Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Penhale, Samantha H.
• Arif, Yasra
• Schantell, Mikki
• Johnson, Hallie J.
• Willett, Madelyn P.
• Okelberry, Hannah J.
• Meehan, Chloe E.
• Heinrichs‐Graham, Elizabeth
• Wilson, Tony W.

Titel

Healthy aging alters the oscillatory dynamics and fronto‐parietal connectivity serving fluid intelligence

Ist Teil von

• Human brain mapping, 2024-02, Vol.45 (3), p.e26591-n/a

Ort / Verlag

Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Quelle

Wiley Online Library All Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Fluid intelligence (Gf) involves logical reasoning and novel problem‐solving abilities. Often, reasoning tasks like Raven's progressive matrices are used to assess Gf. Prior work has shown an age‐related decline in fluid intelligence capabilities, and although many studies have sought to identify the underlying mechanisms, our understanding of the critical brain regions and dynamics remains largely incomplete. In this study, we utilized magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate 78 individuals, ages 20–65 years, as they completed an reasoning task. MEG data was co‐registered with structural MRI data, transformed into the time–frequency domain, and the resulting neural oscillations were imaged using a beamformer. We found worsening behavioral performance with age, including prolonged reaction times and reduced accuracy. MEG analyses indicated robust oscillations in the theta, alpha/beta, and gamma range during the task. Whole brain correlation analyses with age revealed relationships in the theta and alpha/beta frequency bands, such that theta oscillations became stronger with increasing age in a right prefrontal region and alpha/beta oscillations became stronger with increasing age in parietal and right motor cortices. Follow‐up connectivity analyses revealed increasing parieto‐frontal connectivity with increasing age in the alpha/beta frequency range. Importantly, our findings are consistent with the parieto‐frontal integration theory of intelligence (P‐FIT). These results further suggest that as people age, there may be alterations in neural responses that are spectrally specific, such that older people exhibit stronger alpha/beta oscillations across the parieto‐frontal network during reasoning tasks. Age‐related declines in fluid intelligence capabilities are well established, but our understanding of underlying brain regions and dynamics remains largely incomplete. Herein, we utilized magnetoencephalography to investigate how brain dynamics serving fluid intelligence change with age. We found spectrally specific age‐related changes in neural oscillations and network connectivity during an reasoning task.