Is Midlife Metabolic Syndrome Associated With Cognitive Function Change? The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation

Abstract Context Metabolic syndrome (MetS) affects cognitive function in late life, particularly in women. But longitudinal research is scarce on associations of MetS with cognitive function during midlife. Objective To determine associations between MetS exposure and cognitive function trajectories in midlife women. Design and Setting This is a 17-year prospective, longitudinal study of multiracial/ethnic women in 7 US communities, with annual/biennial assessments. Participants Participants were 2149 US women traversing menopause. Exposure Exposure consisted of MetS assessments (median 4 assessments over 4 years). Main Outcome Measures Main outcome measures were assessments of cognitive function in 3 domains: perceptual speed (symbol digit modalities test, SDMT), episodic memory (East Boston Memory Test, EBMT), and working memory (Digit Span Backward Test, DSB). Results By their first cognitive assessment (age 50.7 ± 2.9 years), 29.5% met the criteria for MetS. Women completed a median (interquartile range [IQR]) of 6 (IQR 4–7) follow-up cognitive assessments over 11.2 (IQR 9.2–11.5) years. Women with MetS, compared with those without, had a larger 10-year decline in SDMT z-score (estimate –0.087, 95% confidence interval, –0.150 to –0.024; P = 0.007), after adjustment for cognitive testing practice effects, sociodemographics, lifestyle, mood, and menopause factors. As such, MetS accelerated the 10-year loss of perceptual speed by 24%. MetS did not differentially affect the rate of decline in either immediate (P = 0.534) or delayed (P = 0.740) episodic memory or in working memory (P = 0.584). Conclusions In midlife women MetS exposure was associated with accelerated decline in perceptual speed, but not episodic or working memory.

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Association of AKAP6 and MIR2113 with cognitive performance in a population based sample of older adults

10.1101/070409 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Shea J. Andrews ◽

Debjani Das ◽

Kaarin J. Anstey ◽

Simon Easteal

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Cognitive Change ◽

European Ancestry ◽

Substantial Contribution ◽

Perceptual Speed ◽

Cognitive Domains

AbstractGenetic factors make a substantial contribution to inter-individual variability in cognitive function. A recent meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identified two loci, AKAP6 and MIR2113 that are associated with general cognitive function. Here, we extend this previous research by investigating the association of MIR2113 and AKAP6 with baseline and longitudinal nonlinear change across a broad spectrum of cognitive domains in community-based cohort of 1,570 older adults without dementia. Two SNPs, MIR211-rs10457441 and AKAP6-rs17522122 were genotyped in 1,570 non-demented older Australians of European ancestry, who were examined up to 4 times over 12 years. Linear mixed effects models were used to examine the association between AKAP6 and MIR2113 with cognitive performance in episodic memory, working memory, vocabulary, perceptual speed and reaction time at baseline and with linear and quadratic rates of change. AKAP6-rs17522122*T was associated with worse baseline performance in episodic memory, working memory, vocabulary and perceptual speed, but it was not associated with cognitive change in any domain. MIR2113-rs10457441*T was associated with accelerated decline in episodic memory. No other associations with baseline cognitive performance or with linear or quadratic rate or cognitive changes was observed for this SNP. These results confirm the previous finding that, AKAP6 is associated with performance across multiple cognitive domains at baseline but not with cognitive decline, while MIR2113 primarily affects the rate at which memory declines over time.

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Abstract P122: Cardiovascular Fat And Cognitive Function Among Perimenopausal Women: The Study Of Women’s Health Across The Nation Cardiovascular Fat And Heart Ancillary Studies

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.143.suppl_1.p122 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 143 (Suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Meiyuzhen Qi ◽

Matthew Budoff ◽

Imke Janssen ◽

Kelly Shields ◽

Emma Barinas-Mitchell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Adipose Tissue ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Processing Speed ◽

