Cardiovascular risks and brain function: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of executive function in older...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cardiology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Cardiovascular (CV) risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia are known to increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults.
• The precise biological mechanisms connecting CV risk factors to cognitive decline remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between aggregate cardiovascular risk, quantified by the Framingham general cardiovascular risk profile, and functional brain activation patterns.
• To explore the neural underpinnings of executive function in community-dwelling older adults with varying levels of cardiovascular risk.

Main Methods:

• Sixty community-dwelling older adults (mean age: 64.6 years) from the Brain Health Study participated.
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed during the Flanker task to assess brain activation.
• Aggregate CV risk was calculated using the Framingham general cardiovascular risk profile.

Main Results:

• Participants with higher aggregate CV risk exhibited greater task-related brain activation in the left inferior parietal region.
• This heightened activation in the left inferior parietal region was significantly associated with poorer performance on the Flanker task, indicating impaired executive function.
• Findings suggest a neural pathway linking CV risk to executive function deficits.

Conclusions:

• Elevated cardiovascular risk is associated with altered functional brain activation in older adults.
• Increased activation in the inferior parietal region may represent a neural mechanism through which cardiovascular risk contributes to cognitive impairment and increased dementia risk.
• These findings highlight the importance of managing CV risk factors for brain health in aging populations.