Cerebral Blood Flow in Community-Based Older Twins Is Moderately Heritable: An Arterial Spin Labeling Perfusion Imaging Study.

Adequate cerebral blood flow (CBF) is necessary to maintain brain metabolism and function. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is an emerging MRI technique offering a non-invasive and reliable quantification of CBF. The genetic basis of CBF has not been well documented, and one approach to investigate this is to examine its heritability.

Corticosteroids and Regional Variations in Thickness of the Human Cerebral Cortex across the Lifespan.

Exposures to life stressors accumulate across the lifespan, with possible impact on brain health. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms mediating age-related changes in brain structure. We use a lifespan sample of participants (n = 21 251; 4-97 years) to investigate the relationship between the thickness of cerebral cortex and the expression of the glucocorticoid- and the mineralocorticoid-receptor genes (NR3C1 and NR3C2, respectively), obtained from the Allen Human Brain Atlas.

Author Correction: Study of 300,486 individuals identifies 148 independent genetic loci influencing general cognitive function.

Christina M. Lill, who contributed to analysis of data, was inadvertently omitted from the author list in the originally published version of this article. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the article.

Vascular Cognitive Disorder.

The term vascular cognitive disorder (VCD) refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders in which the primary feature is cognitive impairment attributable to cerebrovascular disease (CVD). This includes not only vascular dementia (VaD) but also cognitive impairment of insufficient severity to meet diagnostic criteria for dementia. VCD is recognized as the second most common cause of dementia after Alzheimer's disease (AD), but prevalence rates vary widely according to the diagnostic criteria employed.

Oral Health and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

Background: It has often been argued that there is a relationship between oral health and cognitive decline in late adulthood, but a recent systematic review concluded that it was unclear "how or whether" any relationship exists. However, most of the studies that contributed to this review operationalised cognitive function using a brief cognitive screen and/or dementia status.

Objective: An updated systematic review was conducted that focused on how oral health relates to specific cognitive abilities in older adults (specifically, the neurocognitive domains specified in the DSM-5: learning and memory, perceptual motor function, language, executive function, complex attention, and social cognition).

Exceptional Longevity and Polygenic Risk for Cardiovascular Health.

Studies investigating exceptionally long-lived (ELL) individuals, including genetic studies, have linked cardiovascular-related pathways, particularly lipid and cholesterol homeostasis, with longevity. This study explored the genetic profiles of ELL individuals (cases: n = 294, 95⁻106 years; controls: n = 1105, 55⁻65 years) by assessing their polygenic risk scores (PRS) based on a genome wide association study (GWAS) threshold of < 5 × 10. PRS were constructed using GWAS summary data from two exceptional longevity (EL) analyses and eight cardiovascular-related risk factors (lipids) and disease (myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, stroke) analyses.

Harmonizing brain magnetic resonance imaging methods for vascular contributions to neurodegeneration.

Introduction: Many consequences of cerebrovascular disease are identifiable by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but variation in methods limits multicenter studies and pooling of data. The European Union Joint Program on Neurodegenerative Diseases (EU JPND) funded the HARmoNizing Brain Imaging MEthodS for VaScular Contributions to Neurodegeneration (HARNESS) initiative, with a focus on cerebral small vessel disease.

Methods: Surveys, teleconferences, and an in-person workshop were used to identify gaps in knowledge and to develop tools for harmonizing imaging and analysis.

Junior clinical academic psychiatrists in Australia: The University of New South Wales initiative.

Objective: We examined current pathways of training for junior clinical academic psychiatrists in Australia. An initiative of the School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, is described from the perspective of two junior clinical academics.

Conclusions: Australia has limited defined clinical academic pathways for psychiatrists when compared internationally.

Subjective cognitive decline and rates of incident Alzheimer's disease and non-Alzheimer's disease dementia.

Introduction: In this multicenter study on subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in community-based and memory clinic settings, we assessed the (1) incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-AD dementia and (2) determinants of progression to dementia.

Methods: Eleven cohorts provided 2978 participants with SCD and 1391 controls. We estimated dementia incidence and identified risk factors using Cox proportional hazards models.

Validity of the Mediterranean Diet and Culinary Index (MediCul) for Online Assessment of Adherence to the 'Traditional' Diet and Aspects of Cuisine in Older Adults.

The Mediterranean diet is associated with multiple health benefits. Yet, no tool has been specifically developed to assess adherence to the 'traditional' Mediterranean diet and cuisine within a Western cohort, and validated for online use. We tested the reliability and validity of online administration of the Mediterranean Diet and Culinary Index (MediCul) among middle-aged and older adults.

Maintain Your Brain: Protocol of a 3-Year Randomized Controlled Trial of a Personalized Multi-Modal Digital Health Intervention to Prevent Cognitive Decline Among Community Dwelling 55 to 77 Year Olds.

Background: Maintain Your Brain (MYB) is a randomized controlled trial of an online multi-modal lifestyle intervention targeting modifiable dementia risk factors with its primary aim being to reduce cognitive decline in an older age cohort.

