{"doi":"10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116730","title":"Processing speed and attention training modifies autonomic flexibility: A mechanistic intervention study","abstract":"Adaptation capacity is critical for maintaining cognition, yet it is understudied in groups at risk for dementia. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) is critical for neurovisceral integration and is a key contributor to adaptation capacity. To determine the central nervous system's top-down regulation of ANS, we conducted a mechanistic randomized controlled trial study, using a 6-week processing speed and attention (PS/A)-targeted intervention. Eighty-four older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) were randomized to a 6-week PS/A-targeted intervention or an active control without PS/A. Utilizing repeated measures (i.e., PS/A test different from the intervention, resting and cognitive task-based ECG, and resting fMRI) at baseline, immediately post-intervention (post-test), and 6-month follow-up, we aimed to test whether PS/A causally influences vagal control of ANS via their shared central neural pathways in aMCI. We indexed vagal control of ANS using high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) extracted from ECG data. Functional brain connectivity patterns were extracted from fMRI using advanced statistical tools. Compared to the control group, the intervention group showed significant improvement in PS/A, HF-HRV, salience network (SN), central executive network (CEN), and frontal parietal network (FPN) connectivity at post-test; the effect on SN, CEN, and FPN remained at 6-month follow-up. Changes in PS/A and SN connectivity significantly predicted change in HF-HRV from baseline to post-test and/or 6-month-follow-up. Age, neurodegeneration, nor sex did not affect these relationships. This work provides novel support for top-down regulation of PS/A and associated SN on vagal control of ANS. Intervening PS/A may be a viable approach for promoting adaptation capacity in groups at risk for dementia.","journal":"NeuroImage","year":2020,"id":63168,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":46,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9539,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":334181,"name":"Ye Tao","orcid":"0000-0003-4770-4921","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":334182,"name":"Quanjing Chen","orcid":"0000-0003-4630-6817","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":334183,"name":"Mia Anthony","orcid":"0000-0001-7419-1055","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":334184,"name":"Zhengwu Zhang","orcid":"0000-0002-9047-8838","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":307669,"name":"Duje Tadin","orcid":"0000-0003-1571-5589","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":334185,"name":"Kathi L. Heffner","orcid":"0000-0003-1095-1873","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":334180,"name":"Feng Lin","orcid":"0000-0003-1945-0362","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":56,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T21:11:00.632961Z","pmid":"32165263","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}