Ambient Air Pollution Exposure and Cerebral White Matter Hyperintensities in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in the Three-City Montpellier Study.

Background: Growing epidemiological evidence suggests an adverse relationship between exposure to air pollutants and cognitive health, and this could be related to the effect of air pollution on vascular health.

Objective: We aim to evaluate the association between air pollution exposure and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) marker of cerebral vascular burden, white matter hyperintensities (WMH).

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis used data from the French Three-City Montpellier study.

Is Hippocampal Volume a Relevant Early Marker of Dementia?

Objective: Hippocampal volume (HV) is a key imaging marker to improve Alzheimer's disease risk prediction. However, longitudinal studies are rare, and hippocampus may also be implicated in the subtle aging-related cognitive decline observed in dementia-free individuals. Our aim was to determine whether HV, measured by manual or automatic segmentation, is associated with dementia risk and cognitive decline in participants with and without incident dementia.

Glucometabolic Changes Are Associated with Structural Gray Matter Alterations in Prodromal Dementia.

Background: Glucometabolic changes, such as high glycemic load (GL) diet and insulin resistance (IR), are potential risk factor of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Yet, the effect of these factors on brain alterations that contribute to AD pathology has not been clearly demonstrated.

Objective: We aimed to assess the relationship of GL and IR with gray matter volumes involved in prodromal dementia.

Structural brain alterations in older adults exposed to early-life adversity.

Background: Adverse childhood events may have differential effects on the brain that persist into adulthood. Findings on structural brain alterations in older adults exposed to early-life adversity are inconsistent notably due to heterogeneity in imaging studies, population, psychiatric comorbidities, nature of adverse events, and genetic vulnerability. This study examines whether exposure related to physical or sexual maltreatment, emotional maltreatment, and global adverse environment during childhood are associated with specific alterations in grey matter volumes and if this varies according to sex and serotonin transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) genotype.

Late-life cynical hostility is associated with white matter alterations and the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Cynical hostility (CH), a specific dimension of hostility that consists of a mistrust of others, has been suggested as a high-risk trait for dementia. However, the influence of CH on the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains poorly understood. This study investigated whether late-life CH is associated with AD risk and structural neuroimaging markers of AD.

Structural brain changes with lifetime trauma and re-experiencing symptoms is genotype-dependent.

: Findings on structural brain alterations following trauma are inconsistent due probably to heterogeneity in imaging studies and population, clinical presentations, genetic vulnerability, and selection of controls. This study examines whether trauma and re-experiencing symptoms are associated with specific alterations in grey matter volumes and if this varies according to genotype. : Structural MRI was used to acquire anatomical scans from 377 community-dwelling older adults.

Increased Serum C-reactive Protein and Corpus Callosum Alterations in Older Adults.

Chronic systemic low-grade inflammation is associated with aging, but little is known on whether age-related inflammation affects brain structure, particularly white matter. The current study tested the hypothesis that in older adults without dementia, higher serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are associated with reduced corpus callosum (CC) areas. French community-dwelling subjects (ESPRIT study) aged 65 and older (N=101) underwent hs-CRP testing and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Lifetime major depression and grey-matter volume.

Background: There is evidence of structural brain alterations in major depressive disorder (MDD), but little is known about how these alterations might be affected by age at onset or genetic vulnerability. This study examines whether lifetime episodes of MDD are associated with specific alterations in grey-matter volume, and whether those alterations vary according to sex or serotonin transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) genotype (LL, SL or SS).

Methods: We used structural MRI to acquire anatomic scans from 610 community-dwelling participants.

Smaller hippocampal volume in current but not in past depression in comparison to healthy controls: Minor evidence from an older adults sample.

Background: Structural neuroimaging studies revealed a consistent pattern of volumetric reductions in both hippocampus (HC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of individuals with major depressive episode(s) (MDE). This study investigated HC and ACC volume differences in currently depressed individuals (n = 150), individuals with a past lifetime MDE history (n = 79) and healthy controls (n = 287).

Methods: Non-demented individuals were recruited from a cohort of community-dwelling older adults (ESPRIT study).

Evaluation of a research diagnostic algorithm for DSM-5 neurocognitive disorders in a population-based cohort of older adults.

Background: There is little information on the application and impact of revised criteria for diagnosing dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), now termed major and mild neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) in the DSM-5. We evaluate a psychometric algorithm for diagnosing DSM-5 NCDs in a community-dwelling sample, and characterize the neuropsychological and functional profile of expert-diagnosed DSM-5 NCDs relative to DSM-IV dementia and International Working Group criteria for MCI.

Methods: A population-based sample of 1644 adults aged 72-78 years was assessed.

Repatriation is associated with isthmus cingulate cortex reduction in community-dwelling elderly.

Objectives: The impact of stressful life events (SLEs) on brain anatomy is poorly understood, particularly its long-term neural consequences. We tested the hypothesis that a serious SLE (repatriation of French citizens living in Algeria in 1962) is associated with changes in brain regions previously implicated in psychopathology (hippocampus, amygdala, corpus callosum, prefrontal cortex, anterior, posterior and isthmus cingulate cortex (ICC)) in a large elderly population.

