The Association between Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and MRI-Assessed Locus Coeruleus Integrity in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA).

Background: Increased exposure to ambient air pollution, especially fine particulate matter () is associated with poorer brain health and increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias. The locus coeruleus (LC), located in the brainstem, is one of the earliest regions affected by tau pathology seen in AD. Its diffuse projections throughout the brain include afferents to olfactory areas that are hypothesized conduits of cerebral particle deposition.

Data-driven sequence of cognitive decline in people with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Understanding the sequential progression of cognitive impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD) is crucial for elucidating neuropathological underpinnings, refining the assessment of PD-related cognitive decline stages and enhancing early identification for targeted interventions. The first aim of this study was to use an innovative event-based modeling (EBM) analytic approach to estimate the sequence of cognitive declines in PD. The second aim was to validate the EBM by examining associations with EBM-derived individual-specific estimates of cognitive decline severity and performance on independent cognitive screening measures.

20-year depressive symptoms, dementia, and structural neuropathology in older women.

Introduction: The course of depressive symptoms and dementia risk is unclear, as are potential structural neuropathological common causes.

Methods: Utilizing joint latent class mixture models, we identified longitudinal trajectories of annually assessed depressive symptoms and dementia risk over 21 years in 957 older women (baseline age 72.7 years old) from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study.

Association between late-life air pollution exposure and medial temporal lobe atrophy in older women.

Background: Ambient air pollution exposures increase risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias, possibly due to structural changes in the medial temporal lobe (MTL). However, existing MRI studies examining exposure effects on the MTL were cross-sectional and focused on the hippocampus, yielding mixed results.

Method: To determine whether air pollution exposures were associated with MTL atrophy over time, we conducted a longitudinal study including 653 cognitively unimpaired community-dwelling older women from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study with two MRI brain scans (MRI-1: 2005-6; MRI-2: 2009-10; M at MRI-1=77.

Alzheimer's Related Neurodegeneration Mediates Air Pollution Effects on Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy.

Exposure to ambient air pollution, especially particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO), are environmental risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. The medial temporal lobe (MTL) is an important brain region subserving episodic memory that atrophies with age, during the Alzheimer's disease continuum, and is vulnerable to the effects of cerebrovascular disease.

Increased perivascular space volume in white matter and basal ganglia is associated with cognition in Parkinson's Disease.

Perivascular spaces (PVS), fluid-filled compartments surrounding brain vasculature, are an essential component of the glymphatic system responsible for transport of waste and nutrients. Glymphatic system impairment may underlie cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD). Studies have focused on the role of basal ganglia PVS with cognition in PD, but the role of white matter PVS is unknown.

Physical activity intensity is associated with cognition and functional connectivity in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and often leads to dementia, with no effective treatment. Aging studies suggest that physical activity (PA) intensity has a positive impact on cognition and enhanced functional connectivity may underlie these benefits. However, less is known in PD.

Longitudinal analyses indicate bidirectional associations between loneliness and health.

Objectives: To evaluate temporal dynamics between loneliness and both objective and subjective health (i.e. functional impairment and self-rated health) in mid- to late-adulthood.

Ambient air pollution exposure and increasing depressive symptoms in older women: The mediating role of the prefrontal cortex and insula.

Exposures to fine particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO) have been associated with the emergence of depressive symptoms in older adulthood, although most studies used cross-sectional outcome measures. Elucidating the brain structures mediating the adverse effects can strengthen the causal role between air pollution and increasing depressive symptoms. We evaluated whether smaller volumes of brain structures implicated in late-life depression mediate associations between ambient air pollution exposure and changes in depressive symptoms.

Air quality improvement and cognitive decline in community-dwelling older women in the United States: A longitudinal cohort study.

Background: Late-life exposure to ambient air pollution is a modifiable risk factor for dementia, but epidemiological studies have shown inconsistent evidence for cognitive decline. Air quality (AQ) improvement has been associated with improved cardiopulmonary health and decreased mortality, but to the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined the association with cognitive function. We examined whether AQ improvement was associated with slower rate of cognitive decline in older women aged 74 to 92 years.

Association of improved air quality with lower dementia risk in older women.

Late-life ambient air pollution is a risk factor for brain aging, but it remains unknown if improved air quality (AQ) lowers dementia risk. We studied a geographically diverse cohort of older women dementia free at baseline in 2008 to 2012 ( = 2,239, aged 74 to 92). Incident dementia was centrally adjudicated annually.

