Increased functional integration of emotional control network in late adulthood

Abstract

AbstractAcross the adult lifespan, there are changes in how emotions are perceived and regulated. As individuals age, there is an observed improvement in emotion regulation and overall quicker recovery from negative emotions. While previous studies have shown differences in emotion processing in late adulthood, the corresponding differences in large-scale brain networks remain largely underexplored. By utilizing large-scale datasets such as the Human Connectome Project (HCP-Aging, N = 621) and Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN, N= 333), we were able to investigate how emotion regulation networks’ functional topography differs across the entire adult lifespan. Based on previous meta-analytic work that identified four large-scale functional brain networks involved in emotion generation and regulation, we found an increase in the functional integration of the emotional control network among older adults. Additionally, confirming through the nonlinear model, individuals around the age of 70 showed a steadier decline in integration of a network mediating emotion generation and regulation via interoception. Furthermore, the analyses revealed a negative association between age and perceived stress and loneliness that could be attributed to differences in large-scale emotion regulation networks. Our study highlights the importance of identifying topological changes in the functional emotion network architecture across the lifespan, as it allows for a better understanding of emotional aging and psychological well-being in late adulthood.Highlights-We aimed to identify age-related differences in the functional integration of large-scale emotion regulation brain networks across the adult lifespan, and its implications for mood.-Alterations in four emotion generation and regulation networks across the lifespan were identified in HCP-aging dataset.-Frontal emotion control network showed increased while interoception network showed decreased functional integration with higher age.-Increased integration of emotion control network was replicated and validated in Cam-CAN dataset.-Age was negatively associated with perceived stress and loneliness.