scholarly journals The effect of vascular health factors on white matter microstructure mediates age-related differences in executive function performance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Hoagey ◽  
Linh T.T. Lazarus ◽  
Karen M. Rodrigue ◽  
Kristen M. Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
White Matter Hyperintensity ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Vascular Risk

AbstractEven within healthy aging, vascular risk factors can detrimentally influence cognition, with executive functions (EF) particularly vulnerable. Fronto-parietal white matter (WM) connectivity in part, supports EF and may be particularly sensitive to vascular risk. Here, we utilized structural equation modeling in 184 healthy adults (aged 20-94 years of age) to test the hypotheses that: 1) fronto-parietal WM microstructure mediates age effects on EF; 2) higher blood pressure (BP) and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden influences this association. All participants underwent comprehensive cognitive and neuropsychological testing including tests of processing speed, executive function (with a focus on tasks that require switching and inhibition) and completed an MRI scanning session that included FLAIR imaging for semiautomated quantification of white matter hyperintensity burden and diffusion-weighted imaging for tractography. Structural equation models were specified with age (as a continuous variable) and blood pressure predicting within-tract WMH burden and fractional anisotropy predicting executive function and processing speed. Results indicated that fronto-parietal white matter of the genu of the corpus collosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and the inferior frontal occipital fasciculus mediated the association between age and EF. Additionally, increased systolic blood pressure and white matter hyperintensity burden within these white matter tracts contribute to worsening white matter health and are important factors underlying age-brainbehavior associations. These findings suggest that aging brings about increases in both BP and WMH burden, which may be involved in the degradation of white matter connectivity and in turn, negatively impact executive functions as we age.

scholarly journals Cholinergic White Matter Lesions, AD-Signature Cortical Thickness, and Change in Cognition: The Northern Manhattan Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 1508-1515
Author(s):  
Michelle R Caunca ◽  
Karen Siedlecki ◽  
Ying Kuen Cheung ◽  
Noam Alperin ◽  
Sang H Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
White Matter Lesions ◽  
Change Score ◽  
White Matter Hyperintensity ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Disease Signature

Abstract Background How cerebrovascular disease and neurodegeneration affect each other to impact cognition is not yet known. We aimed to test whether Alzheimer’s disease-signature (AD) cortical thickness mediates the association between cholinergic white matter lesion load and change in domain-specific cognition. Methods Clinically stroke-free participants from the Northern Manhattan Study with both regional white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) and gray matter measurements were included (N = 894). Tract-specific WMHVs were quantified through FSL using the Johns Hopkins University white matter tract atlas. We used Freesurfer 5.1 to estimate regional cortical thickness. We fit structural equation models, including multiple indicator latent change score models, to examine associations between white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) in cholinergic tracts, AD-signature region cortical thickness (CT), and domain-specific cognition. Results Our sample (N = 894) had a mean (SD) age = 70 (9) years, years of education = 10 (5), 63% women, and 67% Hispanics/Latinos. Greater cholinergic WMHV was significantly related to worse processing speed at baseline (standardized β = −0.17, SE = 0.05, p = .001) and over time (standardized β = −0.28, SE = 0.09, p = .003), with a significant indirect effect of AD-signature region CT (baseline: standardized β = −0.02, SE = 0.01, p = .023; change: standardized β = −0.03, SE = 0.02, p = .040). Conclusions Cholinergic tract WMHV is associated with worse processing speed, both directly and indirectly through its effect on AD-signature region CT.

scholarly journals Executive Function Measurement in Urban Schools: Exploring the Links between Performance-Based Metrics and Teacher Ratings

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNIE ZONNEVELD ◽  
Zewelanji Serpell ◽  
Teresa Parr ◽  
Michelle Renee Ellefson
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Classroom Behavior ◽  
Teacher Ratings ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Good Reliability ◽  
Wide Range

