The Interplay of Diet Quality and Alzheimer's Disease Genetic Risk Score in Relation to Cognitive Performance Among Urban African Americans.

We examined the interactive associations of poor diet quality and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) genetic risk with cognitive performance among 304 African American adults (mean age~57 years) from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. In this cross-sectional study, selected participants had complete predictors and covariate data with 13 cognitive test scores as outcomes. Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and mean adequacy ratio (MAR) were measured.

Subclinical thyroid dysfunction and depressive symptoms: protocol for a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Introduction: Prospective cohort studies on the association between subclinical thyroid dysfunction and depressive symptoms have yielded conflicting findings, possibly because of differences in age, sex, thyroid-stimulating hormone cut-off levels or degree of baseline depressive symptoms. Analysis of individual participant data (IPD) may help clarify this association.

Methods And Analysis: We will conduct a systematic review and IPD meta-analysis of prospective studies on the association between subclinical thyroid dysfunction and depressive symptoms.

Longitudinal evaluation of surrogates of regional cerebral blood flow computed from dynamic amyloid PET imaging.

Surrogates of neuronal activity, typically measured by regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) or glucose metabolism, can be estimated from dynamic amyloid PET imaging. Using data for 149 participants (345 visits) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, we assessed whether the average of early amyloid frames (EA) and computed from dynamic C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) PET can serve as surrogates of rCBF computed from O-HO-PET. had the highest longitudinal test-retest reliability.

Muscle cannabinoid 1 receptor regulates Il-6 and myostatin expression, governing physical performance and whole-body metabolism.

Sarcopenic obesity, the combination of skeletal muscle mass and function loss with an increase in body fat, is associated with physical limitations, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic stress, and increased risk of mortality. Cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R) plays a critical role in the regulation of whole-body energy metabolism because of its involvement in controlling appetite, fuel distribution, and utilization. Inhibition of CB1R improves insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity in pancreatic β-cells and hepatocytes.

Engagement in Enriching Early-Life Activities Is Associated With Larger Hippocampal and Amygdala Volumes in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Objectives: Numerous studies show benefits of mid- and late-life activity on neurocognitive health. Yet, few studies have examined how engagement in enriching activities during childhood, when the brain is most plastic, may confer long-term neurocognitive benefits that may be especially important to individuals raised in low-income settings. We examined associations between enriching early-life activities (EELAs) and hippocampal and amygdala volumes in a sample of predominantly African-American, community-dwelling older adults.

Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients.

In December 2017, the National Academy of Neuropsychology convened an interorganizational Summit on Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients in Denver, Colorado. The Summit brought together representatives of a broad range of stakeholders invested in the care of older adults to focus on the topic of cognitive health and aging. Summit participants specifically examined questions of who should be screened for cognitive impairment and how they should be screened in medical settings.

Systemic Inflammation Is Associated With Longitudinal Changes in Cognitive Performance Among Urban Adults.

Systemic inflammation can affect cognitive performance over time. The current study examined associations between systemic inflammation and cognitive performance among African Americans and Whites urban adults, stratifying by sex, and age group and by race. Among 1,555-1,719 White and African-American urban adults [Age: 30-64y, 2004-2013, mean±SD follow-up time(y): 4.

Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients.

In December 2017, the National Academy of Neuropsychology convened an interorganizational Summit on Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients in Denver, Colorado. The Summit brought together representatives of a broad range of stakeholders invested in the care of older adults to focus on the topic of cognitive health and aging. Summit participants specifically examined questions of who should be screened for cognitive impairment and how they should be screened in medical settings.

Characteristics of healthy vascular ageing in pooled population-based cohort studies: the global Metabolic syndrome and Artery REsearch Consortium.

Objective: Arterial ageing is characterized by increasing arterial stiffness as measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV). This process is enhanced in participants with early vascular ageing (EVA), but slowed in participants with healthy vascular ageing (HVA). We aimed to describe characteristics of EVA and HVA in a transcontinental study including 11 cohorts.

d-Serine is a potential biomarker for clinical response in treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder using (R,S)-ketamine infusion and TIMBER psychotherapy: A pilot study.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic and debilitating condition that is often refractory to standard frontline antidepressant therapy. A promising new approach to PTSD therapy is administration of a single sub-anesthetic dose of (R,S)-ketamine (Ket). The treatment produces rapid and significant therapeutic response, which lasts for only 4-7 days.

At the Crossroads Between Neurodegeneration and Cancer: A Review of Overlapping Biology and Its Implications.

Background: A growing body of epidemiologic evidence suggests that neurodegenerative diseases occur less frequently in cancer survivors, and vice versa. While unusual, this inverse comorbidity is biologically plausible and could be explained, in part, by the evolutionary tradeoffs made by neurons and cycling cells to optimize the performance of their very different functions. The two cell types utilize the same proteins and pathways in different, and sometimes opposite, ways.