Midlife Women ◽

Vascular Pathology ◽

Perivascular Adipose Tissue ◽

Perimenopausal Women ◽

Fat Volume

Objective: Women experienced disproportionated prevalence of dementia and higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) after menopause. Cardiovascular fat (CF) which is associated with CVD may impact cognitive function through vascular pathology. Perimenopausal women had more CF compared with pre/early perimenopausal women. However, research on the association between CF volume, density and cognitive function among perimenopausal women is limited. We aimed to assess associations of CF volume and density with future cognitive function among midlife women. Design: Midlife women with measures of CF volume and density along with cognitive function measured 1.46 (SD=0.68) years later were evaluated. Computed tomographic scans were used to quantify volume and density of total heart adipose tissue (TAT), EAT, and perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) of the descending aorta. Digit span backward test, East Boston memory test, and symbol digit modalities test were used to test working memory, verbal episodic memory, and processing speed, respectively. The relationship between each CF measurement and each cognitive function metric was assessed separately with linear regression models. Final models included age, education level, race, menopausal status, waist hip ratio, number of cognitive tests conducted before the included test, and fat density for corresponding fat volume or fat volume for corresponding fat density. Results: Three hundred and eighty-five women (mean age of 50.6 (SD=2.4) years old; 29.2% post-menopausal) were included. In the final models (Table), higher EAT and TAT density were significantly associated with a higher processing speed and immediate episodic memory, respectively. However, there was a significant negative association between PVAT density and working memory. Conclusion: Our findings suggest an association between CF radio-density and future cognitive function in midlife women, which may differ by cardiovascular fat location (heart vs. vasculature).

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Associations Between Smoking and Cognitive Function Among Community-Dwelling U.S. Chinese Older Adults in Chicago

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.505 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 155-155

Author(s):

Shengxi Sun ◽

Nannan Zhang ◽

Mengting Li ◽

XinQi Dong

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Smoking Status ◽

Perceptual Speed ◽

Chinese Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Global Cognition ◽

Never Smokers

Abstract Previous studies on smoking and cognition reported mixed findings. The inconsistent results are partially explained by the fact that they were limited to specific populations and using different cognitive function measurements. This association between smoking and cognition has rarely been studied in the rapidly increasing U.S. Chinese older adults. This study aims to determine if smoking status and smoking amount are associated with global cognition and cognitive domains in U.S. Chinese older adults. Data was extracted PINE. Five cognitive function tests (East Boston Memory Test, East Boston Memory Delayed Recall, Digital Backward test, Symbol digit Modality Test, and MMSE) were used to measure cognitive domains including episodic memory, working memory, and processing speed. Five cognitive tests were converted to z scores and averaged to generate global cognition. Self-reported smoking status was used for generating smoking status and smoking amount (pack-years). Linear regression was used. The results showed that former smokers had lower global cognition (b=-0.111, SE=0.053, p<.05) and perceptual speed (b=-0.185, SE=0.066, p<.01) than never smokers; current smokers had lower global cognition (b=-0.240, SE=0.060, p<.001), working memory (b=-0.340, SE=0.083, p<.001) and perceptual speed (b=-0.370, SE=0.075, p<.001) compared with never smokers. Smoking pack-years is negatively associated with global cognition (b=-0.003, SE=0.001,p<.001), episodic memory (b=-0.005, SE=0.001, p<.001), and perceptual speed (b=-0.004, SE=0.001, p<.001). Findings revealed that among all smokers, current smokers had the worst cognition and heavier smoking was associated with worse cognition. Policymakers could take measures in lowering smoking amount among U.S. Chinese older adults to protect their cognition.

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An Evaluation of DNA Methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Chemotherapy-Associated Cognitive Impairment: A Prospective, Longitudinal Study

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-51203-y ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Alexandre Chan ◽

Angie Yeo ◽

Maung Shwe ◽

Chia Jie Tan ◽

Koon Mian Foo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Dna Methyltransferase ◽

Dna Methyltransferases ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Prospective Longitudinal

Abstract Strong evidence suggests that genetic variations in DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) may alter the downstream expression and DNA methylation patterns of neuronal genes and influence cognition. This study investigates the association between a DNMT1 polymorphism, rs2162560, and chemotherapy-associated cognitive impairment (CACI) in a cohort of breast cancer patients. This is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study. From 2011 to 2017, 351 early-stage breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy were assessed at baseline, the midpoint, and the end of chemotherapy. DNA was extracted from whole blood, and genotyping was performed using Sanger sequencing. Patients’ self-perceived cognitive function and cognitive performance were assessed at three different time points using FACT-Cog (v.3) and a neuropsychological battery, respectively. The association between DNMT1 rs2162560 and cognitive function was evaluated using logistic regression analyses. Overall, 33.3% of the patients reported impairment relative to baseline in one or more cognitive domains. Cognitive impairment was observed in various objective cognitive domains, with incidences ranging from 7.2% to 36.9%. The DNMT1 rs2162560 A allele was observed in 21.8% of patients and this was associated with lower odds of self-reported cognitive decline in the concentration (OR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.25–0.82, P = 0.01) and functional interference (OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24–0.95, P = 0.03) domains. No significant association was observed between DNMT1 rs2162560 and objective cognitive impairment. This is the first study to show a significant association between the DNMT1 rs2162560 polymorphism and CACI. Our data suggest that epigenetic processes could contribute to CACI, and further studies are needed to validate these findings.