Methods: MYB aims to recruit 8,500 non-demented community dwelling 55 to 77 year olds from the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study in New South Wales, Australia. Participants will be screened for risk factors related to four modules that comprise the MYB intervention: physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and cognitive training.

The many ages of man: diverse approaches to assessing ageing-related biological and psychological measures and their relationship to chronological age.

Purpose Of Review: Chronological age is a crude measure and may not be the best indicator of the ageing process. Establishing valid and reliable biomarkers to understand the true effect of ageing is of great interest. We provide an overview of biological and psychological characteristics that change with age and can potentially serve as markers of the ageing process, and discuss if an integration of these characteristics may more accurately measure the true age of a person.

Altered functional connectivity strength in informant-reported subjective cognitive decline: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Introduction: Informant-reported subjective cognitive decline (iSCD) has been associated with a higher risk of conversion to dementia, but the findings of whole brain functional connectivity strength (FCS) changes in iSCD are limited.

Methods: The sample comprised 39 participants with iSCD and 39 age- and sex- matched healthy controls. The global absolute (aFCS) and relative functional connectivity strengths were estimated using weighted degree centrality and the z-scores of the weighted degree centrality respectively.

Visual memory tests enhance the identification of amnestic MCI cases at greater risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Objectives: To investigate whether amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) identified with visual memory tests conveys an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (risk-AD) and if the risk-AD differs from that associated with aMCI based on verbal memory tests.

Participants: 4,771 participants aged 70.76 (SD = 6.

Co-expression network analysis of peripheral blood transcriptome identifies dysregulated protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum and immune response in recurrent MDD in older adults.

The molecular factors involved in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) remain poorly understood. One approach to examine the molecular basis of MDD is co-expression network analysis, which facilitates the examination of complex interactions between expression levels of individual genes and how they influence biological pathways affected in MDD. Here, we applied an unsupervised gene-network based approach to a prospective experimental design using microarray genome-wide gene expression from the peripheral whole blood of older adults.

The association of regional white matter lesions with cognition in a community-based cohort of older individuals.

Emerging evidence from lesion-symptom mapping (LSM) studies suggested that regional white matter lesions (WML) on strategic white matter (WM) fiber tracts are significantly associated with specific cognitive domains, independent of global WML burden. However, previous LSM investigations were mostly carried out in disease cohorts, with little evidence from community-based older individuals, making findings difficult to generalize. Moreover, most LSM studies applied a threshold to the probabilistic atlas, leading to the loss of information and threshold-dependent findings.

Differential expression of synaptic and interneuron genes in the aging human prefrontal cortex.

Altered inhibition-excitation balance is implicated in brain aging. We hypothesized that expression of 14 genes encoding proteins localized to synapses or interneurons would show age-related changes relative to 1 another in postmortem tissue from the prefrontal cortex of 37 individuals (18-78 years) and that synaptic or interneuron markers would be differentially correlated with human brain volumes across aging. The majority of genes examined were differentially expressed with age, most being downregulated.

Differential effects of completed and incomplete pregnancies on the risk of Alzheimer disease.

Objective: To investigate the effects of completed pregnancy with childbirth and incomplete pregnancy without childbirth on the late-life cognition and the risk of Alzheimer disease (AD) in women.

Methods: Using the pooled data of 3,549 women provided by 2 population-based cohort studies, we conducted logistic regression analyses to examine retrospectively the associations of completed and incomplete pregnancy with the risks of mild cognitive impairment and AD. For women without dementia, we also conducted analyses of covariance to examine the associations of completed and incomplete pregnancy with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score.

Neuroimaging and neuropathology indices of cerebrovascular disease burden: A systematic review.

Objective: To systematically review the literature on the use of both neuroimaging and neuropathologic indices of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) burden, as estimation of this burden could have multiple benefits in the diagnosis and prognosis of cognitive impairment and dementia.

Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched (inception to June 2017) to obtain and then systematically review all pertinent neuroimaging and neuropathology studies, where an index of CVD was developed or tested.

Results: Twenty-five neuroimaging articles were obtained, which included 4 unique indices.

Antipsychotic Deprescription for Older Adults in Long-term Care: The HALT Study.

Objectives: Despite limited efficacy and significant safety concerns, antipsychotic medications are frequently used to treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in long-term residential care. This study evaluates the sustained reduction of antipsychotic use for BPSD through a deprescribing intervention and education of health care professionals.

Design: Repeated-measures, longitudinal, single-arm study.

Higher fasting plasma glucose is associated with smaller striatal volume and poorer fine motor skills in a longitudinal cohort.

Previous studies have demonstrated associations between higher blood glucose and brain atrophy and functional deficits, however, little is known about the association between blood glucose, striatal volume and striatal function despite sensori-motor deficits being reported in diabetes. This study investigated the relationship between blood glucose levels, striatal volume and fine motor skills in a longitudinal cohort of cognitively healthy individuals living in the community with normal or impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes. Participants were 271 cognitively healthy individuals (mean age 63 years at inclusion) with normal fasting glucose levels (<5.