Cortical thickness is associated with altered autonomic function in cognitively impaired and non‐impaired older adults

摘要

Key points class="unordered" style="list-style-type:disc" id="tjp12651-list-0001">The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is critical for adaptation to environment demands.Alzheimer's disease (AD), via frontal compensatory processes, may affect PNS regulation, thereby compromising older adults’ capacity for adaptation, and increasing morbidity and mortality risk.Here we found that AD‐associated neurodegeneration accompanied an overactive anterior cingulate cortex, which in turn resulted in a high level of PNS activity at rest, as well as strong PNS activity withdrawal in response to the mental effort.This discovery provides the first line of evidence to suggest that AD‐associated neurodegeneration links to altered PNS regulation during mental effort in older adults, and that the compensatory processes accompanying frontal hyperactivation appear to be responsible for these alterations.