Premium
P4–191: Systemic inflammatory responses to stress and its impact on cognition in people with mild cognitive impairment
Author(s) -
Sussams Rebecca,
Schlotz Wolff,
Perry Hugh,
Viv Hopkins,
Lynn Davies,
Rayner Ceri,
Lewzey Isabel,
Christodoulou Anna,
MacFarlene Brady,
Sharples Richard,
Holmes Clive
Publication year - 2013
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 - 10.1016/j.jalz.2013.05.1582
Subject(s) - verbal fluency test , cognition , cognitive decline , neuroticism , stressor , psychology , dementia , clinical psychology , anxiety , coping (psychology) , medicine , personality , disease , psychiatry , neuropsychology , social psychology
relation of cerebrovascular perfusion to domains of cognitive performance in non-demented population based samples due in part to feasibility issues and cost of P.E.T. or MRI. Transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound provides an inexpensive, rapid, non-invasive technique for assessing cerebrovascular function. We examined the cross-sectional associations of TCDmeasures of blood flow velocities in arteries of the circle of Willis to cognitive performance in participants in the EAS cohort. Methods: Analyses included 97 non-demented, community residing elderly, age 3 70. TCD was performed by a trained ultrasound technician using a standardized and validated research protocol during the annual clinic visit which included neuropsychological testing and neurological exams. The group was 52% female, mean age 80.9 (65.6) years, mean education 15 years. Cognitive domain evaluation included episodic memory (Free Recall from Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test-FR-FCSRT and WMS-R Logical Memory I subtest -LM), semantic memory (category fluency CF), executive function (WAIS-III digit symbol substitution test-DSST; Trail-Making Test-B TMT-B), and language (phonemic fluency-FAS).We computed the mean of right and left flow velocities (MFV) for each vessel. Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used to examine the relation of MFV in the anterior (ACA_MFV), posterior (PCA_MFV) andmiddle (MCA_MFV) cerebral arteries to cognitive performance. Linear regression analyses were used to determine whether associations persisted after adjustment for age, sex and education. Results: There was a consistent pattern showing a positive correlation between CF, DSST, TMT-B and FAS with ACA_MFVand PCA_MFVwhile memory tests were not correlated with MFV. The MCA-MFV was not correlated with any cognitive measures. The associations of ACA_MFVand PCA_MFV with cognition remained after adjustment for age sex, and education. Conclusions: Cerebral blood flow appears to be more highly correlated with performance on tests of executive function and language than with tests of episodic memory. This is consistent with prior information suggesting a link between vascular processes and frontal executive function. TCD may be useful for distinguishing persons at risk for amnestic versus non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Longitudinal data are needed to confirm this hypothesis.