Dependence of cognitive ability on synchronous neural interactions determined by magnetoencephalography

Previous studies have shown that synchronous neural interactions (SNIs) underlying healthy brain function can be readily distinguished from neural anomalies associated with diseases including dementia; however, it is imperative to identify biomarkers that facilitate early identification of individuals at risk for cognitive decline before the onset of clinical symptoms. Here, we evaluated whether variation in brain function, controlling for age, corresponds with subtle decrements in cognitive performance in cognitively healthy women. A total of 251 women (age range 24–102 yr) who performed above established cutoffs on the Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) also underwent a task-free magnetoencephalography scan from which SNIs were computed. The results demonstrated that increased SNI was significantly associated with decreased cognitive performance (r(2) = 0.923, P = 0.009), controlling for age. Compared with the lowest performers with normal cognition (MoCA = 26), SNI of the highest performers (MoCA = 30) was associated with decorrelation primarily in the right anterior temporal cortex region, with additional (weaker) foci in left anterior temporal cortex, right posterior temporal cortex, and cerebellum. The findings highlight the relevance of neural network decorrelation on cognitive functioning and suggest that subtle increases in SNI may presage future cognitive impairment. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study in cognitively healthy women showed that decreased cognitive performance is associated with increased neural network correlations, particularly involving the temporal cortices. As healthy brain function relies on dynamic neural network communication, these findings suggest that subtle increases in correlated neural network activity may be a useful early indicator of decrements in cognitive function.