Psychological predictors of memory decline in a racially and ethnically diverse longitudinal sample of older adults in the United States

ObjectivesIn the United States, racial and ethnic disparities in memory dysfunction and Alzheimer disease are evident even after accounting for many risk factors. Psychological factors, such as psychological well‐being, perceived control, depressive symptoms, and negative affect, may influence memory dysfunction, and associations may differ by race and ethnicity. This study examined whether psychological factors are differentially associated with episodic memory trajectories across racial and ethnic groups in the United States.Methods/DesignThe National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), is a US‐representative, longitudinal study of Medicare‐eligible adults 65+ years old. Analyses of 5 years of data, included a total of 9411 participants without dementia at baseline. Adjusting for relevant covariates, a linear mixed model estimated the associations between psychological predictors and a composite of immediate and delayed trials from a word list memory test.ResultsMore depressive symptoms (B = −0.02), lower psychological well‐being (B = 0.03), and lower perceived control (B = 0.05) were independently associated with lower initial memory. Depressive symptoms were associated with faster rate of memory decline (B = −0.01). Black (B = −0.34) and Hispanic (B = −0.28) participants evidenced lower initial memory level than whites, but only Hispanic (B = −0.04) participants evidenced faster memory decline than whites. There were no significant interactions between the psychological variables and race and ethnicity.ConclusionsResults extend previous studies showing racial and ethnic disparities in episodic memory trajectories, and the longitudinal effects of depressive symptoms on episodic memory in US samples. Epidemiological studies of cognitive aging should incorporate more psychological factors clarify cognitive decline and disparities.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153704/1/gps5236.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153704/2/gps5236_am.pd

C-reactive protein and risk of cognitive decline: The REGARDS study

Markers of systemic inflammation are associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment, but it is unclear if they are associated with a faster rate of cognitive decline and whether this relationship differs by race. Our objective was to examine the association of baseline C-reaction protein (CRP) with cognitive decline among a large racially diverse cohort of older adults. Participants included 21,782 adults aged 45 and older (36% were Black, Mean age at baseline 64) from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. CRP was measured at baseline and used as a continuous variable or a dichotomous grouping based on race-specific 90th percentile cutoffs. Cognitive measures of memory and verbal fluency were administered every 2 years for up to 12 years. Latent growth curve models evaluated the association of CRP on cognitive trajectories, adjusting for relevant demographic and health factors. We found that higher CRP was associated with worse memory (B = -.039, 95% CI [-.065,-.014]) and verbal fluency at baseline (B = -.195, 95% CI [-.219,-.170]), but not with rate of cognitive decline. After covariate adjustment, the association of CRP on memory was attenuated (B = -.005, 95% CI [-.031,-.021]). The association with verbal fluency at baseline, but not over time, remained (B = -.042, 95% CI [-.067,-.017]). Race did not modify the association between CRP and cognition. Findings suggest that levels of CRP at age 45+, are a marker of cognitive impairment but may not be suitable for risk prediction for cognitive decline

Early Life Stress-Related Elevations in Reaction Time Variability Are Associated with Brain Volume Reductions in HIV+ Adults

There is burgeoning evidence that, among HIV+ adults, exposure to high levels of early life stress (ELS) is associated with increased cognitive impairment as well as brain volume abnormalities and elevated neuropsychiatric symptoms. Currently, we have a limited understanding of the degree to which cognitive difficulties observed in HIV+ High-ELS samples reflect underlying neural abnormalities rather than increases in neuropsychiatric symptoms. Here, we utilized a behavioral marker of cognitive function, reaction time intra-individual variability (RT-IIV), which is sensitive to both brain volume reductions and neuropsychiatric symptoms, to elucidate the unique contributions of brain volume abnormalities and neuropsychiatric symptoms to cognitive difficulties in HIV+ High-ELS adults. We assessed the relation of RT-IIV to neuropsychiatric symptom levels and total gray and white matter volumes in 44 HIV+ adults (26 with high ELS). RT-IIV was examined during a working memory task. Self-report measures assessed current neuropsychiatric symptoms (depression, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder). Magnetic resonance imaging was used to quantify total gray and white matter volumes. Compared to Low-ELS participants, High-ELS participants exhibited elevated RT-IIV, elevated neuropsychiatric symptoms, and reduced gray and white matter volumes. Across the entire sample, RT-IIV was significantly associated with gray and white matter volumes, whereas significant associations with neuropsychiatric symptoms were not observed. In the High-ELS group, despite the presence of elevated neuropsychiatric symptom levels, brain volume reductions explained more than 13% of the variance in RT-IIV, whereas neuropsychiatric symptoms explained less than 1%. Collectively, these data provide evidence that, in HIV+ High-ELS adults, ELS-related cognitive difficulties (as indexed by RT-IIV) exhibit strong associations with global brain volumes, whereas ELS-related elevations in neuropsychiatric symptoms appear to contribute minimally to these cognitive difficulties. Such findings support a growing body of evidence indicating that high ELS exposure is a significant risk factor for neurocognitive dysfunction in HIV+ adults. Further, these data highlight the need to better understand how ELS-related pathophysiological mechanisms contribute to volumetric and other neural abnormalities in HIV+ individuals

