Biology subjects

Swinnen, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Swinnen, S..

8 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

A better connected brain relates to lower dogmatism in young and older adults

BACKGROUND: Cognitive flexibility represents a crucial function in adapting to new environments. In this study we examined the ecological validity of a cognitive flexibility task by studying its relationship with individual traits (dogmatism, dependence on routines and perspective taking). Second, we investigated whether global and local structural brain connectivity properties were related to cognitive flexibility as well as associated traits and their possible age-related differences. METHOD: Thirty-eight young (18-35 years) and thirty-seven older (60-85 years) healthy participants took part in an MRI protocol including a Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) sequence. Participants also performed a Rule-Switching task to measure cognitive flexibility performance and filled in questionnaires assessing dogmatism, dependence on routines and perspective taking. RESULTS: A higher cognitive flexibility was related to lower dogmatism and lower dependence on routines only in young adults. In relation to structural connectivity, we found that: a) global and local connectivity properties negatively predicted dogmatism levels in the full sample, b) local connectivity properties of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) positively predicted performance in cognitive flexibility performance in the full sample and in older adults, and c) connectivity between left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and left putamen negatively predicted dogmatism in older adults. DISCUSSION: A deeper understanding of the shaping of structural networks supports a better understanding of cognitive flexibility and dogmatism in a highly dynamic world.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Age-related differences in the cortical motor network during uni-manual and bimanual coordination - an EEG study

Aging is accompanied by various neurophysiological changes that may affect cognitive and motor function. Compared to younger adults, motor performance in older adults engages more brain regions and exhibits elevated neural activity in the motor-related alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (15-30 Hz) frequency bands of electro-encephalography (EEG) signals. To what extent these functional changes correlate with the quality of motor performance is underexplored. We recorded EEG in 19 young and 19 older adults during unimanual and bimanual visuomotor tasks with different degrees of difficulty. Older participants showed a lower quality of performance than younger adults, especially during asymmetric bimanual tasks. We analyzed source-localized activity in bilateral parietal and (pre-)motor areas to investigate, especially, the hypothesized pivotal role of left premotor cortex (PMCL) activity within the motor network during motor performance. In PMCL, beta activity was indeed significantly affected by age during bimanual performance, while alpha activity was altered in the bilateral (pre-)cuneus. When predicting error of performance via alpha and beta modulations, we found significant associations in bilateral M1 and (pre-)cuneusR during unimanual performance, while in bimanual performance, PMCL and (pre-)cuneusL were also included in the significant association. Our results confirm the importance of PMCL and (pre-)cuneusL for the performance of bimanual tasks, especially when the tasks are challenging. The age-related differences in alpha power in bilateral (pre-)cuneus and their associations with motor performance suggest that altered visuomotor integration has an important contribution to the reduction of the quality of motor performance in older adults.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Electrophysiological signatures of targeted memory reactivation during sleep are not accompanied by motor performance improvements in older adults

Targeted memory reactivation (TMR) during sleep enhances memory consolidation in young adults by modulating electrophysiological markers of neuroplasticity. Interestingly, older adults exhibit deficits in motor memory consolidation, an impairment that has been linked to age-related degradations in the same sleep features sensitive to TMR. We hypothesized that TMR would enhance consolidation in older adults via the modulation of these markers. Seventeen older participants were trained on a motor task involving two auditory-cued sequences. During a post-learning nap, two auditory cues were played: one associated to a learned (i.e., reactivated) sequence and one control. Performance during two delayed retests did not differ between reactivated and non-reactivated sequences. Moreover, both associated and control sounds modulated brain responses, yet there were no consistent differences between the auditory cue types. Our results collectively demonstrate that older adults do not benefit from specific reactivation of a motor memory trace by an associated auditory cue during post-learning sleep. It is possible, however, that auditory stimulation during post-learning sleep boosts motor memory consolidation in a non-specific manner.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Connectivity in Large-Scale Resting State Brain Networks is Related to Motor Learning: a High-Density EEG Study

Previous research has shown that resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between different brain regions (seeds) is related to motor learning and motor memory consolidation. Using high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG) we addressed this question from a brain network perspective. Specifically, we examined frequency-dependent functional connectivity in resting-state networks from twenty-nine young healthy participants before and after they were trained on a motor sequence learning task. Consolidation was assessed with an overnight retest on the motor task. We showed training-related decreases in gamma band connectivity within the motor network, and between the motor and functionally distinct resting-state networks including the attentional network. Brain-behavior correlation analyses revealed that baseline beta, delta and theta rsFC was related to subsequent motor learning and memory consolidation such that lower connectivity within the motor network and between the motor and several distinct resting-state networks was correlated with better learning and overnight consolidation. Last, training-related increases in beta-band connectivity between the motor and the visual networks were related to greater consolidation. Altogether our results indicate that connectivity in large-scale resting-state brain networks is related to - and modulated by - motor learning and memory consolidation processes. These finding corroborate previous seed-based connectivity research and provide evidence that frequency-dependent functional connectivity in resting state networks is critically linked to motor learning and memory consolidation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Sigma Oscillations Protect or Reinstate Motor Memory Depending on their Temporal Coordination with Slow Waves

