Key result
In older individuals without dementia, autonomic dysregulation had a direct, gradual, and independent effect on memory.
Why the study?
Does cardiac autonomic dysregulation correlate with cognitive performance in healthy elderly individuals?
Cross-Sectional (n=916)
Does cardiac autonomic dysregulation correlate with cognitive performance in healthy elderly individuals?
Cardiac autonomic dysregulation, measured by baroreflex sensitivity, is independently associated with memory impairment in healthy older adults.
Hypothesis-generating for autonomic assessment in older adults' memory evaluations; leaves open causality and needs prospective confirmation.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the role of the cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS), as measured according to spontaneous cardiac baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), in the type and degree of cognitive performance in healthy young-elderly individuals, taking into account the presence of other vascular risk factors. DESIGN: Community-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: In-home and clinical settings. PARTICIPANTS: A subset of participants, aged 66.9±0.9, from a prospective study that aimed to assess the influence of ANS activity on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality (N=916). MEASUREMENTS: All subjects underwent a clinical interview, neuropsychological testing, and autonomic and vascular measurements. Three cognitive domains were defined: attentional (Trail-Making Test Part A, Stroop code and parts I & II), executive (Trail-Making Test Part B, Stroop part III, verbal fluency and similarity tests), and memory (Benton visual retention test, Grober and Buschké procedure). Subjects were stratified according to their scores into normal, low, and impaired performers. RESULTS: After adjustments to demographic and vascular data, participants with moderate autonomic dysregulation (3 6). CONCLUSION: In older individuals without dementia, autonomic dysregulation seems to have a direct, gradual, and independent effect on memory. Future studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of BRS and other markers of the ANS on cognitive decline.
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Martin et al. (2013) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy elderly (n=916). Autonomic dysregulation (measured by spontaneous cardiac baroreflex sensitivity) was evaluated on Cognitive performance (attentional, executive, and memory domains). In older individuals without dementia, autonomic dysregulation had a direct, gradual, and independent effect on memory.
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