Brain Networks in Aging: Reorganization and Modulation by Interventions

Brain Networks in Aging: Reorganization and Modulation by Interventions

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  • Author: Junfeng Sun
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
  • ISBN: 2889454169
  • Category :
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 170

Old adults undertake multiple reduced cognitive abilities in aging, which are accompanied with specific brain reorganization in forms of regional brain activity and brain tissues, inter-region connectivity, and topology of whole brain networks in both function and structure. The plasticity changes of brain activities in old adults are explained by the mechanisms of compensation and dedifferentiation. For example, older adults have been observed to have greater, usually bilateral, prefrontal activities during memory tasks compared to the typical unilateral prefrontal activities in younger adults, which was explained as a compensation for the reduced brain activities in visual processing cortices. Dedifferentiation is another mechanism to explain that old adults are with much less selective and less distinct activity in task-relevant brain regions compared with younger adults. A larger number of studies have examined the plasticity changes of brain from the perspective of regional brain activities. However, studies on only regional brain activities cannot fully elucidate the neural mechanisms of reduced cognitive abilities in aging, as multiple regions are integrated together to achieve advanced cognitive function in human brain. In recent years, brain connectivity/network, which targets how brain regions are integrated, have drawn increasing attention in neuroscience with the development of neuroimaging techniques and graph theoretical analysis. Connectivity quantifies functional association or neural fibers between two regions that may be spatially far separated, and graph theoretical analysis of brain network examines the complex interactions among multiple regions from the perspective of topology. Studies showed that compared to younger adults, older adults had altered strength of task-relevant functional connectivity between specific brain regions in cognitive tasks, and the alternation of connectivity are correlated to behavior performance. For example, older adults had weaker functional connectivity between the premotor cortex and a region in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in a working memory task. Interventions like cognitive training and neuro-modulation (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation) have been shown to be promising in regaining or retaining the decreasing cognitive abilities in aging. However, only few neuroimaging studies have examined the influence of interventions to old adult’s brain activity, connectivity, and cognitive performance. This Research Topic calls for contributions on brain network of subjects in normal aging or with age-related diseases like mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. The studies are expected to be based on neuroimaging techniques including but not limited to functional magnetic resonance imaging, Electroencephalography, and diffusion tensor imaging, and contributions on the influence of interventions to brain networks in aging are highly encouraged. All these studies would enrich our understanding of neural mechanisms underlying aging, and offer new insights for developing possible interventions to retain cognitive abilities in aging subjects.


Brain Networks in Aging: Reorganization and Modulation by Interventions

Brain Networks in Aging: Reorganization and Modulation by Interventions

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  • Author:
  • Publisher:
  • ISBN:
  • Category :
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 0

Old adults undertake multiple reduced cognitive abilities in aging, which are accompanied with specific brain reorganization in forms of regional brain activity and brain tissues, inter-region connectivity, and topology of whole brain networks in both function and structure. The plasticity changes of brain activities in old adults are explained by the mechanisms of compensation and dedifferentiation. For example, older adults have been observed to have greater, usually bilateral, prefrontal activities during memory tasks compared to the typical unilateral prefrontal activities in younger adults, which was explained as a compensation for the reduced brain activities in visual processing cortices. Dedifferentiation is another mechanism to explain that old adults are with much less selective and less distinct activity in task-relevant brain regions compared with younger adults. A larger number of studies have examined the plasticity changes of brain from the perspective of regional brain activities. However, studies on only regional brain activities cannot fully elucidate the neural mechanisms of reduced cognitive abilities in aging, as multiple regions are integrated together to achieve advanced cognitive function in human brain. In recent years, brain connectivity/network, which targets how brain regions are integrated, have drawn increasing attention in neuroscience with the development of neuroimaging techniques and graph theoretical analysis. Connectivity quantifies functional association or neural fibers between two regions that may be spatially far separated, and graph theoretical analysis of brain network examines the complex interactions among multiple regions from the perspective of topology. Studies showed that compared to younger adults, older adults had altered strength of task-relevant functional connectivity between specific brain regions in cognitive tasks, and the alternation of connectivity are correlated to behavior performance. For example, older adults had weaker functional connectivity between the premotor cortex and a region in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in a working memory task. Interventions like cognitive training and neuro-modulation (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation) have been shown to be promising in regaining or retaining the decreasing cognitive abilities in aging. However, only few neuroimaging studies have examined the influence of interventions to old adult's brain activity, connectivity, and cognitive performance. This Research Topic calls for contributions on brain network of subjects in normal aging or with age-related diseases like mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. The studies are expected to be based on neuroimaging techniques including but not limited to functional magnetic resonance imaging, Electroencephalography, and diffusion tensor imaging, and contributions on the influence of interventions to brain networks in aging are highly encouraged. All these studies would enrich our understanding of neural mechanisms underlying aging, and offer new insights for developing possible interventions to retain cognitive abilities in aging subjects.


