Healthy Aging Alters the Functional Connectivity of Creative Cognition in the Default Mode Network and Cerebellar Network

Abstract

Creativity is a higher-order neurocognitive process that produces unusual and unique thoughts. Behavioral and neuroimaging studies of younger adults have revealed that creative performance is the product of dynamic and spontaneous processes involving multiple cognitive functions and interactions between large-scale brain networks, including the default mode network (DMN), fronto-parietal executive control network (ECN), and salience network (SN). In this resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) study, group independent component analysis (group-ICA) and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) measures were applied to examine whether and how various functional connected networks of the creative brain, particularly the default-executive and cerebro-cerebellar networks, are altered with advancing age. The group-ICA approach identified 11 major brain networks across age groups that reflected age-invariant resting-state networks. Compared with older adults, younger adults exhibited more specific and widespread dorsal network and sensorimotor network connectivity within and between the DMN, fronto-parietal ECN, and visual, auditory, and cerebellar networks associated with creativity. This outcome suggests age-specific changes in the functional connected network, particularly in the default-executive and cerebro-cerebellar networks. Our connectivity data further elucidate the critical roles of the cerebellum and cerebro-cerebellar connectivity in creativity in older adults. Furthermore, our findings provide evidence supporting the default-executive coupling hypothesis of aging and novel insights into the interactions of cerebro-cerebellar networks with creative cognition in older adults, which suggest alterations in the cognitive processes of the creative aging brain.

Age‐related and individual variations in altered prefrontal and cerebellar connectivity associated with the tendency of developing internet addiction

“…Furthermore, a spatial‐to‐template match was used to obtain the various resting‐state brain networks. Our selection of the number of components was consistent with our previous work reported on the network neuroscience of aging (Patil et al, 2021).…”

“…The group‐ICA was first performed on rs‐fMRI data to reveal major brain networks across age groups (Patil et al, 2021). Eleven resting‐state brain networks from 30 ICA components were then obtained, which is consistent with our previous work that identified age‐invariant resting‐state networks (Patil et al, 2021).…”

“…The realignment parameters and the CIAS‐R scores, gender, and educational level were defined as first‐level covariates. We further performed group‐independent component analysis (ICA) to estimate independent spatial components on rs‐fMRI data for both younger and older participants to identify major brain networks across age groups that reflected age‐invariant resting‐state networks (Patil et al, 2021). The group‐ICA was performed to extract the resting‐state brain networks from 30 independent components, with a reduction factor of 64.…”

“…Given the increased prevalence of internet addiction and its effects on people of all ages (M'hiri et al, 2015; Mihajlov & Vejmelka, 2017), we examined whether and how individual variations in the tendency of developing internet addiction modulate functional brain connectivity and spontaneous neural activities in both young and aging brains using rs‐fMRI. Previous studies demonstrated age‐related alterations in the functional coupling of the default‐executive and cerebro‐cerebellar networks (Adnan, Beaty, Lam, Spreng, & Turner, 2019; Patil, Madathil, & Huang, 2021), which manifested as decreased modulation of the prefrontal cortex and suppression of the DMN. This indicated reduced neurocognitive flexibility of the default‐executive control and cerebro‐cerebellar coupling in older adults (Turner & Spreng, 2015; Varangis, Razlighi, Habeck, Fisher, & Stern, 2019).…”

Long live creativity: Exploring the exercise-creative cognition link in later life.

“…While divergent ability was not significantly different between the two cohorts, functional connectivity between default and executive control networks was stronger and more extensive in older individuals (Adnan, Beaty, Silvia, et al, 2019). Further, more recent evidence demonstrated that higher resting state functional connectivity between default and executive control networks was positively associated with self-reported lifetime creative achievements in older adults, whereas connectivity in predominantly frontal, executive control regions was correlated with creative achievements in younger adults (Patil et al, 2021). Collectively, these are important findings suggesting that although aging appears to alter neural substrates of creative cognition, such changes may not negatively impact task performance.…”