Age-related episodic memory decline is attributed to functional alternations in the hippocampus. Less clear is how aging affects the functional connections of the hippocampus to the rest of the brain during episodic memory processing. We examined fMRI data from the CamCAN dataset, in which a large cohort of participants watched a movie (N = 643; 18–88 years), a proxy for naturalistic episodic memory encoding. We examined connectivity profiles across the lifespan both within the hippocampus (anterior, posterior), and between the hippocampal subregions and cortical networks. Aging was associated with reductions in contralateral (left, right) but not ipsilateral (anterior, posterior) hippocampal subregion connectivity. Aging was primarily associated with increased coupling between the anterior hippocampus and regions affiliated with Control, Dorsal Attention and Default Mode networks, yet decreased coupling between the posterior hippocampus and a selection of these regions. Differences in age-related hippocampal-cortical, but not within-hippocampus circuitry selectively predicted worse memory performance. Our findings comprehensively characterize hippocampal functional topography in relation to cognition in older age, suggesting that shifts in cortico-hippocampal connectivity may be sensitive markers of age-related episodic memory decline.

中文翻译：

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看电影期间海马次区域连接模式的寿命差异


与年龄相关的情景记忆衰退归因于海马体的功能改变。不太清楚的是，在情景记忆处理过程中，衰老如何影响海马体与大脑其他部分的功能连接。我们检查了 CamCAN 数据集中的功能磁共振成像数据，其中一大群参与者观看了一部电影（N = 643；18-88 岁），这是自然情景记忆编码的代表。我们检查了整个生命周期中海马内（前部、后部）以及海马亚区域和皮质网络之间的连接概况。衰老与对侧（左、右）海马亚区域连通性的降低相关，但与同侧（前、后）海马亚区域的连通性降低无关。衰老主要与前海马体和附属于控制、背侧注意和默认模式网络的区域之间的耦合增加有关，而后海马体和这些区域的选择之间的耦合减少。与年龄相关的海马皮质差异，而非海马内部回路的差异，选择性地预测了较差的记忆表现。我们的研究结果全面描述了与老年认知相关的海马功能地形，表明皮质-海马连接的变化可能是与年龄相关的情景记忆衰退的敏感标志。