scholarly journals Resting-state connectivity and its association with cognitive performance, educational attainment, and household income in UK Biobank (N = 3,950)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueyi Shen ◽  
Simon R Cox ◽  
Mark J Adams ◽  
David M Howard ◽  
Stephen M Lawrie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Numerical Reasoning ◽  
Neuroimaging Data

AbstractCognitive ability is an important predictor of lifelong physical and mental well-being and its impairments are associated with many psychiatric disorders. Higher cognitive ability is also associated with greater educational attainment and increased household income. Understanding neural mechanisms underlying cognitive ability is therefore of crucial importance for determining the nature of these associations. In the current study, we examined the spontaneous activity of the brain at rest to investigate its relationships with not only cognitive ability, but also educational attainment and household income. We used a large sample of resting-state neuroimaging data from UK Biobank (N=3,950). Firstly, analysis at the whole-brain level showed that connections involving the default mode network (DMN), fronto-parietal network (FPN) and cingulo-opercular network (CON) were significantly positively associated with levels of cognitive performance assessed by a verbal-numerical reasoning test (standardised β ranged from 0.054 to 0.097). Connections associated with higher levels of cognitive performance were also significantly positively associated with educational attainment (r=0.48, N=4,160) and household income (r=0.38, N=3,793). Further, analysis on the coupling of functional networks showed that better cognitive performance was associated with more positive DMN-CON connections, decreased cross-hemisphere connections between homotopic network in CON and FPN, and stronger CON-FPN connections (absolute β ranged from 0.034 to 0.063). The present study finds that variation in brain resting state functional connectivity associated with individual differences in cognitive ability, largely involving DMN and lateral prefrontal networks. Additionally, we provide further evidence of shared neural associations of cognitive ability, educational attainment, and household income.

scholarly journals The Shared Genetic Basis of Educational Attainment and Cerebral Cortical Morphology

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 3471-3481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Ge ◽  
Chia-Yen Chen ◽  
Alysa E Doyle ◽  
Richard Vettermann ◽  
Lauri J Tuominen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Cortical Morphology ◽  
Shared Genetic

Abstract Individual differences in educational attainment are linked to differences in intelligence, and predict important social, economic, and health outcomes. Previous studies have found common genetic factors that influence educational achievement, cognitive performance and total brain volume (i.e., brain size). Here, in a large sample of participants from the UK Biobank, we investigate the shared genetic basis between educational attainment and fine-grained cerebral cortical morphological features, and associate this genetic variation with a related aspect of cognitive ability. Importantly, we execute novel statistical methods that enable high-dimensional genetic correlation analysis, and compute high-resolution surface maps for the genetic correlations between educational attainment and vertex-wise morphological measurements. We conduct secondary analyses, using the UK Biobank verbal–numerical reasoning score, to confirm that variation in educational attainment that is genetically correlated with cortical morphology is related to differences in cognitive performance. Our analyses relate the genetic overlap between cognitive ability and cortical thickness measurements to bilateral primary motor cortex as well as predominantly left superior temporal cortex and proximal regions. These findings extend our understanding of the neurobiology that connects genetic variation to individual differences in educational attainment and cognitive performance.

scholarly journals The Shared Genetic Basis of Educational Attainment and Cerebral Cortical Morphology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Ge ◽  
Chia-Yen Chen ◽  
Alysa E. Doyle ◽  
Richard Vettermann ◽  
Lauri J. Tuominen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Cortical Morphology ◽  
Shared Genetic

AbstractIndividual differences in educational attainment are linked to differences in intelligence, and predict important social, economic and health outcomes. Previous studies have found common genetic factors that influence educational achievement, cognitive performance and total brain volume (i.e., brain size). Here, in a large sample of participants from the UK Biobank, we investigate the shared genetic basis between educational attainment and fine-grained cerebral cortical morphological features, and associate this genetic variation with a related aspect of cognitive ability. Importantly, we execute novel statistical methods that enable high-dimensional genetic correlation analysis, and compute high-resolution surface maps for the genetic correlations between educational attainment and vertex-wise morphological measurements. We conduct secondary analyses, using the UK Biobank verbal-numerical reasoning score, to confirm that variation in educational attainment that is genetically correlated with cortical morphology is related to differences in cognitive performance. Our analyses reveal the genetic overlap between cognitive ability and cortical thickness measurements in bilateral primary motor cortex and predominantly left superior temporal cortex and proximal regions. These findings may contribute to our understanding of the neurobiology that connects genetic variation to individual differences in educational attainment and cognitive performance.

