Connectivity dynamics and cognitive variability during aging

Abstract

Aging is associated by cognitive changes, with strong variations across individuals. One way to characterize this individual variability is to use techniques such as magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure the dynamics of neural synchronization between brain regions, and the variability of this connectivity over time. Indeed, few studies have focused on fluctuations in the dynamics of brain networks over time and their evolution with age. We therefore characterize aging effects on MEG phase synchrony in healthy young and older adults from the Cam-CAN database. Age-related changes were observed, with an increase in the variability of brain synchronization, as well as a reversal of the direction of information transfer in the default mode network (DMN), in the delta frequency band. These changes in functional connectivity were associated with cognitive decline. Results suggest that advancing age is accompanied by a functional disorganization of dynamic networks, with a loss of communication stability and a decrease in the information transmitted. This could be partly due to the loss of integrity of the network structure.