Age-related differences in electroencephalogram connectivity and network topology

To better understand age-related differences in brain function and behavior, connectivity between brain regions was estimated from electroencephalogram source time series in eyes closed versus eyes open resting condition. In beta band, decrease of connectivity upon eyes opening was more pronounced in younger than in older participants. The extent of this decrease was associated with reaction time in attention tasks, and this relationship was fully mediated by participants’ age, implying that physiological processes, which lead to age-related slowing, include changes in beta reactivity. Graph-theoretical analysis showed a decrease of modularity and clustering in beta and gamma band networks in older adults, implying that age makes brain networks more random. The overall number of nodes identified as hubs in posterior cortical regions decreased in older participants. At the same time, increase of connectedness of anterior nodes, probably reflecting compensatory activation of the anterior attentional system, was observed in beta-band network of older adults. These findings show that normal aging mostly affects interactions in beta band, which are probably involved in attentional processes.