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Heise KF, Rueda-Delgado L, Chalavi S, King BR, Monteiro TS, Edden RAE, Mantini D, Swinnen SP. The interaction between endogenous GABA, functional connectivity, and behavioral flexibility is critically altered with advanced age. Commun Biol 2022; 5:426. [PMID: 35523951 PMCID: PMC9076638 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03378-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The flexible adjustment of ongoing behavior challenges the nervous system's dynamic control mechanisms and has shown to be specifically susceptible to age-related decline. Previous work links endogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) with behavioral efficiency across perceptual and cognitive domains, with potentially the strongest impact on those behaviors that require a high level of dynamic control. Our analysis integrated behavior and modulation of interhemispheric phase-based connectivity during dynamic motor-state transitions with endogenous GABA concentration in adult human volunteers. We provide converging evidence for age-related differences in the preferred state of endogenous GABA concentration for more flexible behavior. We suggest that the increased interhemispheric connectivity observed in the older participants represents a compensatory neural mechanism caused by phase-entrainment in homotopic motor cortices. This mechanism appears to be most relevant in the presence of a less optimal tuning of the inhibitory tone as observed during healthy aging to uphold the required flexibility of behavioral action. Future work needs to validate the relevance of this interplay between neural connectivity and GABAergic inhibition for other domains of flexible human behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirstin-Friederike Heise
- Department of Movement Sciences, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- KU Leuven Brain Institute, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Laura Rueda-Delgado
- Department of Movement Sciences, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, 2, Ireland
| | - Sima Chalavi
- Department of Movement Sciences, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Brain Institute, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bradley R King
- Department of Movement Sciences, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Brain Institute, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Health & Kinesiology, College of Health, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Thiago Santos Monteiro
- Department of Movement Sciences, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Brain Institute, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Richard A E Edden
- The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- F. M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Dante Mantini
- Department of Movement Sciences, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Brain Imaging and Neural Dynamics Research Group, IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy
| | - Stephan P Swinnen
- Department of Movement Sciences, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- KU Leuven Brain Institute, Leuven, Belgium
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