Publications by authors named "Martin P J Van Boxtel"
Background: Hearing loss (HL) and visual loss (VL) are recently identified as promising dementia risk factors, but long-term studies with adequate control of other modifiable dementia risk factors are lacking. This 25-year follow-up study investigated the association between objectively measured HL and VL with cognitive decline and incident dementia.
Methods: 1823 participants (age 24-82 years) of the Maastricht Aging Study were assessed at baseline, 6, 12 and 25 years.
Background: Socioeconomic inequalities in cognitive impairment may partly act through structural brain damage and reduced connectivity. This study investigated the extent to which the association of early-life socioeconomic position (SEP) with later-life cognitive functioning is mediated by later-life SEP, and whether the associations of SEP with later-life cognitive functioning can be explained by structural brain damage and connectivity.
Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Dutch population-based Maastricht Study (n = 4,839; mean age 59.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates how life-course exposure to risk and protective factors affects brain structure and cognition, using data from The Maastricht Study of 4,881 middle-aged individuals.
- - Brain-age gap (BAG) is calculated by comparing individuals' actual age to their predicted brain age based on neuroimaging, with a larger BAG indicating accelerated brain aging and poorer cognitive function.
- - Results indicate that higher dementia risk, measured by a lifestyle score, is linked to a greater BAG and reduced cognitive abilities, emphasizing the importance of lifestyle factors on brain health.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to assess the feasibility of integrating dementia risk reduction strategies into standard primary care consultations, with the added support of a smartphone app called 'MyBraincoach.'
- A total of 188 participants aged 40-60, who have modifiable dementia risk factors, were involved in a trial that compared standard consultations with those that also included app usage; both methods showed positive feedback and improved knowledge about risk reduction.
- The results indicated that while both groups improved in their LIBRA scores and health habits, the app group experienced a greater increase in knowledge; further research is needed to determine the overall effectiveness and cost-efficiency of this approach in larger populations.
Introduction: The LIfestyle for BRAin Health (LIBRA) index yields a dementia risk score based on modifiable lifestyle factors and is validated in Western samples. We investigated whether the association between LIBRA scores and incident dementia is moderated by geographical location or sociodemographic characteristics.
Methods: We combined data from 21 prospective cohorts across six continents (N = 31,680) and conducted cohort-specific Cox proportional hazard regression analyses in a two-step individual participant data meta-analysis.
Introduction: Hearing loss (HL) has been associated with cognitive decline and dementia. We examined the temporal association between prevalent and incident HL and cognitive change.
Methods: A total of 1823 participants (24-82 years) from the Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS) were assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 years, including pure-tone audiometry.
Article Synopsis
- A study looked into factors that can help reduce the risk of dementia and checked if the "LIBRA" score needs updating!
- After reviewing many research studies and getting input from experts, they found six important factors, but highlighted three: hearing problems, social contact, and sleep!
- The study suggests that it's important to keep updating the ways we measure dementia risk, and future work will check how well the new LIBRA score works!
Article Synopsis
- High cognitive activity may help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, as suggested by the study.
- The research examined the relationship between an individual's need to engage in cognitively stimulating activities (NFC) and brain health among 4209 participants, revealing that those with higher NFC scores had better cognitive functioning and lower odds of cognitive impairment and small vessel disease.
- The findings indicate that having a strong motivation for cognitive engagement can positively impact cognitive abilities, especially in middle-aged individuals, though no significant links were found between NFC and certain brain structure measures.
Article Synopsis
- Sleep disturbances are linked to cognitive decline and an increased risk of dementia, but previous studies lacked long-term follow-up and thorough assessments.
- The Maastricht Aging Study investigated the relationship between self-reported sleep quality and cognitive decline over 12 years in a diverse sample of 1,823 cognitively healthy participants aged 24 to 82.
- Findings revealed that poorer sleep quality was related to a faster decline in processing speed and, for those over 65, also in verbal memory, indicating that self-reported sleep issues can significantly impact cognitive health over time.
Background: Late-life depression has been associated with volume changes of the hippocampus. However, little is known about its association with specific hippocampal subfields over time.
Aims: We investigated whether hippocampal subfield volumes were associated with prevalence, course and incidence of depressive symptoms.
Introduction: There is an urgent need for biomarkers identifying individuals at risk of early-stage cognitive impairment. Using cross-sectional data from The Maastricht Study, this study included 197 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 200 cognitively unimpaired individuals aged 40 to 75, matched by age, sex, and educational level.
Methods: We assessed the association of plasma sphingolipid and ceramide transfer protein (CERT) levels with MCI and adjusted for potentially confounding risk factors.
Introduction: The retina may provide non-invasive, scalable biomarkers for monitoring cerebral neurodegeneration.
