The age-related trajectory of visual attention neural function is altered in adults living with HIV: A cross-sectional MEG study.

Background: Despite living a normal lifespan, at least 35% of persons with HIV (PWH) in resource-rich countries develop HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). This high prevalence of cognitive decline may reflect accelerated ageing in PWH, but the evidence supporting an altered ageing phenotype in PWH has been mixed.

Methods: We examined the impact of ageing on the orienting of visual attention in PWH using dynamic functional mapping with magnetoencephalography (MEG) in 173 participants age 22-72 years-old (94 uninfected controls, 51 cognitively-unimpaired PWH, and 28 with HAND). All MEG data were imaged using a state-of-the-art beamforming approach and neural oscillatory responses during attentional orienting were examined for ageing, HIV, and cognitive status effects.

Findings: All participants responded slower during trials that required attentional reorienting. Our functional mapping results revealed HIV-by-age interactions in left prefrontal theta activity, alpha oscillations in the left parietal, right cuneus, and right frontal eye-fields, and left dorsolateral prefrontal beta activity (p<.005). Critically, within PWH, we observed a cognitive status-by-age interaction, which revealed that ageing impacted the oscillatory gamma activity serving attentional reorienting differently in cognitively-normal PWH relative to those with HAND in the left temporoparietal, inferior frontal gyrus, and right prefrontal cortices (p<.005).

Interpretation: This study provides key evidence supporting altered ageing trajectories across vital attention circuitry in PWH, and further suggests that those with HAND exhibit unique age-related changes in the oscillatory dynamics serving attention function. Additionally, our neural findings suggest that age-related changes in PWH may serve a compensatory function.

Funding: National Institutes of Health, USA.