Changes in Resting-State Functional Connectivity of the Hippocampus Following Cognitive Effort Predict Memory Decline at Older Age—A Longitudinal fMRI Study

Published on July 16, 2019

Identifying older adults at risk for memory impairment is an important goal for initiating early treatment and prevention strategies. We examined the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of older and younger adults before and after cognitive effort as a marker for subsequent memory decline, focusing on the connectivity between the left anterior hippocampus (laHC) and the posterior hippocampi (pHC). Results showed that for younger adults, post-effort increases in laHC-pHC connectivity were related to increases in connectivity between the laHC and the hubs of the default mode network. However, for older adults, post-effort increases in the RSFC of laHC-pHC were related to decreases in the connectivity of the laHC and right precentral gyrus. Thus, the correlation between intra-HC and inter-HC RSFC was altered with cognitive effort and aging. Importantly, older adults who had lower post-effort RSFC between the laHC and the pHC demonstrated a decline in an episodic memory 2 years later. Hence, the change in intra-HC RSFC following cognitive effort was able to predict subsequent memory function with aging in our sample.

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