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Beta-Band Functional Connectivity is Reorganized in Mild Cognitive Impairment after Combined Computerized Physical and Cognitive Training.

ABSTRACT: Physical and cognitive idleness constitute significant risk factors for the clinical manifestation of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. In contrast, a physically and cognitively active lifestyle may restructure age-declined neuronal networks enhancing neuroplasticity. The present study, investigated the changes of brain's functional network in a group of elderly individuals at risk for dementia that were induced by a combined cognitive and physical intervention scheme. Fifty seniors meeting Petersen's criteria of Mild Cognitive Impairment were equally divided into an experimental (LLM), and an active control (AC) group. Resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) was measured before and after the intervention. Functional networks were estimated by computing the magnitude square coherence between the time series of all available cortical sources as computed by standardized low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA). A statistical model was used to form groups' characteristic weighted graphs. The introduced modulation was assessed by networks' density and nodes' strength. Results focused on the beta band (12-30 Hz) in which the difference of the two networks' density is maximum, indicating that the structure of the LLM cortical network changes significantly due to the intervention, in contrast to the network of AC. The node strength of LLM participants in the beta band presents a higher number of bilateral connections in the occipital, parietal, temporal and prefrontal regions after the intervention. Our results show that the combined training scheme reorganizes the beta-band functional connectivity of MCI patients. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02313935 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02313935.

SUBMITTER: Klados MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4770438 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Beta-Band Functional Connectivity is Reorganized in Mild Cognitive Impairment after Combined Computerized Physical and Cognitive Training.

Klados Manousos A MA Styliadis Charis C Frantzidis Christos A CA Paraskevopoulos Evangelos E Bamidis Panagiotis D PD

Frontiers in neuroscience 20160229

Physical and cognitive idleness constitute significant risk factors for the clinical manifestation of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. In contrast, a physically and cognitively active lifestyle may restructure age-declined neuronal networks enhancing neuroplasticity. The present study, investigated the changes of brain's functional network in a group of elderly individuals at risk for dementia that were induced by a combined cognitive and physical intervention scheme. Fifty seniors meetin ...[more]

PMID: 26973445

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Previous work designed a network-based protocol of cognitive training. This programme exploits a mechanism of induced task-oriented co-activation of multiple regions that are part of the default mode network (DMN), to induce functional rewiring and increased functional connectivity within this network. OBJECTIVE:In this study, the programme was administered to patients with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment to test its effects in a clinical sample. METHOD:Twenty-three patients with mild cognitive impairment (mean age: 73.74 years, standard deviation 5.13, female/male ratio 13/10) allocated to the experimental condition, underwent one month of computerised training, while fourteen patients (mean age: 73.14 years, standard deviation 6.16, female/ male ratio 7/7) assigned to the control condition underwent a regime of intense social engagement. Patients were in the prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) as confirmed by clinical follow ups for at least two years. The DMN was computed at baseline and retest, together with other, control patterns of connectivity, grey matter maps and neuropsychological profiles. RESULTS:A condition-by-timepoint interaction indicating increased connectivity triggered by the programme was found in left parietal DMN regions. No decreases as well as no changes in the other networks or morphology were found. Although between-condition cognitive changes did not reach statistical significance, they correlated positively with changes in DMN connectivity in the left parietal region, supporting the hypothesis that parietal changes were beneficial. CONCLUSION:This programme of cognitive training up-regulates a pattern of connectivity which is pathologically down-regulated in AD. We argue that, when cognitive interventions are conceptualised as tools to induce co-activation repeatedly, they can lead to clinically relevant improvements in brain functioning, and can be of aid in support of pharmacological and other interventions in the earliest stages of AD.