Brain Networks for Studying Healthy and Pathological Aging Mechanisms and Intervention Efficacy

Brain Networks for Studying Healthy and Pathological Aging Mechanisms and Intervention Efficacy

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  • Author: Christos Frantzidis
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
  • ISBN: 2889661229
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 577

Previous studies showed that both healthy and pathological aging are associated with changes in brain structure and function of the mature human brain. The most prominent anatomical alteration are changes in prefrontal cortex morphology, volume loss and reduced white-matter integrity and hippocampal atrophy. Cognitive decline affects mainly the performance of episodic memory, speed of sensory information processing, working memory, inhibitory function and long-term memory. It has been also proposed that due to the aforementioned changes the aging brain engages in compensatory brain mechanism such as a broader activation of cortical regions (mainly frontal) rather than specialized activation. Evidence suggests that similar changes occur with pathological aging but to a greater extent. In this case information flow is disrupted due to neurodegeneration, functional activation of posterior (occipito-temporal) regions is decreased and as a consequence the brain fails to process sensorial input in the ventral pathway and cognitive deficits appear. In the last years, functional alterations associated with aging have been studied using the mathematical notion of graph theory that offers an integrative approach since it examines different properties of the brain network: 1) Organization level 2) amount of local information processing, 3) information flow 4) cortical community structure and 5) identification of functional / anatomical hubs. So, graph theory offers an attractive way to model brain networks organization and to quantify their pathological deviations. Previous studies have already employed this mathematical notion and demonstrated that age-related neurodegeneration is often accompanied by loss of optimal network organization either due to diminished local information processing or due to progressive isolation of distant brain regions. They have also found that changes in network properties may be present even in the preclinical phase, which could be taken as a biological marker of disease.


Advances in Neuromodulation Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and Aging-Related Movement Disorders

Advances in Neuromodulation Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and Aging-Related Movement Disorders

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  • Author: Kailiang Wang
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
  • ISBN: 2832548180
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 136

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive motor disability with a spectrum of non-motor symptoms. Similar to Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia, Huntington's disease, and other aging-related movement disorders are widespread in the elderly with relatively unideal medicine-treatment effects. In recent years, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been established as an effective treatment for PD and other aging-related movement disorders, especially with motor symptoms. However, there are still many problems to be solved in research work and clinical practice in this field. For example, it is unclear regarding the most effective stimulation targets or the underlying mechanism of DBS. And it is still unknown how to choose the optimal targets among STN, GPi, PSA, VIM, etc, or if we could choose the nerve fiber for stimulation besides the nuclei, And despite wearable sensors could be a powerful tool for the digital evaluation of movement disorders or provide the feedback biomarkers for DBS, the closed-loop biomarkers for DBS are still lacking. Furthermore, apart from PD, the DBS treatment in gene-related dystonia, Huntington's disease, and other movement disorders also needs to be further explored.


Cognitive and Brain Aging: Interventions to Promote Well-Being in Old Age. Roadmap for Interventions Preventing Cognitive Aging

Cognitive and Brain Aging: Interventions to Promote Well-Being in Old Age. Roadmap for Interventions Preventing Cognitive Aging

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  • Author: Pamela M. Greenwood
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
  • ISBN: 2889634892
  • Category :
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 326


Functional and structural brain network construction, representation and application

Functional and structural brain network construction, representation and application

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  • Author: Mingxia Liu
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
  • ISBN: 2832520014
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 534


Advanced Imaging and Mapping in Brain Tumors

Advanced Imaging and Mapping in Brain Tumors

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  • Author: Nico Sollmann
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
  • ISBN: 2832508359
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 626


Insights in neurocognitive aging and behavior: 2022

Insights in neurocognitive aging and behavior: 2022

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  • Author: Kristy A. Nielson
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
  • ISBN: 2832543758
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 407


Advances and Challenges of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation in Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases

Advances and Challenges of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation in Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases

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  • Author: Yi Guo
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
  • ISBN: 2889764613
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 166


Deer's Treatment of Pain

Deer's Treatment of Pain

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  • Author: Timothy R. Deer
  • Publisher: Springer
  • ISBN: 3030122816
  • Category : Medical
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 854

Designed and written by a team of clinically established academics, this is a unique book that is an excellent manual for physicians practicing pain medicine or treating pain in neurosurgery, orthopedic, neurology, or family practice clinics. As a practical resource, this book is written to be more accessible to the reader and is designed to be more clinically-focused and useful in day-to-day practice. This 102 chapter volume is divided into seven separate sections: Anatomy and Physiology of Pain, Psychology of Pain, Pharmacological Treatment of Pain, Interventional Treatment of Pain, Adjuvant Therapies for Pain and Suggested Reading. The calculated organization of this book is supplemented by key photos, drawings and a self-assessment of four key questions at the end of each chapter -- thus making it an indispensable, pragmatic resource that will benefit anyone working in the pain management field. Deer's Treatment of Pain: An Illustrated Guide for Practitioners contains pearls for improving knowledge and improving one’s practice as a physician.