Methods: Structural magnetic resonance imaging was used to acquire anatomical scans from 82 subjects repatriated from Algeria and 339 subjects without this experience or any other trauma.

GWAS-identified risk variants for major depressive disorder: Preliminary support for an association with late-life depressive symptoms and brain structural alterations.

A number of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have investigated risk factors for major depressive disorder (MDD), however there has been little attempt to replicate these findings in population-based studies of depressive symptoms. Variants within three genes, BICC1, PCLO and GRM7 were selected for replication in our study based on the following criteria: they were identified in a prior MDD GWAS study; a subsequent study found evidence that they influenced depression risk; and there is a solid biological basis for a role in depression. We firstly investigated whether these variants were associated with depressive symptoms in our population-based cohort of 929 elderly (238 with clinical depressive symptoms and 691 controls), and secondly to investigate associations with structural brain alterations.

Corpus callosum size may predict late-life depression in women: a 10-year follow-up study.

Background: Recent research on late-life depression (LLD) pathophysiology suggests the implication of abnormalities in cerebral white matter and particularly in interhemispheric transfer. Corpus callosum (CC) is the main brain interhemispheric commissure. Hence, we investigated the association between baseline CC measures and risk of LDD.

Brain volumes in late life: gender, hormone treatment, and estrogen receptor variants.

Structural imaging studies suggest gender differences in brain volumes; however, whether hormone treatment (HT) can protect against age-related structural changes remains unknown, and no prior neuroimaging study has investigated potential interactions between HT and estrogen receptor (ESR) polymorphisms. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure gray and white matter, hippocampal volume, corpus callosum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), total intracranial volume (ICV) and white matter lesions (WML) in 582 non-demented older adults. In multivariable analysis, when compared to women who had never used HT, men and women currently on treatment, but not past users, had significantly smaller ratios of gray matter to ICV and increased atrophy (CSF/ICV ratio).

Education modulates the impact of white matter lesions on the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Objectives: Conflicting results have been reported regarding the association between white matter lesions (WML) and cognitive impairment. We hypothesized that education, a marker of cognitive reserve (CR), could modulate the effects of WML on the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.

Methods: We followed 500 healthy subjects from a cohort of community-dwelling persons aged 65 years and over (ESPRIT Project).

Spatial distribution of cerebral white matter lesions predicts progression to mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Context: White matter lesions (WML) increase the risk of dementia. The relevance of WML location is less clear. We sought to determine whether a particular WML profile, based on the density and location of lesions, could be associated with an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia over the following 7 years.

Depression in elderly persons subject to childhood maltreatment is not modulated by corpus callosum and hippocampal loss.

Childhood adversity has been observed to engender structural changes in the hippocampus and corpus callosum associated with increased risk for depression in childhood and early adulthood. This study investigated this association in the elderly. Corpus callosum area and hippocampal volume were measured from structural MRI in 427 community dwelling elderly.

Hippocampal volume is positively associated with behavioural inhibition (BIS) in a large community-based sample of mid-life adults: the PATH through life study.

The fields of personality research and neuropsychology have developed with very little overlap. Gray and McNaughton were among the first to recognize that personality traits must have neurobiological correlates and developed models relating personality factors to brain structures. Of particular note was their description of associations between conditioning, inhibition and activation of behaviours, and specific neural structures such as the hippocampus, amygdala and the prefrontal cortex.

Total and regional gray matter volume is not related to APOE*E4 status in a community sample of middle-aged individuals.

Background: The APOE*E4 allele has been associated with greater gray matter atrophy and with Alzheimer's disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the relationship between cerebral gray matter atrophy and APOE*E4 genotype was also present in a community-dwelling, nondemented 60- to 64-year-old cohort.

Methods: Hippocampal and amygdalar volumes were manually traced and analyzed on 331 cranial T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to detect differences associated with APOE*E4 genotype.

Clinical and neuroimaging correlates of mild cognitive impairment in a middle-aged community sample: the personality and total health through life 60+ study.

This cross-sectional study aimed at determining the clinical and structural brain magnetic resonance imaging correlates of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The data presented here are from the first wave of the longitudinal Personality and Total Health through Life 60+ project. 2,551 community-dwelling individuals in the age range of 60-64 years were recruited randomly through the electoral roll.

Hippocampal and amygdalar volumes in relation to handedness in adults aged 60-64.

We evaluated the association between handedness and manual tracings of hippocampal and amygdalar volumes. Brain MRI and handedness data were obtained for 441 community dwelling participants aged 60-64 years of whom 31 were left-handed. Both absolute and normalized hippocampal volumes were larger in left-handed women than right-handed women.

Prevalence of mild cognitive impairment in 60- to 64-year-old community-dwelling individuals: The Personality and Total Health through Life 60+ Study.

This epidemiological study aimed at determining the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in 60- to 64-year-old individuals using different diagnostic criteria. Community dwelling individuals (n = 2,551) in the age range of 60-64 years were recruited randomly through the electoral roll. They were screened using the MMSE and a short cognitive battery, and those who screened positive underwent detailed medical and cognitive assessments.