Functional connectivity underpinning changes in life-space mobility in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: A 12-month prospective study

Chun Liang Hsu, Rachel Crockett, Patrick Chan, Lisanne ten Brinke, Stephanie Doherty, Teresa Liu-Ambrose

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Subtle changes in mobility exist among older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Life-space mobility defines the frequency and extent of movements in the environment, and lower life-space mobility is associated with adverse health outcomes and MCI. Currently, the underlying mechanism of this association is not well understood. This study examined the functional neural correlates of life-space mobility in community-dwelling older adults with MCI. We first conducted a cross-sectional investigation of the association between resting-state default mode network (DMN) and sensori-motor network (SMN) connectivity and life-space mobility (assessed by the Life-Space Assessment (LSA)) among 60 community-dwelling older adults with MCI using aggregated data from two studies – baseline data from a randomized controlled trial (n = 20) and baseline data from a 12-month prospective study (n = 40). Using data from the 12-month prospective study (n = 35), we then examined whether baseline internetwork connectivity predicts reduced life-space mobility over 12 months. The cross-sectional analysis showed higher DMN-SMN connectivity was associated with lower LSA scores after adjusting for baseline global cognitive function and baseline age (p < 0.01). A significant reduction in LSA scores was observed in the 35 participants of the 12-month prospective study (paired sample t-test mean change = −6.53, p = 0.01). Greater baseline DMN-SMN connectivity was associated with greater reduction in life-space mobility at 12 months (p = 0.04) after adjusting for baseline age, global cognitive function, and LSA score. Our findings suggest that lower and reduced life-space mobility in older adults with MCI may be due to altered functional architecture of the brain such that normal neuro-cognitive motor behaviours may be disrupted.

Original languageEnglish
Article number112216
JournalBehavioural Brain Research
Volume378
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Jan 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Life-space mobility
  • Older adults
  • Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Behavioral Neuroscience

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