Habota, Tina

McIntosh, Andrew M.

McNeil, Christopher John

Murray, Alison Dorothy

Sandu-Giuraniuc, Anca-Larisa

Waiter, Gordon David

English

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Relationship between IQ at different ages and functional brain connectivity in healthy ageingAnca-Larisa Sandu1*, Gordon D Waiter1, Tina Habota1, Chris J McNeil1, Andrew M McIntosh2, Alison D Murray1 1Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK2Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK *Corresponding author (anca.sandu-giuraniuc@abdn.ac.uk)INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODSCONCLUSIONThe authors would like to thank to the participants from the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s Cohort for their voluntary contribution to the STRADL project (Stratifying Resilience & Depression Longitudinally). The present study is funded by the Wellcome Trust through a strategic award (104036/Z/14/Z).ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Participants (249) are a subset of the Aberdeen Children of the Nineteen Fifties cohort. The childhood cognitive scores (local school examination age 11) and a battery of cognitive tests age 60-65 were used. MRI included a volumetric scan (TR/TE=8.3/3.8ms; Matrix= 240x240; n slices=160; thickness=1mm) and resting state fMRI (TR=1560ms, TE=26ms, 32 transverse slices, matrix=64x64, pixel size=3.39x3.39mm2, slice thickness=4.5mm, volumes=195).  Data were analysed using functional connectivity toolbox CONN v17. Functional connectivity ROI-to-ROI analyses were used to assess the networks associated with an IQ-like score at age 11 and at the current age (60-65). The target ROIs are selected from FSL Harvard Oxford and AAL (cerebellar areas only) atlases. The results were thresholded at FDR-corrected p<.05 for a one-sided (positive) inference.                                                         [1] Mustafa N, Ahearn TS, Waiter GD, Murray AD, Whalley LJ, Staff RT. Brain structural complexity and life course cognitive change. NeuroImage2012, 61(3):694-701.[2] Cao W, Cao X, Hou C, Li T, Cheng Y, Jiang L, Luo C, Li C, Yao D. Effects of Cognitive Training on Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Default Mode, Salience, and Central Executive Networks. Front Aging Neurosci. 2016, 8(70). [3] Olde Dubbelink KT, Schoonheim MM, Deijen JB, Twisk JW, Barkhof F, Berendse HW. Functional connectivity and cognitive decline over 3 years in Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2014, 83(22):2046-53.[4] Serra L, Mancini M, Cercignani M, Di Domenico C, Spanò B, Giulietti G, Koch G, Marra C, Bozzali M. Network-Based Substrate of Cognitive reserve in Alzheimer’s Disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2017, 55(1):421-430.[5] Wallis G, Stokes M, Cousijn H, Woolrich M, Nobre AC. Frontoparietal and Cingulo-opercular Networks play dissociable roles in control of working memory J Cogn Neurosci. 2015, 27(10):2019-34.REFERENCES Assessing the effect of each cognitive test in childhood and later on in late-midlife on the functional brain connectivity from a late-midlife scan, we found that there are differences between ages. The strength of and many of the connections are lost with age. This might be interpreted through an obtained “efficiency“ for a specific task in term of the connections and might be the effect of life experience (practice). The loss of connections can be attributed to ageing process too. Extracting the main features of these cognitive tests from childhood and late-midlife in an IQ-like score we found that their effects on connectivity are similar, suggesting sustained networks linked to IQ throughout life. MATERIALS AND METHODSRESULTS Cognitive abilities are supported by specific functional brain connectivity.  Fluid intelligence increases during childhood, reaching a maximum in midlife, followed by slow decline, which typically accelerates from late-midlife into old age.[1] It has been shown that ageing can disrupt certain higher cognitive systems such as the default mode network, the salience network and the central executive network.[2] Functional connectivity changes were most prominent for posterior parts of the brain and correlated across time with decreasing cognitive performance.[3] We sought to investigate whether childhood (11y) and late-midlife (60-65y) cognitive ability was associated with functional brain connectivity in late-midlife. Based on previous evidence, we hypothesised that fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks might be involved.[4,5]  Is resting state functional connectivity a biomarker of cognitive reserve and predicts age-related cognitive decline? Verbal reasoning tests at age 11 are correlated  with the strength of many connections seen in a late-midlife scan. These are spread over the whole brain. Effect of IQ-like score (extracted from the above tests) at age 11 on connectivity in late-midlifeEffect of cognitive scores at age 11 on brain connectivity in late-midlifeEffect of IQ-like score (extracted from the below tests) at age 60-65 on connectivity at the same age (late-midlife)Effect of cognitive scores at age 60-65 on connectivity at the same age (late-midlife)Verbal fluency Mill Hill Vocabulary Logical memory 1 Logical memory 2 (30 min delay)Digit Symbol Matrix reasoningVerbal reasoning 1 Verbal reasoning 2 English Test  Arithmetic TestThe correlations between verbal fluency and the strength of connections in late-midlife involve less connections. The network is better represented in the left hemisphere.Mill Hill vocabulary is impressive trough the strength of connections and interhemispheric links. The IQ-like score was extracted using principal component analysis. The effects of these IQs at age 11 and at age 60-65 on functional connectivity acquired in late-midlife describe the networks shown in figures.  The patterns of cingulo-opercular, cerebelar and fronto-parietal  connections are similar for both ages.The second logical memory test administrated 30 min later than the first one shows clear by how a few connections have been lost .

Relationship between IQ at different ages and functional brain connectivity in healthy elders

https://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11290/1/poster_SINAPSE_2017_AncaSandu.pdf

Relationship between IQ at different ages and functional brain connectivity in healthy elders

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