Project Grant F32MH142086

PRECISION BRAIN MAPPING OF FUNCTIONAL HUBS ACROSS THE ADULT LIFESPAN - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT COGNITIVE DECLINE IS A NORMATIVE FEATURE OF AGING, BUT THERE IS WIDE VARIATION IN THE SEVERITY OF DECLINE ACROSS INDIVIDUALS AND COGNITIVE DOMAINS. COGNITIVE PROCESSES ARE SUPPORTED BY FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY ACROSS LARGE-SCALE BRAIN NETWORKS AND, CRITICALLY, 'HUBS', WHICH ARE VITAL INTEGRATION ZONES CONNECTING NETWORKS. THERE IS ROBUST EVIDENCE OF AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN LARGE-SCALE BRAIN NETWORKS, INCLUDING AN INCREASE IN CROSS-NETWORK INTERACTIONS. HOWEVER, FEW STUDIES HAVE INVESTIGATED HOW HUBS DIFFER ACROSS THE ADULT LIFESPAN DESPITE EVIDENCE THAT GENETICS, LIFESTYLE CHOICES, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES, WHICH ACCUMULATE ACROSS THE LIFESPAN, RELATE TO MEASURES OF HUBS. ADDITIONALLY, EXTANT WORK RELIES ON SMALL AMOUNTS OF DATA WITHIN INDIVIDUALS AND AVERAGES ACROSS GROUPS, WHICH TOGETHER PRODUCE A LACK OF RELIABLE INDIVIDUAL-SPECIFIC ESTIMATION AND THUS OBSCURE AN UNDERSTANDING HOW HUBS DIFFER ACROSS THE ADULT LIFESPAN. GIVEN THE CRITICAL ROLE HUBS PLAY IN ORCHESTRATING CROSS-NETWORK INTERACTIONS, UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENCES IN HUBS ACROSS AGE, INCLUDING TEASING APART VARIANCE BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND THE ROLE OF HUBS IN DIFFERENT DOMAINS OF COGNITION, WILL BE INFORMATIVE TO UNDERSTANDING HOW COGNITIVE DECLINE UNFOLDS. AS SUCH, THE PROPOSED WORK WILL CHARACTERIZE AGE-RELATED VARIATION IN HUBS, INCLUDING BETWEEN AGE COHORTS, AMONG SIMILARLY-AGED PEERS, AND WITHIN AN INDIVIDUAL ACROSS TASK STATES, IN A SAMPLE OF ADULTS AGED 18-75 YEARS. IMPORTANTLY, WE WILL UTILIZE PRECISION FMRI METHODS, INCLUDING USING LARGE AMOUNTS OF FMRI DATA WITHIN EACH INDIVIDUAL (~120 MINUTES OF RESTING STATE FMRI DATA) AND ADVANCED MODELS TO RELIABLY ESTIMATE INDIVIDUAL SPECIFIC HUBS. WE WILL FIRST ASSESS AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN HUB STRENGTH AND LOCATION ACROSS THE ADULT LIFESPAN (SPECIFIC AIM 1). THEN, WE WILL CHARACTERIZE BETWEEN- SUBJECT VARIABILITY IN HUB STRENGTH AND LOCATION AMONG OLDER ADULTS (SPECIFIC AIM 2), WHICH MAY INFORM THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL SOURCES OF VARIABILITY UNDERLYING COGNITIVE VARIABILITY AMONG OLDER ADULTS. LASTLY, WE WILL ASSESS AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN THE ENGAGEMENT OF HUBS DURING COGNITIVE TASKS AND CONTRAST HUB FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY DURING A COGNITIVE PROCESS WHICH GENERALLY DECLINES ACROSS AGE VERSUS A COGNITIVE PROCESS WHICH IS GENERALLY PRESERVED WITH AGE (SPECIFIC AIM 3). OVERALL, THE PROPOSED WORK WILL EMPLOY ADVANCED PRECISION FMRI TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW HUBS DIFFER ACROSS AGE, VARY BETWEEN PEOPLE, AND CONTRIBUTE TO COGNITION. RESULTS FROM THIS WORK WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF BRAIN MECHANISMS THAT SHAPE COGNITIVE AGING AND, FURTHER, PROVIDE A BASELINE FOR FUTURE WORK TO DEVELOP TARGETS FOR NEUROCOGNITIVE INTERVENTIONS AND TO TRACK PATTERNS OF PATHOLOGICAL AGING.