scholarly journals Polygenic burden has broader impact on health, cognition, and socioeconomic outcomes than most rare and high-risk copy number variants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmo Christian Saarentaus ◽  
Aki Samuli Havulinna ◽  
Nina Mars ◽  
Ari Ahola-Olli ◽  
Tuomo Tapio Johannes Kiiskinen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Copy Number Variants ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Health ◽  
Polygenic Risk Score ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health Cognition

AbstractCopy number variants (CNVs) are associated with syndromic and severe neurological and psychiatric disorders (SNPDs), such as intellectual disability, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Although considered high-impact, CNVs are also observed in the general population. This presents a diagnostic challenge in evaluating their clinical significance. To estimate the phenotypic differences between CNV carriers and non-carriers regarding general health and well-being, we compared the impact of SNPD-associated CNVs on health, cognition, and socioeconomic phenotypes to the impact of three genome-wide polygenic risk score (PRS) in two Finnish cohorts (FINRISK, n = 23,053 and NFBC1966, n = 4895). The focus was on CNV carriers and PRS extremes who do not have an SNPD diagnosis. We identified high-risk CNVs (DECIPHER CNVs, risk gene deletions, or large [>1 Mb] CNVs) in 744 study participants (2.66%), 36 (4.8%) of whom had a diagnosed SNPD. In the remaining 708 unaffected carriers, we observed lower educational attainment (EA; OR = 0.77 [95% CI 0.66–0.89]) and lower household income (OR = 0.77 [0.66–0.89]). Income-associated CNVs also lowered household income (OR = 0.50 [0.38–0.66]), and CNVs with medical consequences lowered subjective health (OR = 0.48 [0.32–0.72]). The impact of PRSs was broader. At the lowest extreme of PRS for EA, we observed lower EA (OR = 0.31 [0.26–0.37]), lower-income (OR = 0.66 [0.57–0.77]), lower subjective health (OR = 0.72 [0.61–0.83]), and increased mortality (Cox’s HR = 1.55 [1.21–1.98]). PRS for intelligence had a similar impact, whereas PRS for schizophrenia did not affect these traits. We conclude that the majority of working-age individuals carrying high-risk CNVs without SNPD diagnosis have a modest impact on morbidity and mortality, as well as the limited impact on income and educational attainment, compared to individuals at the extreme end of common genetic variation. Our findings highlight that the contribution of traditional high-risk variants such as CNVs should be analyzed in a broader genetic context, rather than evaluated in isolation.

scholarly journals Brain Connectivity Tracks Effects of Chemotherapy Separately from Behavioral Measures

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Kardan ◽  
Mary K. Askren ◽  
Misook Jung ◽  
Scott Peltier ◽  
Bratislav Misic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Cognitive Health

AbstractSeveral studies in cancer research have suggested that cognitive dysfunction following chemotherapy, referred to in lay terms as “chemobrain”, is a serious problem. At present, the changes in integrative brain function that underlie such dysfunction remains poorly understood. Recent developments in neuroimaging suggest that patterns of functional connectivity can provide a broadly applicable neuromarker of cognitive performance and other psychometric measures. The current study used multivariate analysis methods to identify patterns of disruption in resting state functional connectivity of the brain due to chemotherapy and the degree to which the disruptions can be linked to behavioral measures of distress and cognitive performance. Sixty two women (22 healthy control, 18 patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, and 22 treated without chemotherapy) were evaluated with neurocognitive measures followed by self-report questionnaires and open eyes resting-state fMRI scanning at three time points: diagnosis (M0, pre-adjuvant treatment), at least 1 month (M1), and 7 months (M7) after treatment. The results indicated deficits in cognitive health of breast cancer patients immediately after chemotherapy that improved over time. This psychological trajectory was paralleled by a disruption and later recovery of resting-state functional connectivity, mostly in the parietal and frontal brain regions. The functional connectivity alteration pattern seems to be a separable treatment symptom from the decreased cognitive health. More targeted support for patients should be developed to ameliorate these multi-faceted side effects of chemotherapy treatment on neural functioning and cognitive health.

scholarly journals The associations between self-reported depression, self-reported chronic inflammatory conditions and cognitive abilities in UK Biobank

