Subjective memory concern, negative affect, and cortical microstructural integrity in community-dwelling middle-aged...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Gerontology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Subjective memory concern (SMC) increases with age and may indicate future memory decline.
• However, SMC can also reflect a persistent tendency to worry about memory, linked more to negative emotions than actual memory ability.
• The brain basis of this trait-like memory worry is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neuroanatomical correlates of trait-like subjective memory concern (SMC).
• To compare the brain-wide association patterns of SMC with those of negative affect (trait anxiety, depressive symptoms) and objective memory performance.

Main Methods:

• Used diffusion MRI to measure cortical mean diffusivity (cMD), a marker of gray matter integrity, in 477 cognitively healthy older men.
• Collected self-report data on trait anxiety, depressive symptoms, and objective memory scores from neuropsychological tests.
• Generated brain maps of associations between cMD and SMC, negative affect, and memory performance.

Main Results:

• Gray matter integrity associated with SMC showed spatial overlap with correlates of depressive symptoms and trait anxiety.
• These associations were significantly stronger than the overlap between SMC and objective memory correlates.
• The neuroanatomical patterns for SMC mirrored those of negative affect, not objective memory.

Conclusions:

• Trait-like subjective memory concern has a distinct neuroanatomical basis related to gray matter integrity.
• Findings suggest differentiating trait-like SMC from state-related SMC, which might predict objective memory decline.
• This distinction is crucial for accurate research and clinical interpretation of memory concerns.