Cingulate cortex aging

The cingulate cortex is the largest structure of the limbic lobe, spanning multiple functional units. Recently, Aghamohammadi-Sereshki et al. (2024) performed structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (sMRI) scans on 126 healthy individuals ranging between 18 and 85 years old. The aim was to study morphological, functional, and demographic patterns of cingulate cortex atrophy in relation to age.

The first part of the research was meant to observe the effects of sex, cerebral hemisphere, and regional anatomy on age-related cingulate cortex deterioration. The authors hypothesized that age would cause a more significant atrophy in the cingulate cortex’s posterior regions than in its anterior regions. Results revealed that all regions of the cingulate cortex, except the right anterior midcingulate cortex (MCC), showed expected bilateral linear volumetric reductions in relation to age. Meanwhile, sex differences suggested a faster age-related atrophy in men than in women.

The second half of the study focused on determining the relationship of age-related volume reduction and functional decline, particularly in emotion recognition accuracy and Theory of Mind (ToM): the correct recognition of others’ cognitive states. Here, it was predicted that functional decline would be linked to age-related volume reduction in two specific anterior regions of the cingulate cortex (the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior MCC). On the one hand, although emotion recognition accuracy presented a positive correlation with pregenual ACC volume, this relation was found to be independent of age. On the other hand, better ToM capabilities presented a positive correlation with pregenual ACC and anterior MCC volumes. Notwithstanding, in this case, functional decline was indeed associated with age-related atrophy of the aforementioned cingulate subregions.

For a comprehensive overview of neuroimaging’s use in the study of brain aging see Cole & Franke (2017).

Tim Schuurman