Age-Specific Functional Connectivity Changes After Partial Sleep Deprivation Are Correlated With Neurocognitive and Molecular Signatures

Abstract

Background

This study aimed to investigate age-specific alterations in functional connectivity after sleep deprivation (SD) and decode brain functional changes from neurocognitive and transcriptomic perspectives.

Methods

Here, we examined changes in global and regional graph measures, particularly regional network strength (RNS), in 41 young participants and 36 older participants with normal sleep and after 3 h of SD. Additionally, by utilizing cognitive probabilistic maps from Neurosynth and gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas, we applied partial least-squares regression analysis to identify the neurocognitive and transcriptional correlates of these RNS changes.

Results

After SD, older participants exhibited decreased RNS in the default mode network (DMN) and dorsal attention network, with increased RNS in the visual network. Young participants also showed decreased RNS in the DMN, notably in the left inferior parietal lobe, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and left posterior cingulate cortex. In young participants, SD-induced RNS changes significantly correlated with cognitive processes such as “attention,” “cognitive control,” and “working memory,” while in older participants, they correlated with “learning,” “focus,” and “decision.” Gene-category enrichment analysis indicated that specific genes related to signal transduction, ion channels, and immune signaling might influence SD pathophysiology by affecting functional connectivity in young participants.

Conclusions

This study elucidates shared and age-specific brain functional network alterations associated with SD, providing a neurocognitive and molecular basis for understanding the underlying pathophysiology.