Hub structure in functional network of EEG signals supporting high cognitive functions in older individuals

Mayuna Tobe; Sou Nobukawa; Kimiko Mizukami; Megumi Kawaguchi; Masato Higashima; Yuji Tanaka; Teruya Yamanishi; Tetsuya Takahashi

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2023.1130428

Hub structure in functional network of EEG signals supporting high cognitive functions in older individuals

Front Aging Neurosci. 2023 Apr 17:15:1130428. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1130428. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mayuna Tobe¹, Sou Nobukawa^{1

2

3}, Kimiko Mizukami⁴, Megumi Kawaguchi⁵, Masato Higashima⁶, Yuji Tanaka⁷, Teruya Yamanishi⁸, Tetsuya Takahashi^{9

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Information and Computer Science, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino, Japan.
² Research Center for Mathematical Engineering, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino, Japan.
³ Department of Preventive Intervention for Psychiatric Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
⁵ Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Yoshida, Japan.
⁶ Medical Corporation Aokikai Seiwa Hospital, Kanazawa, Japan.
⁷ Akashi Mind Hospital, Akashi, Japan.
⁸ Faculty of Data Science, Osaka Seikei University, Osaka, Japan.
⁹ Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Yoshida, Japan.
¹¹ Uozu Shinkei Sanatorium, Uozu, Japan.

Abstract

Introduction: Maintaining high cognitive functions is desirable for "wellbeing" in old age and is particularly relevant to a super-aging society. According to their individual cognitive functions, optimal intervention for older individuals facilitates the maintenance of cognitive functions. Cognitive function is a result of whole-brain interactions. These interactions are reflected in several measures in graph theory analysis for the topological characteristics of functional connectivity. Betweenness centrality (BC), which can identify the "hub" node, i.e., the most important node affecting whole-brain network activity, may be appropriate for capturing whole-brain interactions. During the past decade, BC has been applied to capture changes in brain networks related to cognitive deficits arising from pathological conditions. In this study, we hypothesized that the hub structure of functional networks would reflect cognitive function, even in healthy elderly individuals.

Method: To test this hypothesis, based on the BC value of the functional connectivity obtained using the phase lag index from the electroencephalogram under the eyes closed resting state, we examined the relationship between the BC value and cognitive function measured using the Five Cognitive Functions test total score.

Results: We found a significant positive correlation of BC with cognitive functioning and a significant enhancement in the BC value of individuals with high cognitive functioning, particularly in the frontal theta network.

Discussion: The hub structure may reflect the sophisticated integration and transmission of information in whole-brain networks to support high-level cognitive function. Our findings may contribute to the development of biomarkers for assessing cognitive function, enabling optimal interventions for maintaining cognitive function in older individuals.

Keywords: aging; betweenness centrality; cognitive function; electroencephalogram; functional connectivity; phase lag index.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI for the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (Grant Number JP22K12183) to SN and (Grant Number JP20K07964) to TT. This study was partially supported by the JST CREST (Grant Number JPMJCR17A4). The authors declare that this study received funding from JSPS and JST. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.