Evaluating associations of RNFL thickness and multifocal VEP with cognitive assessment and brain MRI volumes in older adults: Optic nerve decline and cognitive change (ONDCC) initiative
Ting Shen,
Samran Sheriff,
Yuyi You,
Jiyang Jiang,
Angela Schulz,
Heather Francis,
Mehdi Mirzaei,
Danit Saks,
Nitin Chitranshi,
Veer Gupta,
Maria Fiatarone Singh,
Alexander Klistorner,
Wei Wen,
Perminder Sachdev,
Vivek K. Gupta,
Stuart L. Graham
Affiliations
Ting Shen
Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People’s Hospital), School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Save Sight Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Corresponding authors at: Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People's hospital), School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Macquarie University.
Samran Sheriff
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Yuyi You
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Save Sight Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Jiyang Jiang
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing and the Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Angela Schulz
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Heather Francis
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Mehdi Mirzaei
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Danit Saks
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Nitin Chitranshi
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Veer Gupta
Faculty of Health, Deakin University, VIC, Australia
Maria Fiatarone Singh
The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Alexander Klistorner
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Save Sight Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Wei Wen
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing and the Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Perminder Sachdev
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing and the Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Vivek K. Gupta
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Corresponding authors at: Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital (Shanghai First People's hospital), School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Macquarie University.
Stuart L. Graham
Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Save Sight Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
To examine the relationships of retinal structural (optical coherence tomography) and visual functional (multifocal visual evoked potentials, mfVEP) indices with neuropsychological and brain structural measurements in healthy older subjects. 95 participants (mean (SD) age 68.1 (9.0)) years were recruited in the Optic Nerve Decline and Cognitive Change (ONDCC) study in this observational clinical investigation. OCT was conducted for retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) and mfVEP for amplitude and latency measurements. Participants undertook neuropsychological tests for cognitive performance and MRI for volumetric evaluation of various brain regions. Generalised estimating equation models were used for association analysis (p < 0.05). The brain volumetric measures including total grey matter (GM), cortex, thalamus, hippocampal and fourth ventricular volumes were significantly associated with global and sectoral RNFL. RNFL thickness correlated with delayed recalls of California verbal learning test (CVLT) and Rey complex figure test (RCFT). The mfVEP amplitudes associated with cerebral white matter (WM) and cingulate GM volumes in MRI and CVLT, RCFT and trail making test outcomes. A significant association of mfVEP latency with logical memory delayed recall and thalamus volume was also observed. Our results suggested significant association of specific RNFL and mfVEP measures with distinctive brain region volumes and cognitive tests reflecting performance in memory, visuospatial and executive functional domains. These findings indicate that the mfVEP and RNFL measurements may parallel brain structural and neuropsychological measures in the older population.
