Multimodal neuroimaging analysis reveals age‐associated common and discrete cognitive control constructs

Abstract

The aims of this study were to determine which cognitive control functions are most sensitive to cross‐sectional age differences and to identify neural features in different neuroimaging modalities that associated cognitive control function across the adult lifespan. We employed a joint independent component analysis (jICA) approach to obtain common networks among three different brain‐imaging modalities (i.e., structural MRI, resting‐state functional MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging) in relation to the cognitive control function. We differentiated three distinct cognitive constructs: one common (across inhibition, shifting, and updating) and two specific (shifting, updating) factors. These common/specific constructs were transformed from three original performance indexes: (a) stop‐signal reaction time, (b) switch‐cost, and (c) performance sensitivity collected from 156 individuals aged 20 to 78 years old. The current results show that the cross‐sectional age difference is associated with a wide spread of brain degeneration that is not limited to the frontal region. Crucially, these findings suggest there are some common and distinct joined multimodal components that correlate with the psychological constructs of common and discrete cognitive control functions, respectively. To support current findings, other fusion ICA models were also analyzed including, parallel ICA (para‐ICA) and multiset canonical correlation analysis with jICA (mCCA + jICA). Dynamic interactions among these brain features across different brain modalities could serve as possible developmental mechanisms associated with these age effects.

Frontoparietal structural properties mediate adult life span differences in executive function

“…Specifically, frontal GM volume reductions play a role in mediating changes in age-related general elements of EF. These putative mechanisms also clarify our earlier work 35 , which found that joint components in the frontal regions contributed to the age-related common cognitive control construct.…”

“…We selected our EF tasks based on Miyake's model, which distinguishes three EF components 3,4,6,44,45 : common EF, updating-specific EF, and shifting-specific EF. This study attempted to extend our recent study 35 showing significant correlations among EF, the frontoparietal cortices, and age. Specifically, we sought to determine whether the structural and network properties of the frontoparietal cortices mediate age-related changes in EF and, further, to determine whether the mediation effect was selective for a specific EF component or whether it was a generalized pattern for all EF components.…”

“…In this study, we aimed to determine which functional and structural brain properties within the frontal and parietal regions mediate age-related differences in common and specific components of EF. Given the substantial evidence that has implicated the frontoparietal cortices in EF [23][24][25]35 , we focused specifically on the properties of the frontoparietal cortices. We selected our EF tasks based on Miyake's model, which distinguishes three EF components 3,4,6,44,45 : common EF, updating-specific EF, and shifting-specific EF.…”

“…Task-switching abilities were measured by a paradigm modified from Karayanidis et al 's study 63 . The procedure was identical to that of our earlier work (for details, refer to Yang et al 35 ). The visual stimuli were displayed using Presentation software on a 17-inch monitor with a 1024 × 768 resolution.…”

“…We recruited 183 participants from Tainan city, Taiwan, by using online advertisements and bulletin boards. Participants were the same as those reported in our earlier work 35 . Before formal testing, all participants completed cognitive assessments, including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) to screen for cognitive impairment 61 and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II 62 ) to screen for depression.…”