Resting-state slow wave power, healthy aging and cognitive performance.

(a) Topographic representation of the scalp distribution of Pearson product moment correlations between age and MEG power for slow-waves (0.5–6.5 Hz). Blue regions indicate negative correlations, red regions indicate positive correlations. The cluster of sensors showing significant linear decrease in MEG power with age (p = .009) is marked with white dots. (b) Scatterplot depicting linear correlations between cluster-averaged spectral power and chronological age (r = −.58, p < .001).

Scaled spectral power averaged over all sensors from the slow wave cluster.Significant frequencies are shaded in gray. Participants were divided into a “younger” (n = 26, blue line) and an “older” (n = 27, red line) group by median split. Older participants exhibit reduced spectral power compared to younger for slow wave frequencies. The small peak at 16.6 Hz represents technical noise resulting from a railway system that operates in a distance of approximately 1 km to the lab.

(a) Illustration of the position of the selected sensor clusters for the five defined regions (Frontal, Central, Left Temporal, Right Temporal and Occipital). (b–d) Scatterplots depicting linear correlations between slow wave activity in temporal and central regions and performance (completion time) on the Trail Making Test, separately for “younger” (n = 26) and “older” (n = 27) participants (based on a median split). (b) Associations between performance on TMT-A and delta power (0.5–4 Hz) in the right temporal region. (c) Associations between performance on TMT-B and delta power in the central region. (d) Associations between performance on TMT-B and theta activity in the left temporal region.