Arterial-spin-labeling (ASL) perfusion MRI predicts cognitive function in elderly individuals: A 4-year longitudinal...

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have yielded disappointing results.
• There is a growing need to understand cognitive decline in healthy elderly individuals.
• Identifying individuals susceptible to cognitive impairment is crucial for early intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between baseline cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cognitive function at follow-up.
• To evaluate the potential of CBF as a predictive biomarker for cognitive decline.
• To identify specific brain regions where CBF is most predictive of future cognition.

Main Methods:

• A prospective longitudinal study involving 309 healthy subjects aged 20-89 years.
• Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured at baseline using 3T pseudo-continuous arterial spin-labeling MRI.
• Cognitive assessments were conducted at baseline and after a 4-year follow-up interval, with linear regression analyses controlling for covariates.

Main Results:

• Baseline whole-brain CBF significantly predicted general fluid cognition at follow-up in older adults (age ≥54 years).
• Frontal lobe CBF was particularly sensitive in predicting future fluid cognition, episodic memory, and reasoning.
• Voxelwise analysis identified the medial frontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex within the default mode network (DMN) as key regions for predicting fluid cognition.

Conclusions:

• Cerebral blood flow (CBF) serves as a significant predictor of cognitive ability in healthy aging.
• CBF measurements, especially in the frontal lobe and DMN regions, can identify individuals at risk for future cognitive impairment.
• This research supports the use of CBF as a potential imaging biomarker for cognitive health in aging populations.