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Cognitive Function in Adults with Enduring Anorexia Nervosa

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13030859 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 859

Author(s):

Maria Seidel ◽

Helen Brooker ◽

Kamilla Lauenborg ◽

Keith Wesnes ◽

Magnus Sjögren

Keyword(s):

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Assessment System ◽

Cognitive Test ◽

Attention Tasks ◽

Inclusion Study ◽

Prospective Longitudinal

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a severe and often enduring disorder characterized by restriction of food intake, low body weight, fear of weight gain, and distorted body image. Investigations on cognition performance in AN patients have yielded conflicting results. Using an established and sensitive computerized cognitive test battery, we aimed to assess core aspects of cognitive function, including attention span, information processing, reasoning, working and episodic memory, in AN patients and controls. Patients were recruited from the Danish Prospective Longitudinal all-comer inclusion study in Eating Disorders (PROLED). Included were 26 individuals with AN and 36 healthy volunteers (HV). All were tested with CogTrack (an online cognitive assessment system) at baseline, and AN patients were tested again at a follow-up time point after weight increase (n = 13). At baseline, AN patients showed faster reaction times in the attention tasks, as well as increased accuracy in grammatical reasoning compared to HV. There were no differences in cognitive function between AN patients and HV in the other cognitive domains measured (sustained attention, working and episodic memory, speed of retrieval, and speed of grammatical reasoning). No differences were visible in the AN sample between baseline and follow-up. Performance did not correlate with any clinical variables in the AN sample. These findings supplement results from other studies suggesting increased concentration and reasoning accuracy in patients suffering from AN, who showed increased performance in cognitive tasks despite their illness.

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Cognitive Complaints in Survivors of Breast Cancer After Chemotherapy Compared With Age-Matched Controls: An Analysis From a Nationwide, Multicenter, Prospective Longitudinal Study

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2016.68.5826 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 35 (5) ◽

pp. 506-514 ◽

Cited By ~ 94

Author(s):

Michelle C. Janelsins ◽

Charles E. Heckler ◽

Luke J. Peppone ◽

Charles Kamen ◽

Karen M. Mustian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Reading Ability ◽

Menopausal Status ◽

Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽

Cognitive Difficulties ◽

Community Oncology ◽

Prospective Longitudinal

Purpose Cancer-related cognitive impairment is an important problem for patients with breast cancer, yet its trajectory is not fully understood. Some previous cancer-related cognitive impairment research is limited by heterogeneous populations, small samples, lack of prechemotherapy and longitudinal assessments, use of normative data, and lack of generalizability. We addressed these limitations in a large prospective, longitudinal, nationwide study. Patients and Methods Patients with breast cancer from community oncology clinics and age-matched noncancer controls completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function (FACT-Cog) at prechemotherapy and postchemotherapy and at a 6-month follow-up as an a priori exploratory aim. Longitudinal models compared FACT-Cog scores between patients and controls at the three assessments and adjusted for age, education, race, menopausal status, and baseline reading ability, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. A minimal clinically important difference cutoff determined percentages of impairment over time. Results Of patients, 581 patients with breast cancer (mean age, 53 years; 48% anthracycline-based regimens) and 364 controls (mean age, 53 years) were assessed. Patients reported significantly greater cognitive difficulties on the FACT-Cog total score and four subscales from prechemotherapy to postchemotherapy compared with controls as well as from prechemotherapy to 6-month follow-up (all P < .001). Increased baseline anxiety, depression, and decreased cognitive reserve were significantly associated with lower FACT-Cog total scores. Treatment regimen, hormone, or radiation therapy was not significantly associated with FACT-Cog total scores in patients from postchemotherapy to 6-month follow-up. Patients were more likely to report a clinically significant decline in self-reported cognitive function than were controls from prechemotherapy to postchemotherapy (45.2% v 10.4%) and from prechemotherapy to 6-month follow-up (36.5% v 13.6%). Conclusion Patients with breast cancer who were treated in community oncology clinics report substantially more cognitive difficulties up to 6 months after treatment with chemotherapy than do age-matched noncancer controls.

