ArticleNeuroImage. Clinical2020
Resting state connectivity within the basal ganglia and gait speed in older adults with cerebral small vessel disease and locomotor risk factors.
Article in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gait and falls in cerebral small vessel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2023Pooled it
- Functional connectivity changes in cerebral small vessel disease - a systematic review of the resting-state MRI literature.BMC medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Locomotor savings relies on attentional control of walking in older, but not younger adults.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The relationship between white matter hyperintensity and gait in patients with cerebral small vessel disease.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Article
- Different Brain Network Connectomic Relationships Subserve Hand Dexterity During Task Versus Resting States in People with Brain Tumors.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Nigrostriatal dopaminergic integrity in relation to prefrontal cortex activity and gait performance during dual-task walking in older adults.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Article
- Quantifying neuroinflammation within deep gray matter in small vessel disease using diffusion tensor based free-water imaging: a longitudinal study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Article
- White Matter Hyperintensities Are Associated with Slower Gait Speed in Older Adults without Dementia.Neuro-degenerative diseases · 2024Article
- Associations of physical function and body mass index with functional brain networks in community-dwelling older adults.Neurobiology of aging · 2023Observational
- Abnormal whole-brain voxelwise structure-function coupling and its association with cognitive dysfunction in patients with different cerebral small vessel disease burdens.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimThe basal ganglia are critical for planned locomotion, but their role in age-related gait slowing is not well known. Spontaneous regional co-activation of brain activity at rest, known as resting state connectivity, is emerging as a biomarker of functional neural specialization of varying human processes, including gait. We hypothesized that greater connectivity amongst regions of the basal ganglia would be associated with faster gait speed in the elderly. We further investigated whether this association was similar in strength to that of other risk factors for gait slowing, specifically white matter hyperintensities (WMH).
methodsA cohort of 269 adults (79-90 years, 146 females, 164 White) were assessed for gait speed (m/sec) via stopwatch; brain activation during resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging, WMH, and gray matter volume (GMV) normalized by intracranial volume via 3T neuroimaging; and risk factors of poorer locomotion via clinical exams (body mass index (BMI), muscle strength, vision, musculoskeletal pain, cardiometabolic conditions, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function). To understand whether basal ganglia connectivity shows distinct clusters of connectivity, we conducted a k-means clustering analysis of regional co-activation among the substantia nigra, nucleus accumbens, subthalamic nucleus, putamen, pallidum, and caudate. We conducted two multivariable linear regression models: (1) with gait speed as the dependent variable and connectivity, demographics, WMH, GMV, and locomotor risk factors as independent variables and (2) with basal ganglia connectivity as the dependent variable and demographics, WMH, GMV, and locomotor risk factors as independent variables.
resultsWe identified two clusters of basal ganglia connectivity: high and low without a distinct spatial distribution allowing us to compute an average connectivity index of the entire basal ganglia regional connectivity (representing a continuous measure). Lower connectivity was associated with slower gait, independent of other locomotor risk factors, including WMH; the coefficient of this association was similar to those of other locomotor risk factors. Lower connectivity was significantly associated with lower BMI and greater WMH.
conclusionsLower resting state basal ganglia connectivity is associated with slower gait speed. Its contribution appears comparable to WMH and other locomotor risk factors. Future studies should assess whether promoting higher basal ganglia connectivity in older adults may reduce age-related gait slowing.
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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.