Apolipoprotein E genotype does not moderate the associations of depressive symptoms, neuroticism and allostatic load with cognitive ability and cognitive aging in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Abstract Objectives Loneliness is associated with poorer cognitive function in old age; however, the direction of this association is unknown. We tested for reciprocal associations between loneliness and the cognitive ability domains of processing speed, visuospatial ability, verbal memory, and crystallized ability. Method We used three triennial waves of longitudinal data from the Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936, and tested for cross-lagged associations between loneliness and cognitive abilities using cross-lagged panel models. Results Better processing speed, visuospatial ability, or crystallized ability at age 73, was associated with less positive changes in loneliness between ages 73 and 76; however, these associations were not replicated between ages 76 and 79. Loneliness at ages 73 and 76 did not predict subsequent changes in cognitive abilities. Discussion Our findings indicate an association between cognitive ability and loneliness, such that individuals with lower cognitive abilities at age 73 may be at a slightly higher risk of becoming lonely. However, we did not find support for the hypothesis that loneliness causes a decline in cognitive health.

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Characterisation of an inflammation-related epigenetic score and its association with cognitive ability

10.1101/802009 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Anna J. Stevenson ◽

Daniel L. McCartney ◽

Robert F. Hillary ◽

Archie Campbell ◽

Stewart W. Morris ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Chronic Inflammation ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Large Scale ◽

Acute Infection ◽

Plasma Concentrations ◽

Generation Scotland ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort ◽

Serum Crp

ABSTRACTResults from large cohort studies investigating the association between inflammation and cognition have been mixed, possibly due to methodological disparities. However, a key issue in research utilising inflammatory biomarkers is their typically phasic responses. C-reactive protein (CRP) is widely used to investigate the association between chronic inflammation and cognition, but its plasma concentrations can markedly deviate in response to acute infection. Recently a large-scale epigenome-wide association study identified DNA methylation correlates of CRP. DNA methylation is thought to be relatively stable in the short term, marking it as a potentially useful signature of exposure. Here, we generate an epigenetic CRP score and investigate its trajectories with age, and associations with cognitive ability, in comparison to serum CRP in two cohorts: a longitudinal study of older adults (the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, n=889) and a large, cross-sectional cohort (Generation Scotland, n=7,028).We identified differing trajectories of serum CRP across the cohorts, with no homogeneous trends seen with age. Conversely, the epigenetic score was consistently found to increase with age, and to do so more rapidly in males compared to females. Higher levels of serum CRP were found to associate with poorer cognition in Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, but not in Generation Scotland. However, a consistent negative association was identified between cognition and the epigenetic score in both cohorts. Furthermore, the epigenetic score accounted for a greater proportion of variance in cognitive ability.Our results suggest that epigenetic signatures of acute inflammatory markers may provide an enhanced signature of chronic inflammation, allowing for more reliable stratification of individuals, and thus clearer inference of associations with incident health outcomes.

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Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Cognitive Function Later in Life: Evidence From a National Survey in Indonesia

Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology ◽

10.1177/0891988719874120 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 214-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Asri Maharani

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Function ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Rural Area ◽

Cognitive Aging ◽

Later Life ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Middle Income ◽

Childhood Poverty ◽

Childhood Conditions

Introduction: Social and economic conditions in childhood have been found to predict cognitive ability in midlife and old age in high-income countries. This study examines the long-term effect of childhood conditions on cognition among a nationally representative sample of older adults in a low- and middle-income country. Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from the 2014 to 2015 Indonesia Family Life Survey Wave 5 (6676 respondents, aged 50 years and older). Cognitive function was assessed based on total score on a series of tests adapted from the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status. Retrospective information was collected on childhood poverty, with questions including whether respondents ever experienced hunger before age 15, whether basic facilities were available, and the number of books in the childhood home. We used linear regression to examine the association between childhood conditions and cognitive function in later life. Results: The findings show that the numbers of facilities and books available in childhood homes are substantially associated with cognition in later life after taking adulthood characteristics into account. Childhood hunger has no significant association with cognitive ability in later life. Belonging to an older birth cohort and living in a rural area were shown to have negative associations with cognitive ability in Indonesia. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that childhood poverty, birth cohort, and living in a rural area may contribute to cognitive aging in Indonesia. Policies and interventions that target childhood poverty in developing countries may also recognize the rural–urban divide in access to educational and other socioeconomic resources.

