The virtual aging brain: Causal inference supports interhemispheric dedifferentiation in healthy aging

Mario Lavanga, Johanna Stumme, Bahar Hazal Yalcinkaya, Jan Fousek, Christiane Jockwitz, Hiba Sheheitli, Nora Bittner, Meysam Hashemi, Spase Petkoski, Svenja Caspers, Viktor Jirsa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mechanisms of cognitive decline and its variability during healthy aging are not fully understood, but have been associated with reorganization of white matter tracts and functional brain networks. Here, we built a brain network modeling framework to infer the causal link between structural connectivity and functional architecture and the consequent cognitive decline in aging. By applying in-silico interhemispheric degradation of structural connectivity, we reproduced the process of functional dedifferentiation during aging. Thereby, we found the global modulation of brain dynamics by structural connectivity to increase with age, which was steeper in older adults with poor cognitive performance. We validated our causal hypothesis via a deep-learning Bayesian approach. Our results might be the first mechanistic demonstration of dedifferentiation during aging leading to cognitive decline.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number120403
JournalNeuroImage
Volume283
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

Keywords

  • Aging
  • Cognitive decline
  • Functional connectivity
  • Functional dedifferentiation
  • Structural connectivity
  • White-matter degradation

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

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