Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32613721›Full record

ArticleHuman brain mapping2020

Differences in directed functional brain connectivity related to age, sex and mental health.

Martina J Lund, Dag Alnaes, Simon Schwab, Dennis van der Meer, Ole A Andreassen, Lars T Westlye, Tobias Kaufmann

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human brain mapping, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Protective role of parenthood on age-related brain function in mid- to late-life.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 4 countries.

Martina J LundNorwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-2679-9469
Dag AlnaesNorwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-7361-5418
Simon SchwabCenter for Reproducible Science (CRS) & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI), University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-1588-2689
Dennis van der MeerNorwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-0466-386X
Ole A AndreassenNorwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-4461-3568
Lars T WestlyeNorwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-8644-956X
Tobias KaufmannNorwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-4003-1018
Oslo University Hospital · NOPrevention Institute · US

Funding

Mapping the Human Connectome: Structure, Function, and HeritabilityU54MH091657 · NIMH · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI UGURBIL, KAMIL, VAN ESSEN, DAVID C · 2010 to 2014
$34.7M
Medical Research Council MC_PC_17228Medical Research Council MC_QA137853NIMH NIH HHS U54 MH091657Swiss National Science Foundation #171598
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Functional interconnections between brain regions define the "connectome" which is of central interest for understanding human brain function. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance (rsfMRI) work has revealed changes in static connectivity related to age, sex, cognitive abilities and psychiatric symptoms, yet little is known how these factors may alter the information flow. The commonly used approach infers functional brain connectivity using stationary coefficients yielding static estimates of the undirected connection strength between brain regions. Dynamic graphical models (DGMs) are a multivariate model with dynamic coefficients reflecting directed temporal associations between nodes, and can yield novel insight into directed functional connectivity. Here, we leveraged this approach to test for associations between edge-wise estimates of direction flow across the functional connectome and age, sex, intellectual abilities and mental health. We applied DGM to investigate patterns of information flow in data from 984 individuals from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and 10,249 individuals from the UK Biobank. Our analysis yielded patterns of directed connectivity in independent HCP and UK Biobank data similar to those previously reported, including that the cerebellum consistently receives information from other networks. We show robust associations between information flow and age and sex for several connections, with strongest effects of age observed in the sensorimotor network. Visual, auditory and sensorimotor nodes were also linked to mental health. Our findings support the use of DGM as a measure of directed connectivity in rsfMRI data and provide new insight into the shaping of the connectome during aging.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsAgingBehavioral SymptomsBrainConnectomeDatabases, FactualFemaleHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNerve Net

Identifiers

PMID32613721
PMCPMC7502836
OpenAlexW3039467906

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.