Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36106762›Full record

SynthesisPsychophysiology2023

The older adult brain is less modular, more integrated, and less efficient at rest: A systematic review of large-scale resting-state functional brain networks in aging.

Hamish A Deery, Robert Di Paolo, Chris Moran, Gary F Egan, Sharna D Jamadar

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychophysiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 98 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
98citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

98 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. Review
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  12. Distinct Brain Systems Support Afferent and Efferent Autonomic Activity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  13. Article
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  17. Correspondence of large-scale functional brain network decline across aging mice and humans.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

38 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

5 authors.

Hamish A DeeryTurner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-1052-4516
Robert Di PaoloTurner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Chris MoranPeninsula Clinical School, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-1872-3314
Gary F EganTurner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-3186-4026
Sharna D JamadarTurner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7222-7181

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The literature on large-scale resting-state functional brain networks across the adult lifespan was systematically reviewed. Studies published between 1986 and July 2021 were retrieved from PubMed. After reviewing 2938 records, 144 studies were included. Results on 11 network measures were summarized and assessed for certainty of the evidence using a modified GRADE method. The evidence provides high certainty that older adults display reduced within-network and increased between-network functional connectivity. Older adults also show lower segregation, modularity, efficiency and hub function, and decreased lateralization and a posterior to anterior shift at rest. Higher-order functional networks reliably showed age differences, whereas primary sensory and motor networks showed more variable results. The inflection point for network changes is often the third or fourth decade of life. Age effects were found with moderate certainty for within- and between-network altered patterns and speed of dynamic connectivity. Research on within-subject bold variability and connectivity using glucose uptake provides low certainty of age differences but warrants further study. Taken together, these age-related changes may contribute to the cognitive decline often seen in older adults.

Indexed as

BrainCognitive DysfunctionAgedAgingBrain MappingHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingNerve NetNeural PathwaysagingfMRIfunctional connectivitylarge-scale networkslifespanPETPRISMAresting-state networkssystematic review

Identifiers

PMID36106762
PMCPMC10909558

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.