Glycosylated Hemoglobin Levels in Healthy Elderly Nondiabetic Men are Negatively Associated with Verbal Memory

Background: Aerobic exercise can improve cognitive performance in healthy elderly people. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a 3-week high-intensity aerobic exercise programme (high-intensity training group (HIT)) on cognitive performance in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with a standard exercise programme (control training (CT)). Methods: A total of 60 persons with MS (Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS): 1.0–6.5) were randomized to a HIT group (3×/week for 20 minutes, including five 3-minute exercise intervals at 80% of peak oxygen uptake (VO2-peak)) or a CT group (continuously 5×/week for 30 minutes/session at 65% of VO2-peak). Cognitive performance was assessed using the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS at entry ( t0) and discharge ( t1). Furthermore, VO2-peak, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, serotonin and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 and -9 were measured. Results: Compared to CT, HIT significantly improved verbal memory. Significant improvements over time in executive functions were found in both groups. Secondary outcomes indicated significant improvements in VO2-peak and a significant reduction in MMP-2 in the HIT group only. Conclusion: HIT represents a promising strategy to improve verbal memory and physical fitness in persons with MS. Further research is needed to determine the impact of exercise on biomarkers in MS.

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Predicting the future development of mild cognitive impairment in the cognitively healthy elderly

10.1101/2020.07.30.227496 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Bryan Strange ◽

Linda Zhang ◽

Alba Sierra-Marcos ◽

Eva Alfayate ◽

Jussi Tohka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

Area Under The Curve ◽

Predictive Performance ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

Out Of Sample

Identifying measures that predict future cognitive impairment in healthy individuals is necessary to inform treatment strategies for candidate dementia-preventative and modifying interventions. Here, we derive such measures by studying converters who transitioned from cognitively normal at baseline to mild-cognitive impairment (MCI) in a longitudinal study of 1213 elderly participants. We first establish reduced grey matter density (GMD) in left entorhinal cortex (EC) as a biomarker for impending cognitive decline in healthy individuals, employing a matched sampling control for several dementia risk-factors, thereby mitigating the potential effects of bias on our statistical tests. Next, we determine the predictive performance of baseline demographic, genetic, neuropsychological and MRI measures by entering these variables into an elastic net-regularized classifier. Our trained statistical model classified converters and controls with validation Area-Under-the-Curve>0.9, identifying only delayed verbal memory and left EC GMD as relevant predictors for classification. This performance was maintained on test classification of out-of-sample converters and controls. Our results suggest a parsimonious but powerful predictive model for MCI development in the cognitively healthy elderly.

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The Association of ARMC5 with the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System, Blood Pressure, and Glycemia in African Americans

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ◽

10.1210/clinem/dgaa290 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 105 (8) ◽

pp. 2625-2633

Author(s):

Joshua J Joseph ◽

Xiaofei Zhou ◽

Mihail Zilbermint ◽

Constantine A Stratakis ◽

Fabio R Faucz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

African Americans ◽

Glycosylated Hemoglobin ◽

Plasma Renin ◽

Suppressor Gene ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Single Nucleotide Variants ◽

Machine Method ◽

Negatively Associated ◽

Heart Study

Abstract Context Armadillo repeat containing 5 (ARMC5) on chromosome 16 is an adrenal gland tumor suppressor gene associated with primary aldosteronism, especially among African Americans (AAs). We examined the association of ARMC5 variants with aldosterone, plasma renin activity (PRA), blood pressure, glucose, and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in community-dwelling AAs. Methods The Jackson Heart Study is a prospective cardiovascular cohort study in AAs with baseline data collection from 2000 to 2004. Kernel machine method was used to perform a single joint test to analyze for an overall association between the phenotypes of interest (aldosterone, PRA, systolic and diastolic blood pressure [SBP, DBP], glucose, and HbA1c) and the ARMC5 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and medications; followed by Baysian Lasso methodology to identify sets of SNVs in terms of associated haplotypes with specific phenotypes. Results Among 3223 participants (62% female; mean age 55.6 (SD ± 12.8) years), the average SBP and DBP were 127 and 76 mmHg, respectively. The average fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c were 101 mg/dL and 6.0%, respectively. ARMC5 variants were associated with all 6 phenotypes. Haplotype TCGCC (ch16:31476015-31476093) was negatively associated, whereas haplotype CCCCTTGCG (ch16:31477195-31477460) was positively associated with SBP, DBP, and glucose. Haplotypes GGACG (ch16:31477790-31478013) and ACGCG (ch16:31477834-31478113) were negatively associated with aldosterone and positively associated with HbA1c and glucose, respectively. Haplotype GCGCGAGC (ch16:31471193-ch16:31473597(rs114871627) was positively associated with PRA and negatively associated with HbA1c. Conclusions ARMC5 variants are associated with aldosterone, PRA, blood pressure, fasting glucose, and HbA1c in community-dwelling AAs, suggesting that germline mutations in ARMC5 may underlie cardiometabolic disease in AAs.

