Influences of brain development and ageing on cortical interactive networks

Abstract Objective To study the effect of brain development and ageing on the pattern of cortical interactive networks. Methods By causality analysis of multichannel electroencephalograph (EEG) with partial directed coherence (PDC), we investigated the different neural networks involved in the whole cortex as well as the anterior and posterior areas in three age groups, i.e., children (0–10 years), mid-aged adults (26–38 years) and the elderly (56–80 years). Results By comparing the cortical interactive networks in different age groups, the following findings were concluded: (1) the cortical interactive network in the right hemisphere develops earlier than its left counterpart in the development stage; (2) the cortical interactive network of anterior cortex, especially at C3 and F3, is demonstrated to undergo far more extensive changes, compared with the posterior area during brain development and ageing; (3) the asymmetry of the cortical interactive networks declines during ageing with more loss of connectivity in the left frontal and central areas. Conclusions The age-related variation of cortical interactive networks from resting EEG provides new insights into brain development and ageing. Significance Our findings demonstrated that the PDC analysis of EEG is a powerful approach for characterizing the cortical functional connectivity during brain development and ageing.