Increased odds and predictive rates of MMPI-2-RF scale elevations in patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and observed sex differences

OBJECTIVE: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) is a self-report instrument, previously shown to differentiate patients with epileptic seizures (ES) and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). At present, the odds of MMPI-2-RF scale elevations in PNES patients, as well as the diagnostic predictive value of such scale elevations, remain largely unexplored. This can be of clinical utility, particularly when a diagnosis is uncertain. METHOD: After looking at mean group differences, we applied contingency table derived odds ratios to a sample of ES (n=92) and PNES (n=77) patients from a video EEG (vEEG) monitoring unit. We also looked at the positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV), as well as the false discovery rate (FDR) and false omission rate (FOR) for scales found to have increased odds of elevation in PNES patients. This was completed for the overall sample, as well as the sample stratified by sex. RESULTS: The odds of elevations related to somatic concerns, negative mood, and suicidal ideation in the PNES sample ranged from 2 to 5 times more likely. Female PNES patients had 3-6 times greater odds of such scale elevations, while male PNES patients had odds of 5-15 times more likely. PPV rates ranged from 53.66% to 84.62%, while NPV rates ranged from 47.52% to 90.91%. FDR across scales ranged from 15.38% to 50%, while the FOR ranged from 9.09% to 52.47%. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with prior research, PNES patients have greater odds of MMPI-2-RF scale elevations, particularly related to somatic concerns and mood disturbance. Female PNES patients endorsed greater emotional distress, including endorsement of suicide related items. Elevations of these scales could aid in differentiating PNES from ES patients, although caution is warranted due to the possibility of both false positives and the incorrect omissions of PNES cases

The Utility of the Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Status in Patients with Temporal and Non-temporal Lobe Epilepsy

OBJECTIVE: The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is a brief neuropsychological battery that has been validated in the assessment of dementia and other clinical populations. The current study examines the utility of the RBANS in patients with epilepsy. METHODS: Ninety-eight patients with epilepsy completed the RBANS as part of a more comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. Performance on the RBANS was evaluated for patients with a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE; n = 51) and other epilepsy patients (non-TLE, n = 47) in comparison to published norms. Multivariate analysis of variance compared group performances on RBANS indices. Rates of impairment were also compared across groups using cutoff scores of ≤1.0 and ≤1.5 standard deviations below the normative mean. Exploratory hierarchical regressions were used to examine the relations between epilepsy severity factors (i.e., age of onset, disease duration, and number of antiepileptic drugs [AEDs]) and RBANS performance. RESULTS: TLE and non-TLE patients performed below the normative sample across all RBANS indices. Those with TLE performed worse than non-TLE patients on the Immediate and Delayed Memory indices and exhibited higher rates of general cognitive impairment. Number of AEDs was the only epilepsy severity factor that significantly predicted RBANS total performance, accounting for 14% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the RBANS has utility in evaluating cognition in patients with epilepsy and can differentiate TLE and non-TLE patients. Additionally, number of AEDs appears to be associated with global cognitive performance in adults with epilepsy

Education Moderates the Relation Between APOE ɛ4 and Memory in Nondemented Non-Hispanic Black Older Adults

