (2) visual/visual-spatial working memory and bilateral PCC/precuneus and right angular gyrus (AG), and (3) semantic verbal fluency and right AG and right mPFC. The more pronounced age-related decrease in local gyrification indices of the posterior parts of the DMN supports the functionally motivated PASA theory by correlated structural changes. Surprisingly, the prominent age-related decrease in local gyrification indices in right hemispheric ROIs provides evidence for a structural underpinning of the right hemi-aging hypothesis. Noticeably, the performance-related changes in local gyrification largely involved the same parts of the DMN that were subject to age-related local gyrification decreases. Thus, the present study lends support for a combined structural and functional theory of aging, in that the functional changes in the DMN during aging are accompanied by comparably localized structural alterations.
authors.affiliation: C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.|Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jockwitz
authors.affiliation: C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany. svenja.caspers@hhu.de.|Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany. svenja.caspers@hhu.de.
authors.forename: Svenja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caspers
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lux
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jütten
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schleicher
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.|Institute Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Eickhoff
authors.affiliation: C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.|Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Amunts
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.|JARA-Brain, Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance, Jülich, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zilles
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology
keywords: Aging; Cognition; Default mode network; Gyrification