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Associations between Hypertension, Treatment, and Cognitive Function in the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm9113735 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 3735

Author(s):

Sook Ling Leong ◽

Ian H. Robertson ◽

Brian Lawlor ◽

Sven Vanneste

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Study ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Epidemiological Studies ◽

Hypertension Treatment ◽

Hypertension Status ◽

Antihypertensive Medications ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Prospective Longitudinal Study ◽

Longitudinal Associations ◽

Prospective Longitudinal

Epidemiological studies have produced conflicting results regarding the associations between the use of different hypertensive drugs and cognition. Data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a nationwide prospective longitudinal study of adults aged 50 or more years, was used to explore the associations between hypertensive status, categories of antihypertensive and cognitive function controlling for age, education, and other demographic and lifestyle factors. The study sample included 8173 participants. ANCOVAs and multivariate regressions were used to assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between cognitive function and hypertension status and the different categories of hypertensive medication. Hypertension was not associated with decline in global cognitive and executive functions and were fully explained by age and education. Different hypertensive medications were not associated with cognitive function. Consistent with previous studies, changes in cognition can largely be explained by age and education. The use of antihypertensive medications is neither harmful nor protective for cognition.

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Visual versus Verbal Working Memory in Statistically Determined Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: On behalf of the Consortium for Clinical and Epidemiological Neuropsychological Data Analysis (CENDA)

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617719000808 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 25 (10) ◽

pp. 1001-1010 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sheina Emrani ◽

Victor Wasserman ◽

Emily Matusz ◽

David Miller ◽

Melissa Lamar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Memory Impairment ◽

Digit Span ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Intracranial Volume ◽

Adult Intelligence Scale

AbstractObjective:Previous research in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) suggests that visual episodic memory impairment may emerge before analogous verbal episodic memory impairment. The current study examined working memory (WM) test performance in MCI to assess whether patients present with greater visual versus verbal WM impairment. WM performance was also assessed in relation to hippocampal occupancy (HO), a ratio of hippocampal volume to ventricular dilation adjusted for demographic variables and intracranial volume.Methods:Jak et al. (2009) (The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17, 368–375) and Edmonds, Delano-Wood, Galasko, Salmon, & Bondi (2015) (Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 47(1), 231–242) criteria classify patients into four groups: little to no cognitive impairment (non-MCI); subtle cognitive impairment (SCI); amnestic MCI (aMCI); and a combined mixed/dysexecutive MCI (mixed/dys MCI). WM was assessed using co-normed Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) Digit Span Backwards and Wechsler Memory Scale-IV (WMS-IV) Symbol Span Z-scores.Results:Between-group analyses found worse WMS-IV Symbol Span and WAIS-IV Digit Span Backwards performance for mixed/dys MCI compared to non-MCI patients. Within-group analyses found no differences for non-MCI patients; however, all other groups scored lower on WMS-IV Symbol Span than WAIS-IV Digit Span Backwards. Regression analysis with HO as the dependent variable was statistically significant for WMS-IV Symbol Span performance. WAIS-IV Digit Span Backwards performance failed to reach statistical significance.Conclusions:Worse WMS-IV Symbol Span performance was observed in patient groups with measurable neuropsychological impairment and better WMS-IV Symbol Span performance was associated with higher HO ratios. These results suggest that visual WM may be particularly sensitive to emergent illness compared to analogous verbal WM tests.

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ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN CHINA

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.742 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S205-S205

Author(s):

Bada Kang ◽

Hanzhang Xu ◽

Eleanor S McConnell ◽

Bei Wu

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Digit Span ◽

World Health ◽

Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽

Related Factors ◽

Memory Decline ◽

Subjective Cognitive Function

Abstract Although subjective cognitive decline is considered as a potential symptomatic indicator of cognitive decline, little is known regarding the relationships in older adults in China. Using the World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Wave 1 data, we examined the association between subjective cognitive function, perceived memory decline, and objective cognitive function among adults aged 50 or older (N=13,367) in China. Objective cognitive function was measured by immediate and delayed recall test, digit span test, and verbal fluency test. Multivariate linear regression models were used to account for sociodemographic, psychosocial, and health-related factors. We found worse subjective cognitive function was associated with poorer working memory and verbal fluency. Greater perceived memory decline was also associated with poorer working memory but not with verbal fluency. Psychosocial factors including social cohesion and social support attenuated the relationships between subjective cognitive function, perceived memory decline, and objective cognitive performance.

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