BACKGROUND: The APOEɛ4 allele is a well-known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous research argues that higher education helps to preserve cognition in older adults with AD pathology because of its key role in cognitive reserve and resilience. OBJECTIVE: To test if higher educational level buffers the effect of APOEɛ4 on cognition among older non-Hispanic Blacks. METHODS: Participants were 849 non-demented older non-Hispanic Blacks (38.3% APOEɛ4+), who underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. Multiple linear regression models tested the relationship between APOEɛ4 status and twelve cognitive measures with education (up to high school and beyond high school) as a moderator. RESULTS: Education buffered the effects of the APOEɛ4 allele, such that there was no impact of APOEɛ4 status on word-list memory retention and working memory among participants with more than a high school degree. This pattern was not observed for ten other cognitive measures of verbal and visual episodic memory, semantic memory, executive function, and processing speed-although a similar trend was observed for switching ability in executive functioning. The buffering effect of education was stronger among women than men. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that genetic effects on late-life cognition may be modified by environmental factors such as educational attainment. These results are consistent with the framework of cognitive reserve such that engaging in cognitively enriching activities and acquiring skills and knowledge with more years of education may increase the capacity to maintain cognitive function despite high genetic risk for impairment

Midlife Vascular Factors and Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Late-Life in Mexico

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and its subtypes and investigate the impact of midlife cardiovascular risk factors on late-life MCI among the aging Mexican population. METHOD: Analyses included a sample of non-demented adults over the age of 55 living in both urban and rural areas of Mexico (N = 1807). MCI diagnosis was assigned based on a comprehensive cognitive assessment assessing the domains of memory, executive functioning, language, and visuospatial ability. The normative sample was selected by means of the robust norms approach. Cognitive impairment was defined by a 1.5-SD cut-off per cognitive domain using normative corrections for age, years of education, and sex. Risk factors included age, education, sex, rurality, depression, insurance status, workforce status, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. RESULTS: The prevalence of amnestic MCI was 5.9%. Other MCI subtypes ranged from 4.2% to 7.7%. MCI with and without memory impairment was associated with older age (OR = 1.01 [1.01, 1.05]; OR = 1.03 [1.01, 1.04], respectively) and residing in rural areas (OR = 1.49 [1.08, 2.06]; OR = 1.35 [1.03, 1.77], respectively). Depression (OR = 1.07 [1.02, 1.12]), diabetes (OR = 1.37 [1.03, 1.82]), and years of education (OR = 0.94 [0.91, 0.97]) were associated with MCI without memory impairment. Midlife CVD increased the odds of MCI in late-life (OR = 1.76 [1.19, 2.59], which was driven by both midlife hypertension and diabetes (OR = 1.70 [1.18, 2.44]; OR = 1.88 [1.19, 2.97], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Older age, depression, low education, rurality, and midlife hypertension and diabetes were associated with higher risk of late-life MCI among older adults in Mexico. Our findings suggest that the causes of cognitive impairment are multifactorial and vary by MCI subtype

Late-Life Physical and Cognitive Activities Independently Contribute to Brain and Cognitive Resilience.

BackgroundActive lifestyles are related to better cognitive aging outcomes, yet the unique role of different types of activity are unknown.ObjectiveTo examine the independent contributions of physical (PA) versus cognitive (CA) leisure activities to brain and cognitive aging.MethodsIndependent samples of non-demented older adults from University of California, San Francisco Hillblom Aging Network (UCSF; n = 344 typically aging) and University of California, Davis Diversity cohort (UCD; n = 485 normal to MCI) completed: 1) self-reported engagement in current PA and CA (UCSF: Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly and Cognitive Activity Scale; UCD: Life Experiences Assessment Form); 2) neuropsychological batteries; and 3) neuroimaging total gray matter volume, white matter hyperintensities, and/or global fractional anisotropy. PA and CA were simultaneously entered into multivariable linear regression models, adjusting for demographic characteristics and functional impairment severity.ResultsBrain outcomes: In UCSF, only PA was positively associated with gray matter volume and attenuated the relationship between age and fractional anisotropy. In UCD, only CA was associated with less white matter hyperintensities and attenuated the relationship between age and gray matter volume. Cognitive outcomes: In both cohorts, greater CA, but not PA, related to better cognition, independent of age and brain structure. In UCSF, CA attenuated the relationship between fractional anisotropy and cognition. In UCD, PA attenuated the association between white matter hyperintensities and cognition.ConclusionsAlthough their specificity was not easily teased apart, both PA and CA are clearly related to better brain and cognitive resilience markers across cohorts with differing educational, racial, and disease statuses. PA and CA may independently contribute to converging neuroprotective pathways for brain and cognitive aging

Offspring Study of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease: Objectives and Design

The Offspring Study of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease began in 2017 to identify biological and sociocultural mechanisms of disparities in cognitive function among middle-aged people with and without a parent with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). This article outlines the objectives and design of this prospective cohort study aimed at advancing the understanding of risk factors among middle aged offspring in order to clarify pathways to AD, and provides background on recruitment and retention of this diverse cohort