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Predicting cognitive resilience from midlife lifestyle and multi-modal MRI: A 30-year prospective cohort study

Topiwala, A; Suri, S; Allan, C; Valkanova, V; Filippini, N; Sexton, CE; Heise, V; ... Ebmeier, KP; + view all (2019) Predicting cognitive resilience from midlife lifestyle and multi-modal MRI: A 30-year prospective cohort study. PLoS One , 14 (2) , Article e0211273. 10.1371/journal.pone.0211273. Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is significant heterogeneity in the clinical expression of structural brain abnormalities, including Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. Some individuals preserve their memory despite the presence of risk factors or pathological brain changes, indicating resilience. We aimed to test whether resilient individuals could be distinguished from those who develop cognitive impairment, using sociodemographic variables and neuroimaging. METHODS: We included 550 older adults participating in the Whitehall II study with longitudinal data, cognitive test results, and multi-modal MRI. Hippocampal atrophy was defined as Scheltens Scores >0. Resilient individuals (n = 184) were defined by high cognitive performance despite hippocampal atrophy (HA). Non-resilient participants (n = 133) were defined by low cognitive performance (≥1.5 standard deviations (S.D.) below the group mean) in the presence of HA. Dynamic and static exposures were evaluated for their ability to predict later resilience status using multivariable logistic regression. In a brain-wide analysis we tested for group differences in the integrity of white matter (structural connectivity) and resting-state networks (functional connectivity). FINDINGS: Younger age (OR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.83 to 0.92, p<0.001), higher premorbid FSIQ (OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.10, p<0.0001) and social class (OR 1 vs. 3: 4.99, 95% CI: 1.30 to 19.16, p = 0.02, OR 2 vs. 3: 8.43, 95% CI: 1.80 to 39.45, p = 0.007) were independently associated with resilience. Resilient individuals could be differentiated from non-resilient participants by higher fractional anisotropy (FA), and less association between anterior and posterior resting state networks. Higher FA had a significantly more positive effect on cognitive performance in participants with HA, compared to those without. CONCLUSIONS: Resilient individuals could be distinguished from those who developed impairments on the basis of sociodemographic characteristics, brain structural and functional connectivity, but not midlife lifestyles. There was a synergistic deleterious effect of hippocampal atrophy and poor white matter integrity on cognitive performance. Exploiting and supporting neural correlates of resilience could offer a fresh approach to postpone or avoid the appearance of clinical symptoms.

Type: Article
Title: Predicting cognitive resilience from midlife lifestyle and multi-modal MRI: A 30-year prospective cohort study
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211273
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211273
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10069020
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