Key result
Higher diastolic blood pressure and HbA1c levels were independently associated with a longitudinal decrease in resting-state functional connectivity within higher-order brain networks, irrespective of amyloid or white matter hyperintensity burden.
Why the study?
The emerging link between vascular risk factors and longitudinal decline in resting-state functional connectivity within brain networks needed replication and further research in independent cohorts.
Cohort (n=95)
No
Vascular risk factors, particularly higher diastolic blood pressure and HbA1c, are associated with altered resting-state functional connectivity over time in higher-order brain networks of older adults, independent of amyloid and white matter hyperintensity burden.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May warrant vascular risk monitoring to protect brain networks in elders; leaves open causal effects on cognition and need for trials.
Background: Poor vascular health may impede brain functioning in older adults, thus possibly increasing the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The emerging link between vascular risk factors (VRF) and longitudinal decline in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) within functional brain networks needs replication and further research in independent cohorts. Method: We examined 95 non-demented older adults using the IMAP+ cohort (Caen, France). VRF were assessed at baseline through systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body-mass-index, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Brain pathological burden was measured using white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes, derived from FLAIR images, and cortical β-Amyloid (Aβ) deposition, derived from florbetapir-PET imaging. RSFC was estimated from functional MRI scans within canonical brain networks at baseline and up to 3 years of follow-up. Linear mixed-effects models evaluated the independent predictive value of VRF on longitudinal changes in network-specific and global RSFC as well as a potential association between these RSFC changes and cognitive decline. Results: We replicate that RSFC increased over time in global RSFC and in the default-mode, salience/ventral-attention and fronto-parietal networks. In contrast, higher diastolic blood pressure levels were independently associated with a decrease of RSFC over time in the default-mode, salience/ventral-attention, and fronto-parietal networks. Moreover, higher HbA1c levels were independently associated with a reduction of the observed RSFC increase over time in the salience/ventral-attention network. Both of these associations were independent of brain pathology related to Aβ load and WMH volumes. The VRF-related changes in RSFC over time were not significantly associated with longitudinal changes in cognitive performance. Conclusion: Our longitudinal findings corroborate that VRF promote RSFC alterations over time within higher-order brain networks, irrespective of pathological brain burden. Altered RSFC in large-scale cognitive networks may eventually increase the vulnerability to aging and AD.
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Wirth et al. (2022) conducted a cohort in Non-demented older adults (cognitively unimpaired, subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment) (n=95). Vascular risk factors (diastolic blood pressure, HbA1c) vs. Lower levels of vascular risk factors was evaluated on Longitudinal change in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in the salience/ventral-attention network associated with diastolic blood pressure (β = -0.040, p=0.010). Higher diastolic blood pressure and HbA1c levels were independently associated with a longitudinal decrease in resting-state functional connectivity within higher-order brain networks, irrespective of amyloid or white matter hyperintensity burden.
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