The interaction between endogenous GABA, functional connectivity, and behavioral flexibility is critically altered with advanced age
Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The flexible adjustment of ongoing behavior challenges the nervous system's dynamic control mechanisms and has shown to be specifically susceptible to age-related decline. Previous work links endogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) with behavioral efficiency across perceptual and cognitive domains, with potentially the strongest impact on those behaviors that require a high level of dynamic control. Our analysis integrated behavior and modulation of interhemispheric phase-based connectivity during dynamic motor-state transitions with endogenous GABA concentration in adult human volunteers. We provide converging evidence for age-related differences in the preferred state of endogenous GABA concentration for more flexible behavior. We suggest that the increased interhemispheric connectivity observed in the older participants represents a compensatory neural mechanism caused by phase-entrainment in homotopic motor cortices. This mechanism appears to be most relevant in the presence of a less optimal tuning of the inhibitory tone as observed during healthy aging to uphold the required flexibility of behavioral action. Future work needs to validate the relevance of this interplay between neural connectivity and GABAergic inhibition for other domains of flexible human behavior.
Source: Communications Biology
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,490
Awards: Inhibition and action in the aging brain: role of GABA in brain function and network interactions, Identification of a predictive electrophysiological model of cognitive function in amnesic mild cognitive impairment., G3756892872, G4254685185, Integrated Platform for Closed-Loop Motor Training and Adaptive Neuromodulation, Oscillatory activity in large-scale brain networks and its relevance to behavior, G615008472, Effects of external frequency entrainment on bimanual network function and connectivity in healthy conditions and during recovery from stroke.
OpenAlex ID: W4229083708