Data from: Adaptation of brain functional and structural networks in aging

The human brain, especially the prefrontal cortex (PFC), is functionally and anatomically reorganized in order to adapt to neuronal challenges in aging. This study employed structural MRI, resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI), and examined the functional and structural reorganization of the PFC in aging using a Chinese sample of 173 subjects aged from 21 years and above. We found age-related increases in the structural connectivity between the PFC and posterior brain regions. Such findings were partially mediated by age-related increases in the structural connectivity of the occipital lobe within the posterior brain. Based on our findings, it is thought that the PFC reorganization in aging could be partly due to the adaptation to age-related changes in the structural reorganization of the posterior brain. This thus supports the idea derived from task-based fMRI that the PFC reorganization in aging may be adapted to the need of compensation for resolving less distinctive stimulus information from the posterior brain regions. In addition, we found that the structural connectivity of the PFC with the temporal lobe was fully mediated by the temporal cortical thickness, suggesting that the brain morphology plays an important role in the functional and structural reorganization with aging.

人类大脑，尤其是前额叶皮层（prefrontal cortex, PFC），为适应衰老过程中的神经元挑战，会发生功能与解剖结构上的重塑。本研究采用了结构磁共振成像（structural MRI）、静息态功能磁共振成像（resting-state fMRI, rs-fMRI）以及高角分辨率扩散成像（high angular resolution diffusion imaging, HARDI）技术，以173名21岁及以上的中国受试者为研究样本，探究了衰老状态下前额叶皮层的功能与结构重塑情况。研究发现，前额叶皮层与大脑后部区域之间的结构连接随年龄增长显著增强。该现象部分由大脑后部枕叶的结构连接随年龄增长所介导。基于上述发现，我们认为衰老过程中的前额叶皮层重塑，部分可归因于对大脑后部结构重塑相关年龄相关变化的适应。这一结果支持了基于任务态功能磁共振成像（task-based fMRI）提出的假说：衰老过程中的前额叶皮层重塑，或为适应补偿需求，以处理来自大脑后部区域的辨识度较低的刺激信息。此外，我们发现前额叶皮层与颞叶的结构连接完全由颞叶皮层厚度所介导，这表明大脑形态学特征在衰老相关的功能与结构重塑中发挥着重要作用。