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Cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive performance in aging
Juliana Rumy Tsuchihashi Takeda1, Tatiane Martins Matos2, Juliana Nery de Souza-Talarico3
1RN, Heart Institute (InCor), Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Insights
Cardiovascular risk factors like high cholesterol and BMI negatively impact cognitive functions such as memory and attention in older adults. Maintaining healthy levels may support better brain health.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Gerontology
Background:
- Cerebral atherosclerosis, particularly in the Circle of Willis, can impair cognitive function by reducing oxygen and nutrient supply.
- Cardiovascular health is increasingly recognized as a critical factor in maintaining cognitive abilities throughout aging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between common cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive performance in adults and the elderly.
- To determine if factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and lipid profiles influence cognitive domains like attention and memory.
Main Methods:
- 129 participants over 50 years old, without cognitive impairment, were assessed.
- Cardiovascular risk factors including BMI, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and lipid profiles (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, VLDL, triglycerides, glucose) were measured.
- Cognitive functions, including attention, working memory, category fluency, and declarative memory, were evaluated using standardized tests.
Main Results:
- Elevated triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, and VLDL cholesterol correlated with lower scores in digit span and category fluency tests.
- Higher HDL cholesterol levels were associated with improved performance in category fluency.
- Increased Body Mass Index (BMI) was linked to poorer delayed recall in memory tests.
Conclusions:
- Cardiovascular risk factors demonstrably impact cognitive performance in aging individuals.
- These findings highlight the importance of managing cardiovascular health to preserve cognitive function in later life.
Background:
Atherosclerosis in cerebral blood vessels, especially those which compose the Circle of Willis, can lead to reduced supply of oxygen and nutrients to different cortical structures, affecting cognitive function.
Objective:
To analyze whether cardiovascular risk factors negatively influence cognitive performance in adults and elderly.
Methods:
One hundred twenty-nine participants of both sexes, aged over 50 years, without cognitive or functional impairment were included. Body mass index (BMI), hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), smoking history, plasma levels of total cholesterol, low density lipoproteins (LDL), high density lipoproteins (HDL) and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose were the cardiovascular risk factors analyzed. Cognitive assessment was performed using tests of attention, working memory, category fluency and declarative memory.
Results:
Controlling for age and education, multivariate linear regression models revealed that higher concentrations of triglycerides, as well as total, LDL and VLDL cholesterol, were associated with poorer performance on the digit span and category fluency tests. Higher HDL concentrations were associated with higher scores on category fluency tasks. Furthermore, higher BMI was associated with poorer delayed recall performance.
Conclusion:
The findings revealed that cardiovascular risk factors may negatively impact cognitive performance in aging.
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