Frontoparietal function and underlying structure reflect capacity for motor skill acquisition during healthy aging

While capacity for motor skill acquisition changes with healthy aging, there has been little consideration of how age-related changes in brain function or baseline brain structure support motor skill acquisition. We examined: (1) age-dependent changes in functional reorganization related to frontoparietal regions during motor skill acquisition, and (2) whether capacity for motor skill acquisition relates to baseline white matter microstructure in frontoparietal tracts. Healthy older and younger adults engaged in 4 weeks of skilled motor practice. Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) assessed functional reorganization before and after practice. Diffusion tensor imaging indexed microstructure of a frontoparietal tract at baseline, generated by rsFC seeds. Motor skill acquisition was associated with decreases in rsFC in healthy older adults and increases in rsFC in healthy younger adults. Frontoparietal tract microstructure was lower in healthy older versus younger adults, yet it was nega-tively associated with rate of skill acquisition regardless of group. Findings indicate that age-dependent alter-ations in frontoparietal function and baseline structure of a frontoparietal tract reflect capacity for motor skill acquisition.

Automated summary

This study examined the age-related changes in brain function and baseline brain structure that support motor skill acquisition. The findings showed that older adults experienced decreases in functional connectivity during motor skill acquisition, while younger adults experienced increases. Additionally, regardless of age group, lower baseline microstructure in a frontoparietal tract was associated with slower motor skill acquisition.