Author(s)

Muziyao Huang

Corresponding Author

Muziyao Huang

Abstract

This study examines the associations between social participation and EEG microstate dynamics in 90 older adults. Participants reported involvement in four types of social activities (card games and chess, group fitness dancing, community-organized group activities, and volunteer activities) and completed five-minute resting-state EEG recordings. Microstate features—including duration, occurrence, coverage, and transition probabilities—were extracted and analyzed using multivariate general linear models while controlling for age, gender, and education. Results showed that group fitness dancing was significantly associated with longer duration and greater coverage of microstate B. Participation in community-organized group activities was linked to higher occurrence of microstate C, increased coverage of microstate B, and greater transition probabilities from microstates A and B to D. These findings suggest that socially and physically interactive activities may be associated with large-scale brain dynamics in late life, highlighting the potential value of promoting community-based activities to support brain health in older adults.

Keywords

EEG Microstates, Social Participation, Older Adults, Resting-State EEG