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Age-related Changes in Brain Connectivity: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Effects

Poster Session A - Saturday, March 7, 2026, 3:00 – 5:00 pm PST, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Quan Zhou¹ (violetz@umich.edu), Noah Reardon², David Francis³, Mark Zuppichini⁴, Esther Kim¹, Kayla Wyatt⁵, Shuhao Cao¹, Thad Polk¹; ¹University of Michigan, ²Indiana University, ³University of Houston, ⁴Montclair State University, ⁵Washington University in St. Louis

Age-related changes in functional communication within and between brain networks may contribute to cognitive and behavioral decline in aging. Prior research has consistently reported declines in within-network connectivity with age, though findings on between-network connectivity change have been mixed. Most studies have relied on cross-sectional designs, making it difficult to disentangle age-related effects from confounding cohort effects. Therefore, this study utilizes both cross-sectional (between-subject) and longitudinal (within-subject) data sets and employs mixed-effects models to elucidate age-related changes in resting-state functional connectivity across eight large-scale brain networks. Using resting-state fMRI data from 60 young adults and 162 healthy older adults—including a longitudinal subsample of 48 older adults assessed approximately four years apart—we examined whole-brain within-network connectivity, between-network connectivity, and network segregation. Cross-sectional analyses showed a trend toward reduced within-network connectivity with increasing age (p = .052), with age × network interactions suggesting selective network vulnerability. Longitudinal analyses revealed robust within-person declines in within-network connectivity in older adults over approximately four years. Follow-up analyses identified the Salience and Frontoparietal networks as particularly vulnerable to aging. No significant age-related changes were found in between-network connectivity or network segregation.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Development & aging