Cardiovascular and metabolic health is associated with functional brain connectivity in middle-aged and older adults: Results from the Human Connectome Project-Aging study

Barnaly Rashid; Matthew F. Glasser; Thomas Nichols; David Van Essen; Meher R. Juttukonda; Nadine A. Schwab; Douglas N Greve; Essa Yacoub; Allison Lovely; Melissa Terpstra; Michael P. Harms; Susan Y. Bookheimer; Beau M. Ances; David H. Salat; Steven E. Arnold

NeuroImage (Aug 2023)

Cardiovascular and metabolic health is associated with functional brain connectivity in middle-aged and older adults: Results from the Human Connectome Project-Aging study

Barnaly Rashid,
Matthew F. Glasser,
Thomas Nichols,
David Van Essen,
Meher R. Juttukonda,
Nadine A. Schwab,
Douglas N Greve,
Essa Yacoub,
Allison Lovely,
Melissa Terpstra,
Michael P. Harms,
Susan Y. Bookheimer,
Beau M. Ances,
David H. Salat,
Steven E. Arnold

Affiliations

Barnaly Rashid: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Corresponding authors.
Matthew F. Glasser: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
Thomas Nichols: University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
David Van Essen: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
Meher R. Juttukonda: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
Nadine A. Schwab: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
Douglas N Greve: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
Essa Yacoub: Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Allison Lovely: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
Melissa Terpstra: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Michael P. Harms: Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States
Susan Y. Bookheimer: University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Beau M. Ances: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States; Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States
David H. Salat: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Corresponding authors.
Steven E. Arnold: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th St., Charlestown, MA 02129, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Corresponding authors.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 276
p. 120192

Abstract

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Several cardiovascular and metabolic indicators, such as cholesterol and blood pressure have been associated with altered neural and cognitive health as well as increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in later life. In this cross-sectional study, we examined how an aggregate index of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factor measures was associated with correlation-based estimates of resting-state functional connectivity (FC) across a broad adult age-span (36–90+ years) from 930 volunteers in the Human Connectome Project Aging (HCP-A). Increased (i.e., worse) aggregate cardiometabolic scores were associated with reduced FC globally, with especially strong effects in insular, medial frontal, medial parietal, and superior temporal regions. Additionally, at the network-level, FC between core brain networks, such as default-mode and cingulo-opercular, as well as dorsal attention networks, showed strong effects of cardiometabolic risk. These findings highlight the lifespan impact of cardiovascular and metabolic health on whole-brain functional integrity and how these conditions may disrupt higher-order network integrity.

Published in NeuroImage

ISSN: 1053-8119 (Print); 1095-9572 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/neuroimage

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