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Modifiable factors, cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular risk are associated with cognitive and structural brain health in midlife: Results from the BBHI
Author(s) -
Morris TP,
GomesOsman Joyce,
EspañaIrla Goretti,
Cattaneo Gabriele,
Albu Sergiu,
Solana Javier,
Macià Dídac,
RedondoCamós María,
DelgadoGallén Selma,
AlviarezSchulze Vanessa,
PachónGarcía Catherine,
TormosMuñoz Josep M,
BartresFaz David,
PascualLeone Alvaro
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.042875
Subject(s) - cardiorespiratory fitness , cognition , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , medicine , brain size , framingham heart study , brain aging , cognitive decline , framingham risk score , neuropsychology , psychology , audiology , dementia , disease , psychiatry , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology
Background Neurodegenerative brain changes that lead to cognitive decline generally begin decades prior to the onset of symptoms. On the other hand, brain health relates to overall, and specifically cardio‐vascular health, and vice‐versa. The objective of this investigation was to assess the relationships between two important domains of cardiovascular health (cardiorespiratory fitness, CRF, and cardiovascular risk, CVR) and two important markers of brain health (cognitive performance and volumetric measures of brain structure) in late middle age. Method In a relatively large sample (n=327) of middle‐aged adults in the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative (Cattaneo et al., 2018), we assessed the associations between CRF (measured by VO 2 max), CVR (measured by Framingham risk score), domain‐specific cognitive performance (measured by performance in a neuropsychological test battery) and brain volumes (measured by high‐resolution brain MRI). All regression models were corrected for age and education. Result We found differential associations between CRF and CVR and cognitive performance. CRF was significantly associated with visuo‐spatial abilities and frontal loading abstract problem solving (p=.003), whereas CVR was associated with visuo‐spatial abilities (p=.023), flexibility (p=.005), processing speed (p<.001) and memory (p<.001). Moreover we found that CRF was associated with frontal (p=.042), temporal (p=.016) and sensorimotor (p=.013) cortical volume, whereas CVR was significantly associated with all cortical volume measures (frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital and sensorimotor; ps<0.05). Conclusion We found that two modifiable factors in mid‐life (CRF and CVR) are significantly associated with a number of metrics of brain health in a cross‐sectional analysis. Future longitudinal analyses of this cohort will show whether these associations have predictive value for the maintenance of brain health across the lifespan. Finally, our findings suggest that lifestyle habits that promote CRF and reduce CVR, e.g. sufficient physical activity and appropriate nutrition, might help sustain brain health across the lifespan and prevent cognitive decline.