Central Adiposity and Cortical Thickness in Midlife

Kaur, Sonya; Gonzales, Mitzi M.; Strasser, Barbara; Pasha, Evan; McNeely, Jasmine; Tanaka, Hirofumi; Haley, Andreana P.

doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000202

Cited by 32 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Higher MetabDys also associated with greater cortical thickness, however, in more posterior, e.g., parietal regions. While cholesterol and metabolic-related results regarding cortical thickness may not be intuitive, other studies report similar findings (8,9,56). In fact, these studies advocate that BMI and lipids may not be consistently related to each other but instead, may be independent CVD-RFs (8), they may also require a non-linear approach to understanding their brain-behavior relationships.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Divergent Influences of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Domains on Cognition and Gray and White Matter Morphology

et al. 2017

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Objective Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity are associated with preclinical alterations in cognition and brain structure; however, this often comes from studies of comprehensive risk scores or single isolated factors. We examined associations of empirically-derived cardiovascular disease risk factor domains with cognition and brain structure. Methods 124 adults (age~59.8±13.1;41% African American;50% women) underwent neuropsychological and cardiovascular assessments and structural MRI. Principal component analysis of 9 cardiovascular disease risk factors resulted in a four-component solution representing 1-cholesterol, 2-glucose dysregulation, 3-metabolic dysregulation, and 4-blood pressure. Separate linear regression models for learning, memory, executive functioning and attention/information processing were performed with all components entered at once, adjusting for age, sex, and education. MRI analyses included whole brain cortical thickness and tract-based fractional anisotropy adjusted for age and sex. Results Higher blood pressure was associated with poorer learning (B=−0.19;p=0.019), memory (B=−0.22;p=0.005), and executive functioning performance (B=−0.14;p=0.031), and lower cortical thickness within the right lateral occipital lobe. Elevated glucose dysregulation was associated with poorer attention/information processing performance (B=−0.21;p=0.006) and lower fractional anisotropy in the right inferior and bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculi. Cholesterol was associated with higher cortical thickness within left caudal middle frontal cortex. Metabolic dysfunction was positively associated with right superior parietal lobe, left inferior parietal lobe and left precuneus cortical thickness. Conclusions Cardiovascular domains were associated with distinct cognitive, grey, and white matter alterations and distinct age groups. Future longitudinal studies may assist in identifying vulnerability profiles that may be most important for individuals with multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Divergent Influences of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Domains on Cognition and Gray and White Matter Morphology

et al. 2017

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“…24 In other samples, higher midlife visceral adipose tissue content has related to increased cortical thickness in selected regions, including the posterior cingulate gyrus, an area known to be affected early in AD. 25 While it is tempting to interpret greater posterior cingulate cortical thickness in midlife as brain reserve, rather than vulnerability, neuronal hypertrophy in the posterior cingulate has been reported in asymptomatic patients with AD relative to control participants and cognitively impaired adults upon autopsy. 26,27 The aforementioned results were also supported by autopsy data from the nun study.…”

Section: Body Composition Structural Brain Integrity and Cognitive mentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic heterogeneity of obesity‐related brain vulnerability: one‐size interventions will not fit all

Haley

Oleson

Pasha

et al. 2018

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Intact memory and problem solving are key to functional independence and quality of life in older age. Considering the unprecedented demographic shift toward a greater number of older adults than children in the United States in the next few decades, it is critically important for older adults to maintain work productivity and functional independence for as long as possible. Implementing early interventions focused on modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline at midlife is a strategy with the highest chance of success at present, bearing in mind the current lack of dementia cures. We present a selective, narrative review of evidence linking nutrition, body composition, vascular health, and brain function in midlife to highlight the phenotypic heterogeneity of obesity-related brain vulnerability and to endorse the development of individually tailored lifestyle modification plans for primary prevention of cognitive decline.

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“…Obesity is a strong predictor of decreased cortical thickness, an indicator of gray matter integrity (48–49), and this is most consistently found for temporal, frontal, and parietal regions (50–54). Blood pressure has been negatively associated with cortical thickness (55–56), as have glucose, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (55;57–59).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a Catalyst for the Association Between Metabolic Syndrome and Reduced Cortical Thickness

Wolf

Sadeh

Leritz

et al. 2016

Biological Psychiatry

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Background Metabolic syndrome (MetS), defined by a constellation of cardiometabolic pathologies, is highly prevalent among veterans, especially those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and poses a major risk for adverse health outcomes, including neurodegeneration and mortality. Given this, we evaluated: (a) the association between MetS and neural integrity, indexed by cortical thickness; (b) the relationship between PTSD and MetS; and (c) if PTSD was associated with cortical thickness indirectly through MetS. Methods The sample consisted of 346 US military veterans (89.3% male; 71.4% white) who deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Neuroimaging data were available for 274 participants. Results In whole-brain analyses, MetS was negatively associated with cortical thickness in 2 left and 4 right hemisphere regions: (a) bilateral temporal lobe, including temporal pole, fusiform gyrus, and insula, and extending into occipital cortex (left hemisphere) and orbitofrontal cortex (right hemisphere); (b) bilateral precuneus, posterior cingulate, calcarine, and occipital-parietal cortex; and (c) right rostral anterior cingulate cortex and central sulcus/postcentral gyrus. Path models showed that PTSD predicted MetS (β = .19, p < .001), which, in turn, was associated with reduced cortical thickness (βs from −.29 to – .43, all p <.001). Conclusions Results from this young veteran sample provide evidence that PTSD confers risk for cardiometabolic pathology and neurodegeneration and raise concern that this cohort may be aging pre-maturely and at risk for substantial medical and cognitive decline. This highlights the need to identify the molecular mechanisms linking PTSD to MetS and for effective interventions to reduce PTSD-related health comorbidities.

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Central Adiposity and Cortical Thickness in Midlife

Abstract: Visceral fat was significantly associated with thicker cortex in the posterior cingulate gyrus. Although future studies are necessary, these results indicate that central adiposity is associated with significant metabolic changes that impinge upon the central nervous system in middle age.

Cited by 32 publications

References 60 publications

Divergent Influences of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Domains on Cognition and Gray and White Matter Morphology

Divergent Influences of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Domains on Cognition and Gray and White Matter Morphology

Phenotypic heterogeneity of obesity‐related brain vulnerability: one‐size interventions will not fit all

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder as a Catalyst for the Association Between Metabolic Syndrome and Reduced Cortical Thickness

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