Hearing loss and its relation to longitudinal changes in white matter microstructure in older adults: The Rotterdam Study.

Hearing loss is considered a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia. The sensory deprivation theory postulates that hearing loss adversely affects cognition in older adults through structural brain changes, but longitudinal studies are scarce. To find evidence for a possible detrimental effect of hearing loss on white matter microstructure, we carried out a longitudinal study in the population-based Rotterdam Study.

Cluster-Based White Matter Signatures and the Risk of Dementia, Stroke, and Mortality in Community-Dwelling Adults.

Background And Objectives: Markers of white matter (WM) injury on brain MRI are important indicators of brain health. Different patterns of WM atrophy, WM hyperintensities (WMHs), and microstructural integrity could reflect distinct pathologies and disease risks, but large-scale imaging studies investigating WM signatures are lacking. This study aims to identify distinct WM signatures using brain MRI in community-dwelling adults, determine underlying risk factor profiles, and assess risks of dementia, stroke, and mortality associated with each signature.

Chronic Cough-Related Differences in Brain Morphometry in Adults: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Individuals with cough hypersensitivity have increased central neural responses to tussive stimuli, which may result in maladaptive morphometric changes in the central cough processing systems.

Research Question: Are the volumes of the brain regions implicated in cough hypersensitivity different in adults with chronic cough compared with adults without chronic cough?

Study Design And Methods: Between 2009 and 2014, participants in the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort, underwent brain MRI and were interviewed for chronic cough, which was defined as daily coughing for at least 3 months. Regional brain volumes were quantified with the use of parcellation software.

Progression along data-driven disease timelines is predictive of Alzheimer's disease in a population-based cohort.

Data-driven disease progression models have provided important insight into the timeline of brain changes in AD phenotypes. However, their utility in predicting the progression of pre-symptomatic AD in a population-based setting has not yet been investigated. In this study, we investigated if the disease timelines constructed in a case-controlled setting, with subjects stratified according to APOE status, are generalizable to a population-based cohort, and if progression along these disease timelines is predictive of AD.

Season of birth and the risk of dementia in the population-based Rotterdam Study.

Early-life environmental factors have been suggested in the pathophysiology of dementia. Season of birth has previously been used as a proxy for these external exposures. We investigated the link between season of birth and the risk of dementia and further explored underlying pathways by studying structural brain changes on MRI.

Hearing loss and cognitive decline in the general population: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Previous studies identifying hearing loss as a promising modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline mostly adjusted for baseline age solely. As such a faster cognitive decline at a higher age, which is expected considering the non-linear relationship between cognition and age, may have been overlooked. Therefore it remains uncertain whether effects of hearing loss on cognitive decline extend beyond age-related declines of cognitive function.

Trajectories of Cognitive and Motor Function Between Ages 45 and 90 Years: A Population-Based Study.

Background: To establish trajectories of cognitive and motor function, and to determine the sequence of change across individual tests in community-dwelling individuals aged 45-90 years.

Method: Between 1997 and 2016, we repeatedly assessed cognitive function with 5 tests in 9514 participants aged 45-90 years from the population-based Rotterdam Study. Between 1999 and 2016, we measured motor function with 3 tests in 8297 participants.

Aging-Dependent Genetic Effects Associated to ADHD Predict Longitudinal Changes of Ventricular Volumes in Adulthood.

Background: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a childhood-onset disorder that can persist into adult life. Most genetic studies have focused on investigating biological mechanisms of ADHD during childhood. However, little is known about whether genetic variants associated with ADHD influence structural brain changes throughout adulthood.

Cortical gyrification in relation to age and cognition in older adults.

Gyrification of the cerebral cortex changes with aging and relates to development of cognitive function during early life and midlife. Little is known about how gyrification relates to age and cognitive function later in life. We investigated this in 4397 individuals (mean age: 63.

Trajectories of Cognitive Function Prior to Cancer Diagnosis: A Population-Based Study.

Background: An emerging body of research suggests that noncentral nervous system cancer may negatively impact the brain apart from effects of cancer treatment. However, studies assessing cognitive function in newly diagnosed cancer patients cannot exclude selection bias and psychological effects of cancer diagnosis. To overcome these limitations, we investigated trajectories of cognitive function of patients before cancer diagnosis.

Normative brain volumetry derived from different reference populations: impact on single-subject diagnostic assessment in dementia.

Brain imaging data are increasingly made publicly accessible, and volumetric imaging measures derived from population-based cohorts may serve as normative data for individual patient diagnostic assessment. Yet, these normative cohorts are usually not a perfect reflection of a patient's base population, nor are imaging parameters such as field strength or scanner type similar. In this proof of principle study, we assessed differences between reference curves of subcortical structure volumes of normal controls derived from two population-based studies and a case-control study.

Trajectories of imaging markers in brain aging: the Rotterdam Study.

With aging, the brain undergoes several structural changes. These changes reflect the normal aging process and are therefore not necessarily pathologic. In fact, better understanding of these normal changes is an important cornerstone to also disentangle pathologic changes.

Vasopressors Do Not Influence Cerebral Critical Closing Pressure During Systemic Inflammation Evoked by Experimental Endotoxemia and Sepsis in Humans.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different vasopressors on the cerebral vasculature during experimental human endotoxemia and sepsis. We used the critical closing pressure (CrCP) as a measure of cerebral vascular tone.

Methods: We performed a prospective pilot study, at the intensive care department (ICU) of a tertiary care university hospital in the Netherlands, in 40 healthy male subjects during experimental human endotoxemia (administration of bacterial lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) and in 10 patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.

Repeatability of Bolus Kinetics Ultrasound Perfusion Imaging for the Quantification of Cerebral Blood Flow.

Ultrasound perfusion imaging (UPI) can be used for the quantification of cerebral perfusion. In a neuro-intensive care setting, repeated measurements are required to evaluate changes in cerebral perfusion and monitor therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the repeatability of UPI in quantification of cerebral perfusion.