Association of Aortic Stiffness With Cognition and Brain Aging in Young and Middle-Aged Adults
Key result
Higher aortic stiffness links to poorer cognition and increased lateral ventricular volumes in younger adults.
- P<0.01
Why the study?
Is higher aortic stiffness associated with poorer cognitive function and subclinical brain injury in young and middle-aged adults?
Population
3,207 young and middle-aged adults from the Framingham Heart Study Third Generation cohort who were free…
Design
Cross-sectional, Data were digitized and analyzed blind to clinical…
Authors
Discussion
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Implication
Suggests vascular aging may affect brain health earlier than recognized; extends prior observations to younger adults but remains hypothesis-generating.
Structured PICO
Is higher aortic stiffness associated with poorer cognitive function and subclinical brain injury in young and middle-aged adults?
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Population
3,207 young and middle-aged adults from the Framingham Heart Study Third Generation cohort (mean age 46 years, 47% men) who were free from stroke, dementia, and other neurological conditions.
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Intervention
Aortic stiffness measured as carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV)
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Outcome
Cognitive function (assessed via neuropsychological test battery including Trail Making A and B, Victoria Stroop, Logical Memory, Visual Reproductions, Hooper Visual Organization Test, and digit span) and subclinical markers of brain injury on MRI (total brain volume, white-matter hyperintensity volume, lacunes, and lateral ventricular volume)surrogate
Aortic stiffness is associated with subclinical brain injury and cognitive deficits as early as young adulthood and midlife, suggesting that vascular aging impacts brain health long before old age.
Limitations
- Observational nature of the study precluded the inference of causality
- Overwhelmingly white sample restricts the generalizability of the results to other races and ethnic groups
- Neuropsychological assessment was only performed at 1 occasion, preventing examination of how aortic stiffness is related to cognitive decline
- Did not adjust for multiple comparisons, cannot rule out the presence of some chance associations
Cite This Study
Pase et al. (2016) studied this question. Higher aortic stiffness in young to middle-aged adults was associated with poorer cognitive function and increased lateral ventricular volumes (β=0.09, P<0.01).