부산대학교 도서관

Growing evidence has unveiled the dynamic nature of human brain networks. However, the dynamic and hierarchical organization that supports information transmission in brain networks remains unexplored across the adult lifespan. In this study, we developed an analytical framework to investigate the spatiotemporal reorganization of dynamic brain networks during adult development and aging. Specifically, using resting-state fMRI data from the Cam-CAN lifespan dataset, we examined the age effects on the topological stability of egocentric structures and the average length of temporal paths. As the egocentric structure reflects the relationships between a node’s neighbors, we further explored whether the stability of egocentric structures mediates age effects on information diffusion. The results showed that the topological stability of egocentric structures has an impact on information processing in the spatiotemporal domain. In particular, the age-related changes observed in some functional systems followed different progressive patterns from that of other systems, which might be explained by some compensation mechanisms. Taken together, the present work may provide an additional perspective for understanding the underlying neuro-mechanisms of healthy aging.