Contributions of White Matter Connectivity and BOLD Modulation to Cognitive Aging: A Lifespan Structure-Function Association Study

The ability to flexibly modulate brain activation to increasing cognitive challenge decreases with aging. This age-related decrease in dynamic range of function of regional gray matter may be, in part, due to age-related degradation of regional white matter tracts. Here, a lifespan sample of 171 healthy adults (aged 20–94) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning including diffusion-weighted imaging (for tractography) and functional...