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Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity is related to decline in verbal memory in healthy elderly adults

European Journal of Neurology ◽

10.1111/ene.12974 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 973-978 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

R. Yilmaz ◽

S. Behnke ◽

I. Liepelt-Scarfone ◽

B. Roeben ◽

C. Pausch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Substantia Nigra ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Elderly Adults ◽

Substantia Nigra Hyperechogenicity ◽

Healthy Elderly

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Dose-dependent retrograde facilitation of verbal memory in healthy elderly after acute oral lorazepam administration

Psychopharmacology ◽

10.1007/s00213-006-0336-0 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 185 (4) ◽

pp. 487-494 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Nunzio Pomara ◽

Thomas M. Facelle ◽

Amy E. Roth ◽

Lisa M. Willoughby ◽

David J. Greenblatt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Verbal Memory ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

Retrograde Facilitation ◽

Dose Dependent

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Retrograde facilitation of verbal memory by trihexyphenidyl in healthy elderly with and without the APOE ε4 allele

European Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1016/j.euroneuro.2010.03.004 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 20 (7) ◽

pp. 467-472 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nunzio Pomara ◽

Linlin Yi ◽

Ken Belzer ◽

Thomas M. Facelle ◽

Lisa M. Willoughby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Verbal Memory ◽

Apoe Ε4 ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

Ε4 Allele ◽

Retrograde Facilitation

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Effect of Chlorogenic Acid Intake on Cognitive Function in the Elderly: A Pilot Study

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2018/8608497 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Morimasa Kato ◽

Ryuji Ochiai ◽

Kazuya Kozuma ◽

Hirotaka Sato ◽

Yoshihisa Katsuragi

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Function ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Vital Signs ◽

Memory Loss ◽

The Elderly ◽

Motor Speed ◽

Subjective Memory ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

Finger Tapping Test

Objective. To evaluate the effect of chlorogenic acids (CGAs) intake on cognitive function. Methods. In this pilot study, the Cogstate and CNS Vital Signs test batteries were used to evaluate cognitive function in 8 healthy elderly men and women complaining of subjective memory loss after a 6-month intake of a test beverage containing 330 mg of CGAs just before bedtime. Results. After a 6-month CGA intake period, significant improvement was observed in the One Back Test of the Cogstate, the Shifting Attention Test, and Finger Tapping Test as well as in the composite memory, verbal memory, complex attention, cognitive flexibility, executive function, and motor speed domains of the CNS Vital Signs test battery. Conclusion. A 6-month intake of CGAs may improve attentional, executive, and memory functions in the elderly with complaints of subjective memory loss.

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Cognitive Reserve in the Healthy Elderly: Cognitive and Psychological Factors

ScienceOpen Research ◽

10.14293/s2199-1006.1.sor-socsci.a5kkma.v2 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Zihl Josef ◽

Nuno Sousa ◽

Katrin Walther ◽

Thomas Fink ◽

Antonia Schmid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sleep Quality ◽

Cognitive Flexibility ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Age Factors ◽

