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. 2017 Jan;38(1):561-573.
doi: 10.1002/hbm.23403. Epub 2016 Sep 22.

Relationship between structural and functional connectivity change across the adult lifespan: A longitudinal investigation

Anders M Fjell  1   2 , Markus H Sneve  1 , Håkon Grydeland  1 , Andreas B Storsve  1 , Inge K Amlien  1 , Anastasia Yendiki  3 , Kristine B Walhovd  1   2
Affiliations

Relationship between structural and functional connectivity change across the adult lifespan: A longitudinal investigation

Anders M Fjell et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Extensive efforts are devoted to understand the functional (FC) and structural connections (SC) of the brain. FC is usually measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and conceptualized as degree of synchronicity in brain activity between different regions. SC is typically indexed by measures of white matter (WM) properties, for example, by diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). FC and SC are intrinsically related, in that coordination of activity across regions ultimately depends on fast and efficient transfer of information made possible by structural connections. Convergence between FC and SC has been shown for specific networks, especially the default mode network (DMN). However, it is not known to what degree FC is constrained by major WM tracts and whether FC and SC change together over time. Here, 120 participants (20-85 years) were tested at two time points, separated by 3.3 years. Resting-state fMRI was used to measure FC, and DWI to measure WM microstructure as an index of SC. TRACULA, part of FreeSurfer, was used for automated tractography of 18 major WM tracts. Cortical regions with tight structural couplings defined by tractography were only weakly related at the functional level. Certain regions of the DMN showed a modest relationship between change in FC and SC, but for the most part, the two measures changed independently. The main conclusions are that anatomical alignment of SC and FC seems restricted to specific networks and tracts, and that changes in SC and FC are not necessarily strongly correlated. Hum Brain Mapp 38:561-573, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: aging; functional connectivity; longitudinal; magnetic resonance imaging; resting-state; structural connectivity; tractography.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Tracts of interest and corresponding surface seed regions. Reconstructed mean pathways and endpoints in the left hemisphere. For abbreviations, please see the main text.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age‐trajectories for structural connectivity. Generalized Additive Mixed Models with a smooth term for age were used to delineate the relationship between the global diffusion tensor imaging measures and age, taking advantage of both the cross‐sectional and the longitudinal observations. The shaded area around the fit line represents 95% confidence interval of the mean.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Age‐trajectories for functional connectivity. Generalized additive mixed model with a smooth term for age was used to delineate the relationship between the global resting‐state functional connectivity (FC) measure and age, taking advantage of both the cross‐sectional and the longitudinal observations. The shaded area around the fit line represents 95% confidence interval of the mean.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relationship between longitudinal structural and functional connectivity change. Scatterplot of the relationship between change in MD (Tp2 – Tp1) in the left cingulate‐cingulate gyrus and change in FC in Network 11 (precuneus and isthmus of the cingulate) (Tp2 – Tp1). Red circles indicate young and middle‐aged participants (23–52 years) and yellow circles indicate older participants (63–86 years). The line is fitted to the total sample.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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