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Lyall ◽  
Breda Cullen ◽  
Donald M. Lyall ◽  
Samuel P. Leighton ◽  
Stefan Siebert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Digit Symbol Substitution Test ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Inflammatory Conditions

AbstractBackground:Depression and chronic inflammatory medical conditions have been linked to impaired cognitive ability. However despite frequent comorbidity, their combined association with cognitive ability has rarely been examined.Methods:This study examined associations between self-reported depression and chronic inflammatory diseases and their interaction with cognitive performance in 456,748 participants of the UK Biobank, adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Numbers with available data ranged from 94,899 to 453,208 depending on the cognitive test.Results:Self-reported depression was associated with poorer performance compared to controls in several cognitive tests (fully adjusted models, reaction time: B = 6.08, 95% CI = 5.09, 7.07; pairs matching: incidence rate ratio = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.03; Trail Making Test B: B = 1.37, 95% CI = 0.88, 1.87; Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST): B = −0.35, 95% CI = −0.44, −0.27). Self-reported chronic inflammatory conditions were associated with slower reaction time (B = 3.79, 95% CI = 2.81, 4.78) and lower DSST scores (B = −0.21, 95% CI = −0.30, −0.13). No interaction effects were observed.Discussion:In this large, population-based study we provide evidence of lower cognitive performance in both depression and a comprehensive category of chronic inflammatory conditions. Results are consistent with additive effects of both types of disorder on cognitive ability. Clinicians should be aware of such effects, particularly as cognitive impairment is linked to poorer disease outcomes and quality of life.

scholarly journals Age- and sex-related topological organisation of human brain functional networks and their relationship to cognition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Foo ◽  
Anbupalam Thalamuthu ◽  
Jiyang Jiang ◽  
Forrest C Koch ◽  
Karen Mather ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Functional Networks ◽  
State Graph ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Functional Brain Network ◽  
Age And Sex

Age and sex have been associated with changes in functional brain network topology, which may in turn affect cognition in older adults. We explored this question further by examining differences in 11 resting-state graph theory measures with respect to age, sex, and their relationships with cognitive performance in 17,127 UK Biobank participants. Age was associated with an overall decrease in the effectiveness of network communication (i.e. integration) and loss of functional specialisation (i.e. segregation) of specific brain regions. Sex differences were also observed, with women showing more efficient networks which were less segregated than in men. Age-related changes were also more apparent in men than women, which suggests that men may be more vulnerable to cognitive decline with age. Interestingly, while network segregation and strength of limbic network were only nominally associated with cognitive performance, the network measures collectively were significantly associated with cognition. This may imply that individual measures may be inadequate to capture much of the variance in neural activity or its output and need further refinement.

scholarly journals Resting-state functional brain connectivity in a predominantly African-American sample of older adults: exploring links among personality traits, cognitive performance, and the default mode network

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole T. Crane ◽  
Jessica M. Hayes ◽  
Raymond P. Viviano ◽  
Tim Bogg ◽  
Jessica S. Damoiseaux
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
African American ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Default Mode

Abstract The personality traits of neuroticism, openness, and conscientiousness are relevant factors for cognitive aging outcomes. The present study examined how these traits were associated with cognitive abilities and corresponding resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the default mode network (DMN) in an older and predominantly minority sample. A sample of 58 cognitively unimpaired, largely African-American, older adults (M age = 68.28 ± 8.33) completed a standard RSFC magnetic resonance imaging sequence, a Big Five measure of personality, and delayed memory, Stroop, and verbal fluency tasks. Personality trait associations of within-network connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), a hub of the DMN, were examined using a seed-based approach. Trait scores were regressed on cognitive performance (delayed memory for neuroticism, Stroop for conscientiousness, and verbal fluency for openness). Greater openness predicted greater verbal fluency and greater RSFC between the PCC and eight clusters, including the medial prefrontal cortex, left middle frontal gyrus, and precuneus. Greater PCC–precuneus connectivity predicted greater verbal fluency. Neuroticism and conscientiousness did not significantly predict either cognitive performance or RSFC. Although requiring replication and elaboration, the results implicate openness as a contributing factor to cognitive aging via concomitant cognitive performance and connectivity within cortical hubs of the DMN and add to the sparse literature on these variables in a diverse group of older adults.

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