Older Age ◽

Elderly Subjects ◽

Cognitive Resources ◽

Healthy Elderly

<p>Cognitive reserve (CR) helps explain the mismatch between expected cognitive decline and observed maintenance of cognitive functioning in older age. Factors such as education, literacy, lifestyle, and social networking are usually considered to be proxies of CR and its variability between individuals. A more direct approach to examine CR is through the assessment of capacity to gain from practice in a standardized challenging cognitive task that demands activation of cognitive resources. In this study, we applied a testing-the-limits paradigm to a group of 136 healthy elderly subjects (60–75 years) and additionally examined the possible contribution of complex mental activities and quality of sleep to cognitive performance gain. We found a significant but variable gain and identified verbal memory, cognitive flexibility, and problem-solving as important factors. This outcome is in line with our earlier study on CR in healthy mental aging. Interestingly and contrary to expectations, our analysis revealed that complex mental activities and sleep quality do not significantly influence CR. Best subset regression showed that better verbal memory and higher cognitive flexibility were related to high CR, which could also be seen when contrasting “high” and “low” cognitive performers; again, complex mental activities and sleep quality did not contribute to this measure of CR. In conclusion, the results of this study support and extend previous findings on CR in older age; further, they underline the need for improvements in existing protocols for assessing CR in a dynamic manner.</p>

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Stress and Cognitive Reserve as independent factors of neuropsychological performance in healthy elderly

Ciência & Saúde Coletiva ◽

10.1590/1413-812320152111.17452015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (11) ◽

pp. 3499-3508 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

João Carlos Centurion Cabral ◽

Gessyka Wanglon Veleda ◽

Martina Mazzoleni ◽

Elton Pinto Colares ◽

Lucas Neiva-Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Executive Functions ◽

Elderly People ◽

Processing Speed ◽

Verbal Memory ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Superior Performance ◽

Neuropsychological Performance ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

And Performance

Abstract Exposure to high levels of cortisol and self-reported stress, as well as cognitive reserve, have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease pathology. However, there are no studies on the interaction of these variables. The present study aims to assess the associations of measures of cortisol, self-reported stress, and cognitive reserve with neuropsychological performance in healthy elderly people; besides, to test the interactions between these variables. Cross-sectional analyzes were conducted using data on stress, cognitive reserve and clinical conditions in 145 healthy elderly adults. A neuropsychological battery was used to assess executive functions, verbal memory and processing speed. Measurement of salivary cortisol at the circadian nadir was taken. A negative association between different stress measures and performance on tasks of memory, executive functions and processing speed was observed. Elderly people with higher cognitive reserve showed superior performance on all neuropsychological measures. No significant interaction between stress and cognitive reserve to neuropsychological performance was observed. These results indicate that older adults with high levels of stress and reduced cognitive reserve may be more susceptible to cognitive impairment.

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Everyday memory: Self-perception and structural brain correlates in a healthy elderly population

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617710001025 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. 1115-1126 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

ASTRID BJØRNEBEKK ◽

LARS T. WESTLYE ◽

KRISTINE B. WALHOVD ◽

ANDERS M. FJELL

Keyword(s):

Verbal Memory ◽

Test Performance ◽

Medial Temporal Lobe ◽

Standardized Test ◽

Daily Life ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Brain Morphology ◽

Everyday Memory ◽

Healthy Elderly ◽

Age Related

AbstractMapping the cerebral structural correlates of age-related cognitive decline is a growing area of research. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between healthy elderly’s perceived memory functioning in daily life, neuropsychological test performance on a standardized test on verbal memory, and cortical thickness and subcortical volumes in brain regions implicated in memory networks, including the medial temporal lobe (MTL). Eighty-three healthy and cognitively well-functioning volunteers aged 60–85 years underwent MRI scans, Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ), and neuropsychological assessment. Both self-perceived memory in daily life related to attention and executive functions and an objective measure of verbal recall (CVLT) were, independently, associated with thickness of the left MTL. The two cognitive variables were uncorrelated, and including both measures in the model nearly doubled the amount of explained variance on MTL thickness. This suggests that measures of perceived everyday memory might substantially inform and supplement studies investigating the relationships between neuropsychological test performance and brain morphology. The results are consistent with a bigger-is-better relationship in the MTL and suggest that EMQ and neuropsychological test performance have detectable and comparable structural correlates in a region critically involved in memory functions in the well-functioning elderly. (JINS, 2010, 16, 1115–1126.)

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