A comparison of white matter microstructure and correlates with neuropsychological measures in younger and older adults

• Published in: PloS one 2024-06, Vol.19 (6), p.e0305818
• Main Authors: Sheriff, Abu-Bakar, Scarapicchia, Vanessa, Mazerolle, Erin L, Christie, Brian, Gawryluk, Jodie R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Aging - physiology; Anisotropy; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Brain research; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive ability; Corona; Corpus callosum; Demographics; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods; Education; Executive function; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Functional anatomy; Humans; Life span; Longitudinal studies; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Memory; Microstructure; Middle Aged; Neuroimaging; Neuropsychological Tests; Neuropsychology; Older people; People and Places; Physical Sciences; Research and Analysis Methods; Social Sciences; Structure-function relationships; Substantia alba; White Matter - diagnostic imaging; White Matter - physiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305818

With a globally aging population, there is a need to better understand how brain structure relates to function in healthy older and younger adults. 34 healthy participants divided into older (17; Mean = 70.9, SD = 5.4) and younger adults (17; Mean = 28.1, SD = 2.8) underwent diffusion-weighted imaging and neuropsychological assessment, including the California Verbal Learning Test 2nd Edition and the Trail Making Test (TMT-A and TMT-B). Differences in white matter microstructure for older and younger adults and the association between DTI metrics (fractional anisotropy, FA; mean diffusivity, MD) and cognitive performance were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics (p < 0.05, corrected). Older adults had significantly lower FA and higher MD than younger adults in widespread brain regions. There was a significant negative correlation between executive function (TMT-B) and MD for older adults in the right superior/anterior corona radiata and the corpus callosum. No significant relationship was detected between DTI metrics and executive function in younger adults or with memory performance in either group. The findings underscore the need to examine brain-behaviour relationships as a function of age. Future studies should include comprehensive assessments in larger lifespan samples to better understand the aging brain.