Targeted memory reactivation (TMR) during post-learning sleep is known to enhance motor memory consolidation but the underlying neurophysiological processes remain unclear. Here, we confirm the beneficial effect of auditory TMR on motor performance. At the neural level, TMR enhanced slow wave (SW) characteristics. Additionally, greater TMR-related phase-amplitude coupling between slow (0.5-2 Hz) and sigma (12-16 Hz) oscillations after the SW peak was related to higher TMR effect on performance. Importantly, sounds that were not associated to learning strengthened SW-sigma coupling at the SW trough and the increase in sigma power nested in the trough of the potential evoked by these unassociated sounds was related to the TMR benefit. Altogether, our data suggest that, depending on their precise temporal coordination during post learning sleep, slow and sigma oscillations play a crucial role in either memory reinstatement or protection against irrelevant information; two processes that critically contribute to motor memory consolidation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Representational similarity scores of digits in the sensorimotor cortex are associated with behavioral performance

Previous studies aimed to unravel a digit-specific somatotopic organization in the primary sensorimotor (SM1) cortex. It is, however, yet to be determined whether such digit somatotopy is associated with motor performance (i.e., effector selection) and digit enslaving (unintentional co-contraction of fingers) during different types of motor tasks. Here, we adopted multivariate representational similarity analysis, applied to high-field (7T) MRI data, to explore digit activation patterns in response to online finger tapping. Sixteen young adults (7 males, mean age: 24.4 years) underwent MRI, and additionally performed an offline choice reaction time task (CRTT) to assess effector selection. During both the finger tapping task (FTT) and the CRTT, force sensor data of all digits were acquired. This allowed us to assess digit enslaving (obtained from CRTT & FTT), as well as digit interference (i.e., erroneous effector selection; obtained from CRTT) and determine the correlation between these variables and digit representational similarity scores of SM1. Digit enslaving during finger tapping was associated with contralateral SM1 representational similarity scores of both hands. During the CRTT, digit enslaving of the right hand only was associated with representational similarity scores of left SM1. Additionally, right hand digit interference was associated with representational similarity scores of left S1. In conclusion, we demonstrate a cortical origin of digit enslaving, and uniquely reveal that effector selection performance is predicted by digit representations in the somatosensory cortex.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Interaction information along lifespan of the resting brain dynamics reveals a major redundant role of the default mode network

Interaction Information generalizes the univariate Shannon Entropy to triplets of variables, allowing the detection of redundant or synergetic interactions in dynamical networks. Here, we calculated interaction information from functional magnetic resonance imaging and asked whether redundancy or synergy vary across brain regions and along lifespan. We found high overlapping between the pattern of high redundancy and the default mode network, and this occurred along lifespan. The pattern of high values of synergy, more heterogeneous and variable along lifespan, was overlapping with different cognitive domains, such as spatial and temporal memory, emotion processing and motor skills. Moreover, the amount of redundancy and synergy seem to be balanced along lifespan, suggesting informational compensatory mechanisms in brain networks.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

What the structural-functional connectome reveals about brain aging: The key role of the fronto-striatal-thalamic circuit and the rejuvenating impact of physical activity

Physiological ageing affects brain structure and function impacting its morphology, connectivity and performance. However, at which extent brain-connectivity metrics reflect the age of an individual and whether treatments or lifestyle factors such as physical activity influence the age-connectivity match is still unclear. Here, we assessed the level of physical activity and collected brain images from healthy participants (N=155) ranging from 10 to 80 years to build functional (resting-state) and structural (tractography) connectivity matrices that were combined as connectivity descriptors. Connectivity descriptors were used to compute a maximum likelihood age estimator that was optimized by minimizing the mean absolute error. The connectivity-based estimated age, i.e. the brain-connectome age (BCA), was compared to the chronological age (ChA). Our results were threefold. First, we showed that ageing widely affects the structural-functional connectivity of multiple structures, such as the anterior part of the default mode network, basal ganglia, thalamus, insula, cingulum, hippocampus, parahippocampus, occipital cortex, fusiform, precuneus and temporal pole. Second, our analysis showed that the structure-function connectivity between basal ganglia and thalamus to orbitofrontal and frontal areas make a major contribution to age estimation. Third, we found that high levels of physical activity reduce BCA as compared to ChA, and vice versa, low levels increment it. In conclusion, the BCA model results highlight the impact of physical activity and the key role played by the connectivity between basal ganglia and thalamus to frontal areas on the process of healthy aging. Notably, the same methodology can be generally applied both to evaluate the impact of other factors and therapies on brain ageing, and to identify the structural-functional brain connectivity correlate of other biomarkers than ChA.

neuroscience↗