Disturbances of thalamus and prefrontal cortex contribute to cognitive aging: A structure-function coupling analysis based on KL divergence.

Weifang Cao, Jinpeng Niu, Yong Liang, Dong Cui, Qing Jiao, Zhen Ouyang, Guanghui Yu, Li Dong, Cheng Luo

School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; Institute of Electronic and Information Engineering of Guangdong, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Dongguan 523000, China; School of Radiology, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Tai'an 271016, China.School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; Institute of Electronic and Information Engineering of Guangdong, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Dongguan 523000, China; School of Radiology, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Tai'an 271016, China. · pubmed

Paper

Abstract

Normal aging is accompanied by changes in brain structure and function associated with cognitive decline. Structural and functional abnormalities, particularly the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and subcortical regions, contributed to cognitive aging. However, it remains unclear how the synchronized changes in structure and function of individual brain regions affect the cognition in aging. Using 3D T1-weighted structural data and movie watching functional magnetic resonance imaging data in a sample of 422 healthy individuals (ages from 18 to 87 years), we constructed regional structure-function coupling (SFC) of cortical and subcortical regions by quantifying the distribution similarity of gray matter volume (GMV) and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF). Further, we investigated age-related changes in SFC and its relationship with cognition. With aging, increased SFC localized in PFC, thalamus and caudate nucleus, decreased SFC in temporal cortex, lateral occipital cortex and putamen. Moreover, the SFC in the PFC was associated with executive function and thalamus was associated with the fluid intelligence, and partially mediated age-related cognitive decline. Collectively, our results highlight that tighter structure-function synchron of the PFC and thalamus might contribute to age-related cognitive decline, and provide insight into the substrate of the thalamo-prefrontal pathway with cognitive aging.

The following analysis is generated by AI and may contain errors. It is separate from the authors’ abstract and is not peer review.

Research summary

The paper investigates the structural and functional changes in the brain associated with cognitive aging, specifically focusing on the thalamus and prefrontal cortex. While it addresses mechanisms related to cognitive decline in aging, it does not directly tackle the root causes of aging or propose interventions for lifespan extension. The findings contribute to understanding cognitive aging but are more incremental in nature rather than groundbreaking, hence the moderate impact score.

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