Changes in the Functional and Structural Default Mode Network Across the Adult Lifespan Based on Partial Least Squares

Xiaoyu Zhao; Li Yao; Kewei Chen; Ke Li; Jiacai Zhang; Xiaojuan Guo

doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2923274

IEEE Access (Jan 2019)

Changes in the Functional and Structural Default Mode Network Across the Adult Lifespan Based on Partial Least Squares

Xiaoyu Zhao,
Li Yao,
Kewei Chen,
Ke Li,
Jiacai Zhang,
Xiaojuan Guo

Affiliations

Xiaoyu Zhao: College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Li Yao: College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Kewei Chen: Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Ke Li: Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Beijing 306 Hospital, Beijing, China
Jiacai Zhang: ORCiD; College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Xiaojuan Guo: ORCiD; College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2923274
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 7
pp. 82256 – 82265

Abstract

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The default mode network (DMN) has been extensively investigated in the literature. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the age-related changes in the DMN between old and young participants. Age-dependent changes in specific regions within the DMN have not been adequately explored across the entire adult lifespan. Thus, in this paper, we performed a seed partial least squares (PLS) analysis to investigate the lifespan-wide changes in the regions of the functional and structural DMNs using the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from healthy subjects aged 16-85 years. The posterior cingulate area was selected as the seed region based on prior fMRI studies. The single-group functional connectivity analysis showed a stable connection between the seed and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and inferior temporal gyrus (ITG); a decreased connection between the seed and the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and superior frontal gyrus (SFG); and an increased connection between the seed and the precuneus (PreC), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and middle frontal gyrus (MFG) across the entire lifespan. In contrast, in the single-group structural covariance analysis, the covariance connections of the seed to the DMN regions demonstrated a stable covariance trend to the PCC, MTG, superior temporal gyrus (STG), and ITG; an inverted U-shaped covariance trend to the MPFC, ACC, SFG, MFG, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG); and a U-shaped covariance trend to the PreC with age. Full-group analyses found significant linear decreases in functional and structural DMN integrity. Our findings provide crucial information regarding the influence of age on the function and structure of the DMN and may contribute to the understanding of the underlying mechanism of the age-related changes in the DMN over the lifespan.

Published in IEEE Access

ISSN: 2169-3536 (Online)
Publisher: IEEE
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering
Website: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6287639

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