Relationship between neural functional connectivity and memory performance in age-related macular degeneration.
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2020-11
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Abstract
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has been linked to memory deficits, with no established neural mechanisms. We collected resting-state brain functional magnetic resonance imaging and standardized verbal recall tests from 42 older adults with AMD and 41 age-matched controls. We used seed-based whole brain analysis to quantify the strength of functional connectivity between hubs of the default mode network and a network of medial temporal regions relevant for memory. Our results indicated neither memory performance nor network connectivity differed by AMD status. However, the AMD participants exhibited stronger relationships than the controls between memory performance and connectivity from the memory network hub (left parahippocampal) to 2 other regions: the left temporal pole and the right superior/middle frontal gyri. Also, the connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex of default mode network correlated more strongly with memory performance in AMD compared to control. We concluded that stronger brain-behavior correlation in AMD may suggest a role for region-specific connectivity in supporting memory in the context of AMD.
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Zuo, Xintong, Jie Zhuang, Nan-Kuei Chen, Scott Cousins, Priscila Cunha, Eleonora M Lad, David J Madden, Guy Potter, et al. (2020). Relationship between neural functional connectivity and memory performance in age-related macular degeneration. Neurobiology of aging, 95. pp. 176–185. 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.07.020 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/22531.
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David Joseph Madden
My research focuses primarily on the cognitive neuroscience of aging: the investigation of age-related changes in perception, attention, and memory, using both behavioral measures and neuroimaging techniques, including positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
The behavioral measures have focused on reaction time, with the goal of distinguishing age-related changes in specific cognitive abilities from more general effects arising from a slowing in elementary perceptual processes. The cognitive abilities of interest include selective attention as measured in visual search tasks, semantic and episodic memory retrieval, and executive control processes.
The behavioral measures are necessary to define the cognitive abilities of interest, and the neuroimaging techniques help define the functional neuroanatomy of those abilities. The PET and fMRI measures provide information regarding neural activity during cognitive performance. DTI is a recently developed technique that images the structural integrity of white matter. The white matter tracts of the brain provide critical pathways linking the gray matter regions, and thus this work will complement the studies using PET and fMRI that focus on gray matter activation.
A current focus of the research program is the functional connectivity among regions, not only during cognitive task performance but also during rest. These latter measures, referred to as intrinsic functional connectivity, are beginning to show promise as an index of overall brain functional efficiency, which can be assessed without the implementation of a specific cognitive task. From DTI, information can be obtained regarding how anatomical connectivity constrains intrinsic functional connectivity. It will be important to determine the relative influence of white matter pathway integrity, intrinsic functional connectivity, and task-related functional connectivity, as mediators of age-related differences in behavioral measures of cognitive performance.
Ultimately, the research program can help link age-related changes in cognitive performance to changes in the structure and function of specific neural systems. The results also have implications for clinical translation, in terms of the identification of neural biomarkers for the diagnosis of neural pathology and targeting rehabilitation procedures.
Guy Glenn Potter
Heather Elizabeth Whitson
Dr. Whitson is a geriatrician, memory care specialist, and clinical researcher. Her career is focused on improving care options and resilience for people with multiple chronic conditions. In particular, she has interest and expertise related to how aging biology and comorbidities impact brain health and risk for Alzheimer's disease. She is co-director of the Duke/UNC Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (Duke/UNC ADRC), which aims to transform dementia care and research in Eastern North Carolina while developing novel preventions and treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease by identifying aging-related factors across the lifespan that drive risk, progression, or experience of dementia. The Duke/UNC ADRC conducts the Memory and Aging Study, which is tracking brain and cognitive changes in over 400 individuals at risk for dementia in later life. Dr. Whitson also co-Chairs the Alzheimer's Association's Clinical Practice Guideline panel for the use of blood-based biomarkers in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. As a thought leader in a national collaborative focused on the biomedical aspects of resilience, Dr. Whitson seeks to better understand biological, psychological, and contextual factors that determine how well we "bounce back" after acute health stressors and why our resilience capacity changes with age. Dr. Whitson has contributed to work examining resilience to many types of health stressors, including surgery, dialysis, infection, vascular events, and vision loss - often focused on how these stressors affect the brain. She has led multiple studies to examine how the aging brain responds to the late-life stressor of vision loss, and she has developed a rehabilitation model to improve independence in older adults living with comorbid impairments in vision and cognition.
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