Eye and Brain (Mar 2023)

Associations Between Thinner Retinal Neuronal Layers and Suboptimal Brain Structural Integrity in a Middle-Aged Cohort

  • Barrett-Young A,
  • Abraham WC,
  • Cheung CY,
  • Gale J,
  • Hogan S,
  • Ireland D,
  • Keenan R,
  • Knodt AR,
  • Melzer TR,
  • Moffitt TE,
  • Ramrakha S,
  • Tham YC,
  • Wilson GA,
  • Wong TY,
  • Hariri AR,
  • Poulton R

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 25 – 35

Abstract

Read online

Ashleigh Barrett-Young,1 Wickliffe C Abraham,1 Carol Y Cheung,2 Jesse Gale,3 Sean Hogan,1 David Ireland,1 Ross Keenan,4– 6 Annchen R Knodt,7 Tracy R Melzer,6,8,9 Terrie E Moffitt,7,10 Sandhya Ramrakha,1 Yih Chung Tham,11,12 Graham A Wilson,13 Tien Yin Wong,12,14 Ahmad R Hariri,7 Richie Poulton1 1Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; 2Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 3Department of Surgery & Anaesthesia, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand; 4Department of Radiology, Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand; 5Pacific Radiology Group, Christchurch, New Zealand; 6New Zealand Brain Research Institute, Christchurch, New Zealand; 7Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; 8Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand; 9School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; 10Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK; 11Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; 12Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; 13Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; 14Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ashleigh Barrett-Young, Department of Psychology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand, Email [email protected]: The retina has potential as a biomarker of brain health and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) because it is the only part of the central nervous system which can be easily imaged and has advantages over brain imaging technologies. Few studies have compared retinal and brain measurements in a middle-aged sample. The objective of our study was to investigate whether retinal neuronal measurements were associated with structural brain measurements in a middle-aged population-based cohort.Participants and Methods: Participants were members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (n=1037; a longitudinal cohort followed from birth and at ages 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 26, 32, 38, and most recently at age 45, when 94% of the living Study members participated). Retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) thickness were measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Brain age gap estimate (brainAGE), cortical surface area, cortical thickness, subcortical grey matter volumes, white matter hyperintensities, were measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Results: Participants with both MRI and OCT data were included in the analysis (RNFL n=828, female n=413 [49.9%], male n=415 [50.1%]; GC-IPL n=825, female n=413 [50.1%], male n=412 [49.9%]). Thinner retinal neuronal layers were associated with older brain age, smaller cortical surface area, thinner average cortex, smaller subcortical grey matter volumes, and increased volume of white matter hyperintensities.Conclusion: These findings provide evidence that the retinal neuronal layers reflect differences in midlife structural brain integrity consistent with increased risk for later AD, supporting the proposition that the retina may be an early biomarker of brain health.Keywords: optical coherence tomography, retina, Alzheimer’s, magnetic resonance imaging, brain aging

Keywords