title: Strength of Structural and Functional Frontostriatal Connectivity Predicts Self-Control in the Healthy Elderly.
abstract: Self-regulation refers to the successful use of executive functions and initiation of top-down processes to control one's thoughts, behavior, and emotions, and it is crucial to perform self-control. Self-control is needed to overcome impulses and can be assessed by delay of gratification (DoG) and delay discounting (DD) paradigms. In children/adolescents, good DoG/DD ability depends on the maturity of frontostriatal connectivity, and its decline in strength with advancing age might adversely affect self-control because prefrontal brain regions are more prone to normal age-related atrophy than other regions. Here, we aimed at highlighting the relationship between frontostriatal connectivity strength and DoG performance in advanced age. We recruited 40 healthy elderly individuals (mean age 74.0 ± 7.7 years) and assessed the DoG ability using the German version of the DoG test for adults in addition to the delay discounting (DD) paradigm. Based on diffusion-weighted and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data, respectively, the structural and functional whole-brain connectome were reconstructed based on 90 different brain regions of interest in addition to a 12-node frontostriatal DoG-specific network and the resulting connectivity matrices were subjected to network-based statistics. The 90-nodes whole-brain connectome analyses revealed subnetworks significantly associated with DoG and DD with a preponderance of frontostriatal nodes involved suggesting a high specificity of the findings. Structural and functional connectivity strengths between the putamen, caudate nucleus, and nucleus accumbens on the one hand and orbitofrontal, dorsal, and ventral lateral prefrontal cortices on the other hand showed strong positive correlations with DoG and negative correlations with DD corrected for age, sex, intracranial volume, and head motion parameters. These associations cannot be explained by differences in impulsivity and executive functioning. This pattern of correlations between structural or functional frontostriatal connectivity strength and self-control suggests that, in addition to the importance of the frontostriatal nodes itself, the structural and functional properties of different connections within the frontostriatal network are crucial for self-controlled behaviors in the healthy elderly. Because high DoG/low DD is a significant predictor of willpower and wellbeing in the elderly population, interventions aiming at strengthening frontostriatal connectivity to strengthen self-controlled behavior are needed in the future.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hänggi
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lohrey
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychopathology and Clinical Intervention, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Drobetz
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hansruedi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baetschmann
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychopathology and Clinical Intervention, Department of Psychology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; Developmental Psychology, Department of Education Studies and Psychology, University of SiegenSiegen, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Forstmeier
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychopathology and Clinical Intervention, Department of Psychology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; University Research Priority Program (UFSP), Dynamic of Healthy Aging, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maercker
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; University Research Priority Program (UFSP), Dynamic of Healthy Aging, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; International Normal Aging and Plasticity Imaging Center, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jäncke
keywords: caudate and accumbens; delay of gratification and delay discounting; diffusion tensor imaging; dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex; healthy aging and wellbeing; putamen; resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging