PAIN IS ASSOCIATED WITH RAPID GRAY MATTER ATROPHY AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS

Background: Recent findings indicate that leisure activity (LA) delays cognitive decline and reduces the risk of dementia. However, the association between LA and brain volume remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between LA variety and brain volume with a focus on the hippocampus and gray matter.Methods: Data were obtained from the baseline survey of the Neuron to Environmental Impact across Generations study, which had targeted community-dwelling older adults living in Niigata, Japan. We divided LAs into 10 categories, and counted the number of categories of activities in which the participants engaged. We classified them as follows: 0 (i.e., no activity), 1, 2, or ≥ 3 types. Brain volume was assessed through magnetic resonance imaging, and hippocampal and gray matter volumes were ascertained.Results: The sample size was 482. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that hippocampal and gray matter volumes were significantly greater among participants with ≥ 3 types of LAs than among their no-activity counterparts. Hippocampal volume was significantly greater among those who engaged in one type of LA than among those who engaged in no such activity. Sex-stratified analysis revealed that hippocampal volumes were significantly greater among males who engaged in ≥ 3 types of LAs and one type of LA. However, no such association was found among females.Conclusion: The present findings suggest that engaging in a wide range of LAs is related to hippocampal and gray matter volumes. Furthermore, there was a sex difference in the association between LA variety and brain volume.

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Association of Sleep, Neuropsychological Performance, and Gray Matter Volume With Glymphatic Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Neurology ◽

10.1212/wnl.0000000000013215 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 10.1212/WNL.0000000000013215

Author(s):

Tiing Yee Siow ◽

Cheng Hong Toh ◽

Jung-Lung Hsu ◽

Geng-Hao Liu ◽

Shwu-Hua Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Intracranial Volume ◽

Waste Products ◽

Glymphatic System ◽

Matter Volume ◽

Gray Matter Volumes ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

Background and Objectives:The glymphatic system, which is robustly enabled during some stages of sleep, is a fluid-transport pathway that clears cerebral waste products. Most contemporary knowledge regarding glymphatic system is inferred from rodent experiments and human research is limited. The objective of the research is to explore the associations between human glymphatic function, sleep, neuropsychological performances, and cerebral gray matter volumes.Methods:This cross-sectional study included individuals 60 years or older who had participated in the Integrating Systemic Data of Geriatric Medicine to Explore the Solution for Health Aging study between September 2019 and October 2020. Community-dwelling older adults were enrolled at 2 different sites. Participants with dementia, major depressive disorders, and other major organ system abnormalities were excluded. Sleep profile was accessed using questionnaires and polysomnography. Administered neuropsychological test batteries included Everyday Cognition (ECog) and the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropsychological Battery (CERAD-NB). Gray matter volumes were estimated based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Diffusion tensor imaging-analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) index was used as the MRI marker of glymphatic function.Results:A total of 84 participants (mean [SD] age, 73.3 [7.1] years, 47 [56.0%] women) were analyzed. Multivariate linear regression model determined that age (unstandardized β, -0.0025 [SE, 0.0001]; P = 0.02), N2 sleep duration (unstandardized β, 0.0002 [SE, 0.0001]; P = 0.04), and the apnea-hypopnea index (unstandardized β, -0.0011 [SE, 0.0005]; P = 0.03) were independently associated with DTI-ALPS. Higher DTI-ALPS was associated with better ECog language scores (unstandardized β, -0.59 [SE, 0.28]; P = 0.04) and better CERAD-NB word-list-learning delayed recall subtest scores (unstandardized β, 6.17 [SE, 2.31]; P = 0.009) after co-varying for age and education. Higher DTI-ALPS was also associated with higher gray matter volume (unstandardized β, 107.00 [SE, 43.65]; P = 0.02) after controlling for age, gender, and total intracranial volume.Discussion:Significant associations were identified between glymphatic function and sleep stressing the importance of sleep for brain health. This study also revealed associations between DTI-ALPS, neuropsychological performances, and cerebral gray matter volumes suggesting the potential of DTI-ALPS as a biomarker for cognitive disorders.

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Gray Matter Regions Associated With Functional Mobility in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society ◽

10.1111/jgs.16309 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 68 (5) ◽

pp. 1023-1028 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nikki L. DiSalvio ◽

Caterina Rosano ◽

Howard J. Aizenstein ◽

Mark S. Redfern ◽

Joseph M. Furman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Functional Mobility ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

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Hyposmia and Neuroimaging Signature in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1709 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 530-530

Author(s):

Cynthia Felix ◽

Lana Chahine ◽

Honglei Chen ◽

Zichun Cao ◽

Caterina Rosano

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Mean Diffusivity ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Intracranial Volume ◽

Total Brain ◽

Identification Test ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract Olfaction declines with aging, and hyposmia, or impaired sense of smell, is associated with neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Neuroimaging studies of hyposmia in AD/PD patients have often examined pathology-specific brain regions. Our knowledge of neural correlates in regions that mediate olfaction in community-dwelling older adults, is limited. We quantified mean diffusivity (MD) of the gray matter (GM) using diffusion tensor imaging in a community-dwelling sample of 308 older adults (mean age: 82.9 years, 58% women, 40% black). We focused on total brain and these regions involved in olfaction- olfactory bulb, amygdala, entorhinal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and hippocampus. Smell was tested with a scratch-and-sniff validated odor identification test, the Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT). Hyposmia was defined as BSIT score of ≤8, assessed about 7 years prior to neuroimaging. In our sample, 23% had hyposmia, more in in men (30%) than in women (19%). Hyposmia was not significantly associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension; diseases such as stroke; age; race; cognitive or mobility functions (all p>0.1). In linear regression models adjusted for demographics and brain atrophy (total brain gray matter volume divided by intracranial volume), hyposmia was significantly associated with higher GM MD (lower microstructural integrity) of the left orbitofrontal cortex (standardized beta: 0.142, t=2.56, p=0.011). Understanding the neural substrates involved in hyposmia in aging is an important step towards advancing research on hyposmia in non-clinic-based, community-dwelling populations.

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Cognitive Dysfunction and Gait Abnormalities in CKD

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology ◽

10.2215/cjn.16091020 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. CJN.16091020

Author(s):

Melanie J. Koren ◽

Helena M. Blumen ◽

Emmeline I. Ayers ◽

Joe Verghese ◽

Matthew K. Abramowitz

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Cognitive Dysfunction ◽

Gray Matter ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Gray Matter Atrophy ◽

Gait Abnormalities

Background and objectivesCognitive impairment is a major cause of morbidity in CKD. We hypothesized that gait abnormalities share a common pathogenesis with cognitive dysfunction in CKD, and therefore would be associated with impaired cognitive function in older adults with CKD, and focused on a recently defined gait phenotype linked with CKD.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsGait assessments and neuropsychological testing were performed in 312 nondisabled, community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥65 years). A subset (n=115) underwent magnetic resonance imaging. The primary cognitive outcome was the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) total scale score. Associations with cognitive function were tested using multivariable linear regression and nearest-neighbor matching. The risk of developing mild cognitive impairment syndrome was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models.ResultsLower eGFR was associated with lower RBANS score only among participants with the gait phenotype (P for interaction =0.04). Compared with participants with neither CKD nor the gait phenotype, adjusted RBANS scores were 5.4 points (95% confidence interval, 1.8 to 9.1) lower among participants with both, who demonstrated poorer immediate memory, visuospatial ability, delayed memory, and executive function. In a matched analysis limited to participants with CKD, the gait phenotype was similarly associated with lower RBANS scores (−6.9; 95% confidence interval, −12.2 to −1.5). Neuroimaging identified a pattern of gray matter atrophy common to both CKD and the gait phenotype involving brain regions linked with cognition. The gait phenotype was associated with higher risk of mild cognitive impairment (hazard ratio, 3.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.46 to 10.44) independent of eGFR.ConclusionsThe gait phenotype was associated with poorer function in a number of cognitive domains among older adults with CKD, and was associated with incident mild cognitive impairment independent of eGFR. CKD and the gait phenotype were associated with a shared pattern of gray matter atrophy.

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