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The association between cognitive ability across the lifespan and health literacy in old age: The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Intelligence ◽

10.1016/j.intell.2011.04.001 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 178-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Catherine Murray ◽

Wendy Johnson ◽

Michael S. Wolf ◽

Ian J. Deary

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Old Age ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort

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Serum cholesterol and cognitive functions: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610214001197 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 439-453 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Janie Corley ◽

John M. Starr ◽

Ian J. Deary

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Function ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Old Age ◽

Serum Cholesterol ◽

Processing Speed ◽

Verbal Ability ◽

Older Age ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort ◽

Statin Use

ABSTRACTBackground:We examined the associations between serum cholesterol measures, statin use, and cognitive function measured in childhood and in old age. The possibility that lifelong (trait) cognitive ability accounts for any cross-sectional associations between cholesterol and cognitive performance in older age, seen in observational studies, has not been tested to date.Methods:Participants were 1,043 men and women from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 Study, most of whom had participated in a nationwide IQ-type test in childhood (Scottish Mental Survey of 1947), and were followed up at about age 70 years. Serum cholesterol measures included total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and cholesterol:HDL cholesterol ratio. Cognitive outcome measures were age 70 IQ (using the same test as at age 11 years), general cognitive ability (g), processing speed, memory, and verbal ability.Results:Higher TC, higher HDL-C, and lower triglycerides were associated with higher age 70 cognitive scores in most cognitive domains. These relationships were no longer significant after covarying for childhood IQ, with the exception a markedly attenuated association between TC and processing speed, and triglycerides and age 70 IQ. In the fully adjusted model, all conventionally significant (p < 0.05) effects were removed. Childhood IQ predicted statin use in old age. Statin users had lower g, processing speed, and verbal ability scores at age 70 years after covarying for childhood IQ, but significance was lost after adjusting for TC levels.Conclusions:These results suggest that serum cholesterol and cognitive function are associated in older age via the lifelong stable trait of intelligence. Potential mechanisms, including lifestyle factors, are discussed.

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Neuroticism, depressive symptoms and white-matter integrity in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s003329171200150x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 43 (6) ◽

pp. 1197-1206 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

A. M. McIntosh ◽

M. E. Bastin ◽

M. Luciano ◽

S. Muñoz Maniega ◽

M. del C.Valdés Hernández ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

White Matter ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Disease Risk ◽

Structural Connectivity ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

White Matter Integrity ◽

Lothian Birth Cohort ◽

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri

BackgroundClinical depression is associated with reductions in white-matter integrity in several long tracts of the brain. The extent to which these findings are localized or related to depressive symptoms or personality traits linked to disease risk remains unclear.MethodMembers of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC936) were assessed in two waves at mean ages of 70 and 73 years. At wave 1, they underwent assessments of depressive symptoms and the personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion. Brain diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were obtained at the second wave and mood assessments were repeated. We tested whether depressive symptoms were related to reduced white-matter tract fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of integrity, and then examined whether high neuroticism or low extraversion mediated this relationship.ResultsSix hundred and sixty-eight participants provided useable data. Bilateral uncinate fasciculus FA was significantly negatively associated with depressive symptoms at both waves (standardized β=0.12–0.16). Higher neuroticism and lower extraversion were also significantly associated with lower uncinate FA bilaterally (standardized β=0.09–0.15) and significantly mediated the relationship between FA and depressive symptoms.ConclusionsTrait liability to depression and depressive symptoms are associated with reduced structural connectivity in tracts connecting the prefrontal cortex with the amygdala and anterior temporal cortex. These effects suggest that frontotemporal disconnection is linked to the etiology of depression, in part through personality trait differences.

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