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  4. Rebalance the Inhibitory System in the Elderly Brain: Influence of Balance Learning on GABAergic Inhibition and Functional Connectivity
 
research article

Rebalance the Inhibitory System in the Elderly Brain: Influence of Balance Learning on GABAergic Inhibition and Functional Connectivity

Liu, Xinyu  
•
Scherrer, Selin
•
Egger, Sven
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November 1, 2024
Human Brain Mapping

Aging involves complex processes that impact the structure, function, and metabolism of the human brain. Declines in both structural and functional integrity along with reduced local inhibitory tone in the motor areas, as indicated by reduced γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels, are often associated with compromised motor performance in elderly adults. Using multimodal neuroimaging techniques including magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI as well as transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), this study explores whether these age-related changes can be mitigated by motor learning. The investigation focused on the effects of long-term balance learning (3 months) on intracortical inhibition, metabolism, structural, and functional connectivity in the cortical sensorimotor network among an elderly cohort. We found that after 3 months of balance learning, subjects significantly improved balance performance, upregulated sensorimotor cortical GABA levels and ventral sensorimotor network functional connectivity (VSN-FC) compared to a passive control group. Furthermore, correlation analysis suggested a positive association between baseline VSN-FC and balance performance, between baseline VSN-FC and SICI, and between improvements in balance performance and upregulation in SICI in the training group, though these correlations did not survive the false discovery rate correction. These findings demonstrate that balance learning has the potential to counteract aging-related decline in functional connectivity and cortical inhibition on the “tonic” (MRS) and “functional” (SICI) level and shed new light on the close interplay between the GABAergic system, functional connectivity, and behavior.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1002/hbm.70057
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85208616592

PubMed ID

39508513

Author(s)
Liu, Xinyu  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Scherrer, Selin

University of Fribourg

Egger, Sven

University of Fribourg

Lim, Song I.  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Lauber, Benedikt

University of Fribourg

Jelescu, Ileana

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois

Griffa, Alessandra  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Gambarota, Giulio

Université de Rennes

Taube, Wolfgang

University of Fribourg

Xin, Lijing  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Date Issued

2024-11-01

Publisher

Wiley

Published in
Human Brain Mapping
Volume

45

Issue

16

Article Number

e70057

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LIFMET  
MIPLAB  
CIBM-MRI  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

University of Lausanne

University of Geneva

Lausanne University Hospital

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Available on Infoscience
January 25, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/244151
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