Age and Interlimb Coordination Complexity Modulate Oscillatory Spectral Dynamics and Large-scale Functional Connectivity

Sybren Van Hoornweder; Diego Andrés Blanco Mora; Siel Depestele; Joana Frieske; Kim van Dun; Koen Cuypers; Stefanie Verstraelen; Raf Meesen

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.06.008

Age and Interlimb Coordination Complexity Modulate Oscillatory Spectral Dynamics and Large-scale Functional Connectivity

Neuroscience. 2022 Aug 1:496:1-15. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.06.008. Epub 2022 Jun 9.

Authors

Sybren Van Hoornweder¹, Diego Andrés Blanco Mora², Siel Depestele³, Joana Frieske³, Kim van Dun³, Koen Cuypers⁴, Stefanie Verstraelen³, Raf Meesen⁴

Affiliations

¹ REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium. Electronic address: Sybren.van.hoornweder@uhasselt.be.
² Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
³ REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
⁴ REVAL - Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium; Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, Group Biomedical Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

PMID: 35691515
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.06.008

Abstract

Interlimb coordination deteriorates as a result of aging. Due to its ubiquity in daily life, a greater understanding of the underlying neurophysiological changes is required. Here, we combined electroencephalography time-frequency spectral power and functional connectivity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of the neural dynamics underlying the age-related deterioration of interlimb coordination involving all four limbs. Theta, alpha and beta oscillations in the frontal, central and parietal regions were analyzed in twenty younger (18-30 years) and nineteen older adults (65-78 years) during a complex interlimb reaction time task. Reaction time was significantly higher in older adults across all conditions, and the discrepancy between both age groups was largest in the most complex movement condition. Older adults demonstrated enhanced beta event-related desynchronization (i.e., the attenuation of beta power), which further increased along with task complexity and was positively linked to behavioral performance. Theta functional connectivity between frontal, central and parietal regions generally increased with movement complexity, irrespective of age group. In general, frontoparietal alpha band functional connectivity tended to be reduced in older versus younger adults, although these contrasts did not survive multiple comparison corrections. Overall, spectral results suggest that enhanced beta desynchronization in older adults reflects a successful compensatory mechanism to cope with increased difficulty during complex interlimb coordination. Functional connectivity results suggest that theta and alpha band connectivity are prone to respectively task- and age-related modulations. Future work could target these spectral and functional connectivity dynamics through noninvasive brain stimulation to potentially improve interlimb coordination in older adults.

Keywords: aging; electroencephalography (EEG); functional connectivity; interlimb coordination; spectral analyses; time-frequency.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Electroencephalography*
Movement
Parietal Lobe* / physiology
Reaction Time / physiology