Personality traits and facets linked with self-reported alcohol consumption and biomarkers of liver health.

Introduction: This study examines whether the association between Five Factor Model personality traits and alcohol consumption extends beyond self-report to biomarkers of alcohol consumption.

Methods: Community-dwelling adults from Sardinia (N = 5380), Italy, completed the revised NEO Personality Inventory and reported on alcohol consumption, while traditional biomarkers of heavy drinking, such as gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), were assayed from blood samples.

Results: Associations between self-report measures were modest but consistent with previous findings on the link between personality and alcohol use.

Brain and blood metabolite signatures of pathology and progression in Alzheimer disease: A targeted metabolomics study.

Background: The metabolic basis of Alzheimer disease (AD) is poorly understood, and the relationships between systemic abnormalities in metabolism and AD pathogenesis are unclear. Understanding how global perturbations in metabolism are related to severity of AD neuropathology and the eventual expression of AD symptoms in at-risk individuals is critical to developing effective disease-modifying treatments. In this study, we undertook parallel metabolomics analyses in both the brain and blood to identify systemic correlates of neuropathology and their associations with prodromal and preclinical measures of AD progression.

Associations of Quadriceps Torque Properties with Muscle Size, Attenuation, and Intramuscular Adipose Tissue in Older Adults.

Background: Atrophy and fatty infiltration of muscle with aging are associated with fractures and falls, however, their direct associations with muscle function are not well described. It was hypothesized that participants with lower quadriceps muscle attenuation, area, and greater intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) will exhibit slower rates of torque development (RTD) and lower peak knee extension torques.

Methods: Data from 4,842 participants (2,041 men, 2,801 women) from the Age Gene/Environment Susceptibility Reykjavik Study (mean age 76 ± 0.

SPARCL1 Accelerates Symptom Onset in Alzheimer's Disease and Influences Brain Structure and Function During Aging.

We recently reported that alpha-2 macroglobulin (A2M) is a biomarker of neuronal injury in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and identified a network of nine genes co-expressed with A2M in the brain. This network includes the gene encoding SPARCL1, a protein implicated in synaptic maintenance. Here, we examine whether SPARCL1 is associated with longitudinal changes in brain structure and function in older individuals at risk for AD in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

The NIH Science of Behavior Change Program: Transforming the science through a focus on mechanisms of change.

The goal of the NIH Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) Common Fund Program is to provide the basis for an experimental medicine approach to behavior change that focuses on identifying and measuring the mechanisms that underlie behavioral patterns we are trying to change. This paper frames the development of the program within a discussion of the substantial disease burden in the U.S.

Evidence for brain glucose dysregulation in Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: It is unclear whether abnormalities in brain glucose homeostasis are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis.

Methods: Within the autopsy cohort of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, we measured brain glucose concentration and assessed the ratios of the glycolytic amino acids, serine, glycine, and alanine to glucose. We also quantified protein levels of the neuronal (GLUT3) and astrocytic (GLUT1) glucose transporters.

Positive Aging Expectations Are Associated With Physical Activity Among Urban-Dwelling Older Adults.

Purpose: Regular physical activity is a key component of healthy aging, but few older adults meet physical activity guidelines. Poor aging expectations can contribute to this lack of activity, since negative stereotypes about the aging process can be internalized and affect physical performance. Although prior cross-sectional studies have shown that physical activity and aging expectations are associated, less is known about this association longitudinally, particularly among traditionally underrepresented groups.

National Institutes of Health Research Plan on Rehabilitation: NIH Medical Rehabilitation Coordinating Committee.

One in five Americans experiences disability that affects their daily function because of impairments in mobility, cognitive function, sensory impairment, or communication impairment. The need for rehabilitation strategies to optimize function and reduce disability is a clear priority for research to address this public health challenge. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently published a Research Plan on Rehabilitation that provides a set of priorities to guide the field over the next 5 years.

Iron in deep brain nuclei in migraine? CAMERA follow-up MRI findings.

Introduction In the CAMERA population-based MRI study, migraineurs below the age of 50 had decreased T2-values indicative of increased iron deposition in several deep brain nuclei. Longer migraine history was associated with lower T2-values, suggesting an association between migraine attacks and iron accumulation. In the present nine-year follow-up study of the CAMERA cohort we re-measured the T2-values in deep brain nuclei to assess the evolution over time.

Genetic risk scores, sex and dietary factors interact to alter serum uric acid trajectory among African-American urban adults.

Serum uric acid (SUA), a causative agent for gout among others, is affected by both genetic and dietary factors, perhaps differentially by sex. We evaluated cross-sectional (SUAbase) and longitudinal (SUArate) associations of SUA with a genetic risk score (GRS), diet and sex. We then tested the interactive effect of GRS, diet and sex on SUA.