When compared to research centered on the executive function development of white, middle-class children, relatively little is known about their non-white, lower-SES peers. In an effort to harmonize how executive functions are measured within under-represented contexts, the present study compares the utility of computerized performance-based tasks with teacher ratings of children’s classroom behavior using the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC, 2nd edition, Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) . The sample included older children who were mostly ethnic minority students from high-poverty backgrounds (N = 243; Mage = 9.28 years, SDage = 0.80; nfemale = 125; nAfricanAmerican = 216, nLatinAmerican = 15, nAsianAmerican = 6). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling tested for links between computerized performance-based executive function tasks and teacher ratings of everyday executive function. The results indicate good reliability for teacher ratings with this sample, with stronger links between a unified conceptualization of executive function compared to a diverse one. The findings suggest that these metrics are appropriate for a wide range of children and that ratings of everyday behavior might tap more into overall rather than specific executive function skills. These findings encourage continued questioning surrounding the organization of executive functions in older children from diverse backgrounds and their utility for general theories of cognitive development.

scholarly journals Contributions of White Matter Connectivity and BOLD Modulation to Cognitive Aging: A Lifespan Structure-Function Association Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1649-1661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina E Webb ◽  
Karen M Rodrigue ◽  
David A Hoagey ◽  
Chris M Foster ◽  
Kristen M Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Structure Function ◽  
Association Study ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Age Related ◽  
White Matter Microstructure ◽  
Task Accuracy ◽  
Back Task

Abstract The ability to flexibly modulate brain activation to increasing cognitive challenge decreases with aging. This age-related decrease in dynamic range of function of regional gray matter may be, in part, due to age-related degradation of regional white matter tracts. Here, a lifespan sample of 171 healthy adults (aged 20–94) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning including diffusion-weighted imaging (for tractography) and functional imaging (a digit n-back task). We utilized structural equation modeling to test the hypothesis that age-related decrements in white matter microstructure are associated with altered blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) modulation, and both in turn, are associated with scanner-task accuracy and executive function performance. Specified structural equation model evidenced good fit, demonstrating that increased age negatively affects n-back task accuracy and executive function performance in part due to both degraded white matter tract microstructure and reduced task-difficulty-related BOLD modulation. We further demonstrated that poorer white matter microstructure integrity was associated with weakened BOLD modulation, particularly in regions showing positive modulation effects, as opposed to negative modulation effects. This structure-function association study provides further evidence that structural connectivity influences functional activation, and the two mechanisms in tandem are predictive of cognitive performance, both during the task, and for cognition measured outside the scanner environment.

scholarly journals Cardiovascular risk factors and small vessel disease of the brain: Blood pressure, white matter lesions, and functional decline in older persons

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel Mae A Abraham ◽  
Leslie Wolfson ◽  
Nicola Moscufo ◽  
Charles R G Guttmann ◽  
Richard F Kaplan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Older People ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Functional Decline ◽  
Vascular Risk Factors ◽  
White Matter Hyperintensity ◽  
Systemic Hypertension ◽  
Vascular Risk

Several potential vascular risk factors exist for the development and accumulation of subcortical white matter disease in older people. We have reported that in older people followed for up to 4 years white matter hyperintensity (WMH) lesions on magnetic resonance imaging nearly doubled in volume and were associated with alterations in mobility and cognitive function. Herein we review the genetic, metabolic, and vascular risk factors that have been evaluated in association with the development and pathogenesis of WMH in older persons. Our research efforts have focused on systemic hypertension, particularly in the out-of-office setting as 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) has proven to be a stronger indicator of the progression of WMH in older people and the associated functional decline than doctor’s office BP. Based on relations between 24-hour systolic BP levels, the accrual of WMH, and functional decline, we have designed the INFINITY trial, the first interventional study to use ambulatory BP to guide antihypertensive therapy to address this problem in the geriatric population.