The Effects of Cardiorespiratory and Motor Skill Fitness on Intrinsic Functional Connectivity of Neural Networks in Individuals with Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Studies in aging older adults have shown the positive association between cognition and exercise related fitness, particularly cardiorespiratory fitness. These reports have also demonstrated the association of high cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as other types of fitness, on the reversal of age-related decline in neural network connectivity, highlighting the potential role of fitness on age- and disease-related brain changes. While the clinical benefits of exercise are well-documented in Parkinson's disease (PD), the extent to which cardiorespiratory fitness (assessed by estimated VO testing) or motor skill fitness (assessed by the Physical Performance Test (PPT)) affects neural network connectivity in PD remains to be investigated.

Associations Between Air Pollution Exposure and Empirically Derived Profiles of Cognitive Performance in Older Women.

Background: Elucidating associations between exposures to ambient air pollutants and profiles of cognitive performance may provide insight into neurotoxic effects on the aging brain.

Objective: We examined associations between empirically derived profiles of cognitive performance and residential concentrations of particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 (PM2.

Ambient Air Pollution and Long-Term Trajectories of Episodic Memory Decline among Older Women in the WHIMS-ECHO Cohort.

Background: Episodic memory decline varies by age and underlying neuropathology. Whether ambient air pollution contributes to the heterogeneity of episodic memory decline in older populations remains unclear.

Objectives: We estimated associations between air pollution exposures and episodic memory decline according to pollutant, exposure time window, age, and latent class subgroups defined by episodic memory trajectories.

Cognition and motor learning in a Parkinson's disease cohort: importance of recall in episodic memory.

Impaired motor learning in individuals with Parkinson's disease is often attributed to deficits in executive function, which serves as an important cognitive process supporting motor learning. However, less is known about the role of other cognitive domains and its association with motor learning in Parkinson's disease. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between motor learning and multiple domains of cognitive performance in individuals with Parkinson's disease.

Thalamic volume mediates associations between cardiorespiratory fitness (VOmax) and cognition in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Cognitive deficits occur in Parkinson's disease (PD). Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with better cognitive performance in aging especially in executive function (EF) and memory. The association between CRF and cognitive performance is understudied in people with PD.

Cognitive effects of theta frequency bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease: A pilot study.

Background: There is significant evidence for cognitive decline following deep brain stimulation (DBS). Current stimulation paradigms utilize gamma frequency stimulation for optimal motor benefits; however, little has been done to optimize stimulation parameters for cognition. Recent evidence implicates subthalamic nucleus (STN) theta oscillations in executive function, and theta oscillations are well-known to relate to episodic memory, suggesting that theta frequency stimulation could potentially improve cognition in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Cognitive Reserve, Alzheimer's Neuropathology, and Risk of Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Cognitive reserve (CR) may reduce the risk of dementia. We summarized the effect of CR on progression to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia in studies accounting for Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related structural pathology and biomarkers. Literature search was conducted in Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO.

Outdoor air pollution exposure and inter-relation of global cognitive performance and emotional distress in older women.

The interrelationships among long-term ambient air pollution exposure, emotional distress and cognitive decline in older adulthood remain unclear. Long-term exposure may impact cognitive performance and subsequently impact emotional health. Conversely, exposure may initially be associated with emotional distress followed by declines in cognitive performance.

PM Associated With Gray Matter Atrophy Reflecting Increased Alzheimer Risk in Older Women.

Objective: To examine whether late-life exposure to PM (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters <2.5 µm) contributes to progressive brain atrophy predictive of Alzheimer disease (AD) using a community-dwelling cohort of women (age 70-89 years) with up to 2 brain MRI scans (MRI-1, 2005-2006; MRI-2, 2010-2011).

Methods: AD pattern similarity (AD-PS) scores, developed by supervised machine learning and validated with MRI data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, were used to capture high-dimensional gray matter atrophy in brain areas vulnerable to AD (e.

Air Pollution and the Dynamic Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Memory in Oldest-Old Women.

Background/objectives: Exposure to air pollution may contribute to both increasing depressive symptoms and decreasing episodic memory in older adulthood, but few studies have examined this hypothesis in a longitudinal context. Accordingly, we examined the association between air pollution and changes in depressive symptoms (DS) and episodic memory (EM) and their interrelationship in oldest-old (aged 80 and older) women.

Design: Prospective cohort data from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study-Epidemiology of Cognitive Health Outcomes.

Mild cognitive impairment, psychiatric symptoms, and executive functioning in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, depression, and apathy) are common in Parkinson's disease (PD). While studies have supported the association between psychiatric symptoms and cognitive performance in PD, it is unclear if the magnitude of link between psychiatric symptoms and cognitive health is stronger by MCI status. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between cognitive performance and psychiatric symptoms in PD and whether MCI status moderates this association.