Strength of associations between regional brain volumes and dual decline in gait and memory

Dual decline in gait and memory is associated with a higher risk of dementia. However, little is known about specific brain regions and their association with dual decline. Therefore, this study examined the strength of associations between baseline regional brain volumes and dual decline in gait speed and memory.

Participants aged over 60 years were randomly selected from the Southern Tasmanian electoral roll. Participants (n = 266) were classified into four groups depending on tertiles of annual decline in gait speed and delayed memory recall: non-decline, gait-only decline, cognitive-only decline, and dual decline. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the strength of associations between baseline regional brain volumes and the four groups.

The mean age of participants was 70.9 ± SD 6.7 years. For the dual decline group, eight regions (in order of strength - orbitofrontal cortex, middle frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex, brainstem, inferior temporal gyrus and hippocampus) had relative risk ratios below 0.60 for a 1 SD increase in volume. For gait-only and cognitive-only decline, only the thalamus and cerebellum respectively, had relative risk ratios below 0.60.

In this study, we observed that smaller volumes in regions related to memory, executive function, motor, and sensory-motor integration had the strongest associations with dual decline.