Methods: We used cross-sectional data from The Maastricht study (n = 3436; mean age 59.3 years; 48% men; and 21% with type 2 diabetes [the latter oversampled by design]).
Aims/hypothesis: We investigated whether prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and continuous measures of hyperglycemia are associated with tissue volume differences in specific subfields of the hippocampus.
Methods: We used cross-sectional data from 4,724 participants (58.7 ± 8.
Corrigendum to "The cardiometabolic depression subtype and its association with clinical characteristics: The Maastricht Study" [J. Affect. Disord. 313 (2022) 110-117].
J Affect Disord
May 2023
The field of mindfulness-based research and practice is expanding fast. This development calls for a careful evaluation of the merits and scientific underpinnings of newly developed mindfulness-based programs (MBP's). In this viewpoint, we describe a process initiated by two professional mindfulness teacher training organisations (the Dutch , VMBN, and the , BAMBA) to develop a framework for evaluating the integrity of newly developed MBP's.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Higher anxiety levels in older adults are associated with worse executive functioning and an increased risk for dementia. In this study individual anxiety disorders and clinically relevant generalized anxiety symptoms are studied in relation to multiple cognitive domains.
Method: This cross-sectional study includes 7344 community-dwelling participants of The Maastricht Study aged 40-75 years and oversampling of type 2 diabetes.
Introduction: Differences in brain network connectivity may reflect the capability of the neurological substrate to compensate for brain damage and preserve cognitive function (cognitive reserve). We examined the associations between white matter connectivity, brain damage markers, and cognition in a population sample of middle-aged individuals.
Methods: A total of 4759 participants from The Maastricht Study (mean age = 59.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how changes in brain connectivity, specifically in the rich-club of the structural covariance network, are related to Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairments.
- Participants included those with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer-type dementia, with cortical thickness measured using structural MRI.
- Results showed that lower connectivity in key brain regions (rich-club) correlates with poorer memory performance and reduced hippocampal volume, highlighting the impact of Alzheimer's on brain organization.
Background: Individuals with depression often show an adverse cardiometabolic risk profile and might represent a distinct depression subtype. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a cardiometabolic depression subtype could be identified and to investigate its association with demographics and clinical characteristics (severity, symptomatology, anti-depressant use, persistence and cognitive functioning).
Methods: We used data from The Maastricht Study, a population-based cohort in the southern part of The Netherlands.
Mortality in type 2 diabetes, is determined not only by classical complications, but also by comorbidities, and is linked to hyperglycaemia and apparent even in prediabetes. We aimed to comprehensively investigate, in a population-based cohort, health burden defined as the presence of comorbidities in addition to classical complications and cardiometabolic risk factors, in not only type 2 diabetes but also prediabetes. Such population-based study has not been performed previously.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The locus coeruleus (LC) plays a critical role in modulating emotional memory performance via widespread connections to the medial temporal lobe (MTL). Interestingly, both the LC and MTL are affected during aging. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether worry during cognitive aging changes the relationship between memory performance and the neural activity patterns during an emotional memory task.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Type 2 diabetes is associated with increased risks of cognitive dysfunction and brain abnormalities. The extent to which risk factor modification can mitigate these risks is unclear. We investigated the associations between incident dementia, cognitive performance, and brain abnormalities among individuals with type 2 diabetes, according to the number of risk factors on target, compared with control subjects without diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study investigates the link between the Lifestyle for Brain Health (LIBRA) index—a dementia risk score—and MRI markers and cognitive functioning in a general population sample.* -
- Using data from The Maastricht Study, higher LIBRA scores (indicating greater dementia risk) were found to correlate with increased white matter hyperintensities and decreased information processing speed and executive function.* -
- Interestingly, some associations were specifically noted in men, connecting LIBRA scores to gray matter and CSF changes, along with memory performance, suggesting a complex relationship between dementia risk and brain health indicators.*
Aims/hypothesis: Studies investigating associations between kynurenines and cognitive function have generally been small, restricted to clinical samples or have found inconsistent results, and associations in the general adult population, and in individuals with type 2 diabetes in particular, are not clear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate cross-sectional associations between plasma kynurenines and cognitive function in a cohort of middle-aged participants with normal glucose metabolism, prediabetes (defined as impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance) and type 2 diabetes.
Methods: Plasma kynurenines were quantified in 2358 participants aged 61 ± 8 years.
Article Synopsis
- The Mediterranean diet, along with WHO and Dutch dietary guidelines, is linked to better cognitive function and slower cognitive decline in older adults.
- A study with 3,644 participants showed that those with high adherence to these diets performed better cognitively, equivalent to being 2 years younger cognitively at age 65.
- High adherence to these healthy diets correlated with a 6-7% slower decline in global cognition and notable reductions in declines in processing speed and cognitive flexibility from ages 55 to 75.