Neuro-Cognitive Resilience in Long-Lived Bats: An Epigenetic Age-Adjusted Analysis of Spatial Memory and Brain Microstructure

Abstract: Long-lived species, such as the Egyptian fruit bat, offer unique insights into the mechanisms of healthy aging and neuro-cognitive resilience. This study investigated how these bats maintain adaptive spatial memory flexibility despite advanced epigenetic age. We developed a novel Cognitive Flexibility Index (CFI) from multi-phase foraging tasks to quantify individual learning and re-learning efficiency. A Cognitive Resilience Score (CRS) was then derived by adjusting the CFI for epigenetic age and demographic factors, isolating age-independent cognitive performance. We integrated comprehensive demographic, epigenetic age, behavioral, and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data from a cohort of 41 bats, with 33 subjects having complete multi-modal data for the primary analyses. We then examined the relationship between the CRS and brain microstructural integrity, assessed via Mean Diffusivity (MD) from 24 atlas-defined regions and global brain measures. Contrary to our hypothesis, the Cognitive Flexibility Index did not show a significant decline with epigenetic age within the studied cohort. Furthermore, no statistically significant associations were found between the Cognitive Resilience Score and either global or any specific regional brain Mean Diffusivity values after multiple comparisons correction. These null findings suggest that, within the observed age range and using the employed metrics, cognitive flexibility in these long-lived bats may not exhibit a strong link to overall or regional brain microstructural integrity, potentially reflecting true biological resilience or highlighting the need for more sensitive measures and larger cohorts in future investigations into the neurobiological underpinnings of extreme longevity.

Subjects:	q-bio.NC; q-bio.QM
Cite as:	PX:2508.00044