scholarly journals Contributions of white matter connectivity and BOLD modulation to cognitive aging: A lifespan structure-function association study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina E. Webb ◽  
Karen M. Rodrigue ◽  
David A. Hoagey ◽  
Chris M. Foster ◽  
Kristen M. Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Structure Function ◽  
Association Study ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Age Related ◽  
White Matter Microstructure ◽  
Task Accuracy ◽  
Back Task

AbstractThe ability to flexibly modulate brain activation to increasing cognitive challenge decreases with aging. This age-related decrease in dynamic range of function of regional gray matter may be, in part, due to age-related degradation of regional white matter tracts. Here, a lifespan sample of 171 healthy adults (aged 20-94) underwent MRI scanning including diffusion-weighted imaging (for tractography) and functional imaging (a digit n-back task). We utilized structural equation modeling to test the hypothesis that age-related decrements in white matter microstructure are associated with altered BOLD modulation, and both in turn, are associated with scanner-task accuracy and executive function performance. Specified structural equation model evidenced good fit, demonstrating that increased age negatively affects n-back task accuracy and executive function performance in part due to both degraded white matter tract microstructure and reduced task-difficulty related BOLD modulation. We further demonstrated that poorer white matter microstructure integrity was associated with weakened BOLD modulation, particularly in regions showing positive modulation effects, as opposed to negative modulation effects. This structure-function association study provides further evidence that structural connectivity influences functional activation, and the two mechanisms in tandem are predictive of cognitive performance, both during the task, and for cognition measured outside the scanner environment.

scholarly journals Systolic Blood Pressure and Cognition in the Elderly: The Northern Manhattan Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Sun ◽  
Chuanhui Dong ◽  
Bonnie Levin ◽  
Michelle Caunca ◽  
Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Vascular Risk ◽  
Cross Sectional

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that hypertension is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia. The relationship between blood pressure and cognition in a racially and ethnically diverse population remains unclear. Objective: To study association of blood pressure with cognition cross-sectionally and longitudinally in the elderly. Methods: Participants are stroke-free individuals from the racially and ethnically diverse Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) (n = 1215). General linear models are constructed to examine blood pressure in relation to cognition cross-sectionally and longitudinally at a five-year follow-up. Results: We found a cross-sectional association of systolic blood pressure (SBP) with word fluency/semantic memory, executive function, and processing speed/visual motor integration (VMI) function. This association was independent of demographics, vascular risk factors, white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV), and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). The cross-sectional association of SBP with processing speed/VMI and executive function was attenuated after adjusting anti-hypertension medications in the models. Baseline SBP was associated with the change of processing speed/VMI function after adjusting vascular risk factors, WMHV, and cIMT at a 5-year follow-up. This longitudinal association was not found after adjusting anti-hypertension medications in the models. Further analyses revealed that individuals with category SBP from <  120 mmHg to≥140 mmHg had a linear decline in processing speed/VMI function at a 5-year follow-up. Conclusion: We show that SBP is negatively associated with cognition cross-sectionally and longitudinally in the elderly. Anti-hypertension treatment eliminates the negative association of SBP with processing speed/VMI function longitudinally. Our findings support the treatment of stage 1 systolic hypertension in the elderly.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Observed Log-Likelihood Function in Two-Level Structural Equation Modeling with Missing Data: From Formulas to R Code

Psych ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-232
Author(s):  
Yves Rosseel
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Likelihood Function ◽  
Likelihood Estimation ◽  
Missing At Random ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Computationally Efficient ◽  
Log Likelihood ◽  
Efficient Expression ◽  
Special Case

This paper discusses maximum likelihood estimation for two-level structural equation models when data are missing at random at both levels. Building on existing literature, a computationally efficient expression is derived to evaluate the observed log-likelihood. Unlike previous work, the expression is valid for the special case where the model implied variance–covariance matrix at the between level is singular. Next, the log-likelihood function is translated to R code. A sequence of R scripts is presented, starting from a naive implementation and ending at the final implementation as found in the lavaan package. Along the way, various computational tips and tricks are given.

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