Functional MRI Signatures of Autonomic Physiology in Aging.

ABSTRACT: While traditionally regarded as "noise", blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI fluctuations coupled to systemic physiology-such as heart rate and respiratory changes-also hold valuable information about brain vascular properties and autonomic function. In this study, we leverage these physiological BOLD signals to characterize age-related changes in brain physiology. Using a large dataset from the Lifespan Human Connectome Project Aging study, we investigated how the spatiotemporal BOLD-fMRI signatures of autonomic physiology, specifically heart rate and respiratory variation, change with advancing age. Our findings reveal that aging is associated with globally slower respiratory fMRI responses, alongside faster cardiac fMRI responses and enhanced brain-cardiac signal coupling. Mor

SUBMITTER: Fan J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12026821 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature