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Preserved functional connectivity in the default mode and salience networks is associated with youthful memory in superaging

View ORCID ProfileJiahe Zhang, Joseph Andreano, Bradford C. Dickerson, Alexandra Touroutoglou, Lisa Feldman Barrett
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/254193
Jiahe Zhang
aDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115
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Joseph Andreano
bPsychiatric Neuroimaging Division, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
cAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
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Bradford C. Dickerson
cAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
dDepartment of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
eFrontotemporal Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
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Alexandra Touroutoglou
cAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
dDepartment of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
eFrontotemporal Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
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Lisa Feldman Barrett
aDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115
bPsychiatric Neuroimaging Division, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
cAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129
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ABSTRACT

“Superagers” are older adults who, despite their advanced age, maintain youthful memory. Previous morphometry studies revealed multiple default mode network (DMN) and salience network (SN) regions whose cortical thickness is preserved in superagers and correlates with memory performance. In this study, we examined the intrinsic functional connectivity within DMN and SN in 41 young (24.5 ± 3.6 years old) and 40 elderly adults (66.9 ± 5.5 years old). As in prior studies, superaging was defined as youthful performance on a memory recall task, the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). Participants underwent a resting state fMRI scan and performed a separate visual-verbal recognition memory task. As predicted, within both DMN and SN, superagers had stronger connectivity compared to typical older adults and similar connectivity compared to young adults. Superagers also performed similarly to young adults and better than typical older adults on the recognition task, demonstrating youthful episodic memory that generalized across memory tasks. Stronger connectivity within each network independently predicted better performance on both the CVLT and recognition task in older adults. Variation in intrinsic connectivity explained unique variance in memory performance, above and beyond preserved neuroanatomy. A post-hoc analysis revealed that DMN and SN nodes were more strongly inversely correlated in superagers than in typical older adults but were similarly correlated in superagers and young adults. Stronger between-network inverse correlations also predicted better memory performance in the entire sample of older adults. These results extend our understanding of the neural basis of superaging as a model of successful aging.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Memory capacity generally declines with age, but a unique group of older adults – ‘superagers’ – have memory capacities rivaling those of younger adults, as well as preserved neuroanatomy in an ensemble of regions contained in two core intrinsic brain networks – the default mode and salience networks. In this study, we assessed the strength of intrinsic connectivity within these networks in superagers and typical older adults compared to young adults. We also expanded the behavioral assessment of memory. As predicted, superagers have intrinsic connectivity within the default mode and salience networks that is stronger than typical older adults and similar to that of young adults. Within older adults, preserved intrinsic connectivity within each network was uniquely associated with better memory performance.

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  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 29, 2018.
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Preserved functional connectivity in the default mode and salience networks is associated with youthful memory in superaging
Jiahe Zhang, Joseph Andreano, Bradford C. Dickerson, Alexandra Touroutoglou, Lisa Feldman Barrett
bioRxiv 254193; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/254193
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Preserved functional connectivity in the default mode and salience networks is associated with youthful memory in superaging
Jiahe Zhang, Joseph Andreano, Bradford C. Dickerson, Alexandra Touroutoglou, Lisa Feldman Barrett
bioRxiv 254193; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/254193

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