Exploring variability in basal ganglia connectivity with functional MRI in healthy aging

• Published in: Brain imaging and behavior Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 1822 - 1827
• Main Authors: Griffanti, Ludovica, Stratmann, Philipp, Rolinski, Michal, Filippini, Nicola, Zsoldos, Enikő, Mahmood, Abda, Zamboni, Giovanna, Douaud, Gwenaëlle, Klein, Johannes C., Kivimäki, Mika, Singh-Manoux, Archana, Hu, Michele T., Ebmeier, Klaus P., Mackay, Clare E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adults; Affect; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Basal ganglia; Basal Ganglia - diagnostic imaging; Basal Ganglia - physiology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain Mapping; Brief Communication; Demographic variables; Demographics; Demography; Disease control; Dopamine; Dopamine receptors; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Ganglia; Healthy Aging - physiology; Healthy Aging - psychology; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Male; Middle Aged; Mood; Motor Activity; Motor task performance; Neural networks; Neural Pathways - diagnostic imaging; Neural Pathways - physiology; Neuropsychology; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Older people; Parkinson's disease; Psychiatry; Rest; Sleep; Functional connectivity; Resting state fMRI; Basal ganglia; Dopamine; Healthy aging; Parkinson’s disease
• ISSN: 1931-7557; 1931-7565
• DOI: 10.1007/s11682-018-9824-1

Changes in functional connectivity (FC) measured using resting state fMRI within the basal ganglia network (BGN) have been observed in pathologies with altered neurotransmitter systems and conditions involving motor control and dopaminergic processes. However, less is known about non-disease factors affecting FC in the BGN. The aim of this study was to examine associations of FC within the BGN with dopaminergic processes in healthy older adults. We explored the relationship between FC in the BGN and variables related to demographics, impulsive behavior, self-paced tasks, mood, and motor correlates in 486 participants in the Whitehall-II imaging sub-study using both region-of-interest- and voxel-based approaches. Age was the only correlate of FC in the BGN that was consistently significant with both analyses. The observed adverse effect of aging on FC may relate to alterations of the dopaminergic system, but no unique dopamine-related function seemed to have a link with FC beyond those detectable in and linearly correlated with healthy aging.