Enriching activities during childhood are associated with variations in functional connectivity patterns later in life

Timothy P Morris; Laura Chaddock-Heyman; Meishan Ai; Sheeba Arnold Anteraper; Alfonso Nieto Castañon; Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli; Charles H Hillman; Edward McAuley; Arthur F Kramer

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.04.002

Enriching activities during childhood are associated with variations in functional connectivity patterns later in life

Neurobiol Aging. 2021 Aug:104:92-101. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.04.002. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Authors

Timothy P Morris¹, Laura Chaddock-Heyman², Meishan Ai³, Sheeba Arnold Anteraper³, Alfonso Nieto Castañon³, Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli⁴, Charles H Hillman⁵, Edward McAuley⁶, Arthur F Kramer²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: t.morris@northeastern.edu.
² Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁶ Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA; Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.

PMID: 33984626
PMCID: PMC8225585
DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.04.002

Abstract

Enriching early life experiences (e.g., sport, art, music, volunteering, language learning) during a critical period of brain development may promote structural and functional brain changes that are still present decades later (>60 years). We assessed whether a greater variety of enriching early life activities (EELA) before age 13 years were associated with individual differences in cortical and subcortical (hippocampus and amygdala) structure and function later in life (older adults aged 60-80 years). Results indicated no association between EELA and amygdala and hippocampus volumes, but higher functional connectivity between the amygdala and the insula was associated with more variety of EELA. EELA was not associated with cortical thickness controlling for sex, but sex-specific associations with the right pars opercularis were found. EELA was further associated with variations in functional connectivity patterns of the orbitofrontal cortex, driven by connecitivty to regions within the visual, somatosensory and limbic networks. Early life enriching activities appear to contribute to potential mechanisms of cognitive reserve (functional processes) more so than brain reserve (structure) later in life.

Keywords: Aging; Enrichment; Functional connectivity; Multivoxel pattern analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Age Factors
Aged
Aging / physiology*
Aging / psychology*
Amygdala / physiology
Brain / growth & development*
Brain / physiology*
Cognitive Reserve / physiology*
Executive Function / physiology*
Female
Humans
Insular Cortex / physiology
Life Change Events*
Male
Middle Aged
Prefrontal Cortex / physiology

Grants and funding

R37 AG025667/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States