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Articles, Behavioral/Cognitive

A Scaffold for Efficiency in the Human Brain

Agnieszka Z. Burzynska, Douglas D. Garrett, Claudia Preuschhof, Irene E. Nagel, Shu-Chen Li, Lars Bäckman, Hauke R. Heekeren and Ulman Lindenberger
Journal of Neuroscience 23 October 2013, 33 (43) 17150-17159; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1426-13.2013
Agnieszka Z. Burzynska
1Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany,
2Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61820,
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Douglas D. Garrett
1Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany,
3Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom,
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Claudia Preuschhof
4Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany,
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Irene E. Nagel
4Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany,
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Shu-Chen Li
1Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany,
5Department of Psychology, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany,
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Lars Bäckman
6Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute, SE-113 30 Stockholm, Sweden, and
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Hauke R. Heekeren
1Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany,
4Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany,
7Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Ulman Lindenberger
1Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany,
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Abstract

The comprehensive relations between healthy adult human brain white matter (WM) microstructure and gray matter (GM) function, and their joint relations to cognitive performance, remain poorly understood. We investigated these associations in 27 younger and 28 older healthy adults by linking diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected during an n-back working memory task. We present a novel application of multivariate Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis that permitted the simultaneous modeling of relations between WM integrity values from all major WM tracts and patterns of condition-related BOLD signal across all GM regions. Our results indicate that greater microstructural integrity of the major WM tracts was negatively related to condition-related blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal in task-positive GM regions. This negative relationship suggests that better quality of structural connections allows for more efficient use of task-related GM processing resources. Individuals with more intact WM further showed greater BOLD signal increases in typical “task-negative” regions during fixation, and notably exhibited a balanced magnitude of BOLD response across task-positive and -negative states. Structure—function relations also predicted task performance, including accuracy and speed of responding. Finally, structure–function–behavior relations reflected individual differences over and above chronological age. Our findings provide evidence for the role of WM microstructure as a scaffold for the context-relevant utilization of GM regions.

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The Journal of Neuroscience: 33 (43)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 33, Issue 43
23 Oct 2013
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A Scaffold for Efficiency in the Human Brain
Agnieszka Z. Burzynska, Douglas D. Garrett, Claudia Preuschhof, Irene E. Nagel, Shu-Chen Li, Lars Bäckman, Hauke R. Heekeren, Ulman Lindenberger
Journal of Neuroscience 23 October 2013, 33 (43) 17150-17159; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1426-13.2013

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A Scaffold for Efficiency in the Human Brain
Agnieszka Z. Burzynska, Douglas D. Garrett, Claudia Preuschhof, Irene E. Nagel, Shu-Chen Li, Lars Bäckman, Hauke R. Heekeren, Ulman Lindenberger
Journal of Neuroscience 23 October 2013, 33 (43) 17150-17159; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1426-13.2013
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