Project description:Background: The spectrum of early Alzheimer's disease (AD) is thought to include subjective cognitive impairment, early mild cognitive impairment (eMCI), and late mild cognitive impairment (lMCI). Choline dysfunction affects the early progression of AD, in which the basal nucleus of Meynert (BNM) is primarily responsible for cortical cholinergic innervation. The aims of this study were to determine the abnormal patterns of BNM-functional connectivity (BNM-FC) in the preclinical AD spectrum (SCD, eMCI, and lMCI) and further explore the relationships between these alterations and neuropsychological measures. Methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was used to investigate FC based on a seed mask (BNM mask) in 28 healthy controls (HC), 30 SCD, 24 eMCI, and 25 lMCI patients. Furthermore, the relationship between altered FC and neurocognitive performance was examined by a correlation analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of abnormal BNM-FC was used to specifically determine the classification ability to differentiate the early AD disease spectrum relative to HC (SCD and HC, eMCI and HC, lMCI and HC) and pairs of groups in the AD disease spectrum (eMCI and SCD, lMCI and SCD, eMCI and lMCI). Results: Compared with HC, SCD patients showed increased FC in the bilateral SMA and decreased FC in the bilateral cerebellum and middle frontal gyrus (MFG), eMCI patients showed significantly decreased FC in the bilateral precuneus, and lMCI individuals showed decreased FC in the right lingual gyrus. Compared with the SCD group, the eMCI group showed decreased FC in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), while the lMCI group showed decreased FC in the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG). Compared with the eMCI group, the lMCI group showed decreased FC in the right hippocampus. Interestingly, abnormal FC was associated with certain cognitive domains and functions including episodic memory, executive function, information processing speed, and visuospatial function in the disease groups. BNM-FC of SFG in distinguishing eMCI from SCD; BNM-FC of MTG in distinguishing lMCI from SCD; BNM-FC of the MTG, hippocampus, and cerebellum in distinguishing SCD from HC; and BNM-FC of the hippocampus and MFG in distinguishing eMCI from lMCI have high sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions: The abnormal BNM-FC patterns can characterize the early disease spectrum of AD (SCD, eMCI, and lMCI) and are closely related to the cognitive domains. These new and reliable findings will provide a new perspective in identifying the early disease spectrum of AD and further strengthen the role of cholinergic theory in AD.

Project description:BackgroundDeveloping non-pharmacological interventions with strong potential to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in high-risk populations is critical. Aerobic exercise and cognitive training are two promising interventions. Aerobic exercise increases aerobic fitness, which in turn improves brain structure and function, while cognitive training improves selective brain function intensively. Hence, combined aerobic exercise and cognitive training may have a synergistic effect on cognition by complementary strengthening of different neural functions. Few studies have tested the effects of such a combined intervention, and the findings have been discrepant, largely due to varying doses and formats of the interventions.Methods/designThe purpose of this single-blinded, 2 × 2 factorial phase II randomized controlled trial is to test the efficacy and synergistic effects of a 6-month combined cycling and speed of processing training intervention on cognition and relevant mechanisms (aerobic fitness, cortical thickness, and functional connectivity in the default mode network) in older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. This trial will randomize 128 participants equally to four arms: cycling and speed of processing, cycling only, speed of processing only, or attention control for 6 months, and then follow them for another 12 months. Cognition and aerobic fitness will be assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months; cortical thickness and functional connectivity at baseline and at 6, 12, and 18 months; Alzheimer's disease (AD) conversion at 6, 12, and 18 months. The specific aims are to (1) determine the efficacy and synergistic effects of the combined intervention on cognition over 6 months, (2) examine the underlying mechanisms of the combined intervention, and (3) calculate the long-term effect sizes of the combined intervention on cognition and AD conversion. The analysis will use intention-to-treat and linear mixed-effects modeling.DiscussionThis trial will be among the first to test the synergistic effects on cognition and mechanisms (relevant to Alzheimer's-associated neurodegeneration) of a uniquely conceptualized and rigorously designed aerobic exercise and cognitive training intervention in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. It will advance Alzheimer's prevention research by providing precise effect-size estimates of the combined intervention.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03313895 . Registered on 18 October 2017.

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Beta-Band Functional Connectivity is Reorganized in Mild Cognitive Impairment after Combined Computerized Physical and Cognitive Training.

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Beta-Band Functional Connectivity is Reorganized in Mild Cognitive Impairment after Combined Computerized Physical and Cognitive Training.

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