Sex differences in modifiable dementia risk factors: Findings from the Rush Memory and Aging Project.

Introduction: We aimed to calculate population attributable fractions (PAFs) for incident dementia and examine sex differences in individuals with no cognitive impairment (NCI) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: Longitudinal data from the Rush University Memory and Aging Project (MAP) were analyzed. Cox proportional-hazards models were used to estimate covariate-adjusted hazard ratios for incident dementia and calculate weighted PAFs within each cognitive status/sex subgroup.

Impact of Frailty on Antihypertensive Treatment in Older Adults.

Background: The association between systolic blood pressure and all-cause mortality differs between frail and nonfrail individuals, highlighting uncertainties about the effectiveness of antihypertensive treatments in frail populations.

Methods: Using data from the SHEP trial (Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program), a baseline frailty index (FI), including 55 variables, was constructed. Fine-Gray subdistribution hazard models and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to explore the association between baseline FI and the risks of stroke, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause death, as well as to examine whether the impact of antihypertensive treatment on these outcomes was modified by baseline FI.

Frailty Trajectories Preceding Dementia in the US and UK.

Importance: An accessible marker of both biological age and dementia risk is crucial to advancing dementia prevention and treatment strategies. Although frailty is a candidate for that role, the nature of the relationship between frailty and dementia is not well understood.

Objective: To clarify the temporal relationship between frailty and incident dementia by investigating frailty trajectories in the years preceding dementia onset.

Delirium and incident dementia in hospital patients in New South Wales, Australia: retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine the strength and nature of the association between delirium and incident dementia in a population of older adult patients without dementia at baseline.

Design: Retrospective cohort study using large scale hospital administrative data.

Setting: Public and private hospitals in New South Wales, Australia between July 2001 and March 2020.

Investigating Sex Differences in Risk and Protective Factors in the Progression of Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Background: Developing effective strategies for reducing dementia risk requires a detailed understanding of the risk and protective factors associated with the progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia.

Objective: We aimed to systematically review the evidence for sex differences in these factors.

Methods: Five online databases (PubMed/CINAHL/EMBASE/PsycINFO/Cochrane) were searched from inception until 17 October 2022 for cohort studies that focused on sex differences in risk and protective factors in the progression of MCI to dementia.

Frailty is associated with the clinical expression of neuropsychological deficits in older adults.

Background And Purpose: The aim was to determine whether frailty is associated with the relationship between neuropsychological markers and global cognition in older adults.

Methods: Cross-sectional analyzes were conducted of baseline data from three large cohort studies: National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC), Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP) and Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Studies recruited North American participants along the spectrum of cognitive functioning (44% no cognitive impairment at baseline).

10-year frailty trajectory is associated with Alzheimer's dementia after considering neuropathological burden.

Main Problem: Frailty is an established risk factor for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. Few studies have examined the longitudinal relationship between frailty and cognition.

Methods: Participants of Rush Memory and Aging project ( = 625, 67.

Frailty, lifestyle, genetics and dementia risk.

Objective: To optimise dementia prevention strategies, we must understand the complex relationships between lifestyle behaviours, frailty and genetics.

Methods: We explored relationships between frailty index, healthy lifestyle and polygenic risk scores (all assessed at study entry) and incident all-cause dementia as recorded on hospital admission records and death register data.

Results: The analytical sample had a mean age of 64.

Frailty and Risk of Dementia in Mild Cognitive Impairment Subtypes.

Risk factors for developing dementia from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) probably differ between MCI subtypes. We investigated how frailty relates to dementia risk in amnestic MCI (a-MCI; n = 2,799) and non-amnestic MCI (na-MCI; n = 629) in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database. Although higher frailty increased dementia risk for people with either a-MCI or na-MCI, the larger risk was in na-MCI (interaction hazard ratio = 1.

Strong age but weak sex effects in eye movement performance in the general adult population: Evidence from the Rhineland Study.

Assessing physiological changes that occur with healthy ageing is prerequisite for understanding pathophysiological age-related changes. Eye movements are studied as biomarkers for pathological changes because they are altered in patients with neurodegenerative disorders. However, there is a lack of data from large samples assessing age-related physiological changes and sex differences in oculomotor performance.

Cumulative health deficits, genotype, and risk for later-life mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Objective: To determine whether health-deficit accumulation is associated with the risks of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia independently of genotype.

Methods: A frailty index was calculated using the deficit-accumulation approach in participants aged 50 years and older from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center. Cognitive status was determined by clinical evaluation.

Perceived stress but not hair cortisol concentration is related to adult cognitive performance.

Chronic stress detrimentally affects cognition but evidence from population-based studies is scarce and largely based on one-dimensional stress assessments. In this study, we aimed to investigate associations of subjective and psychological chronic stress measures with cognition in a population-based sample of adults aged 30-95 years from the Rhineland Study. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (subjective measure) and a cognitive test battery (N = 1766).

Association of retinal layer measurements and adult cognitive function: A population-based study.

Objective: To quantify the associations of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness and macular ganglion cell layer (mGCL) volume with cognitive functioning and to investigate how demographic and vascular health factors affect these associations in a population-based sample of adults.

Methods: The sample included the first 3,000 participants (age range 30-95 years) of the Rhineland Study (recruited from March 2016 to December 2018) who underwent spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and cognitive assessment at 1 of 2 identical study centers in Bonn, Germany. We used multiple linear regression models to examine the relationships between retinal layer measurements and cognitive functioning after adjustment for confounders, and we examined the moderating effects of demographic and vascular health factors.

The Val66Met Polymorphism Modulates Resilience of Neurological Functioning to Brain Ageing and Dementia: A Narrative Review.

Brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) is an abundant and multi-function neurotrophin in the brain. It is released following neuronal activity and is believed to be particularly important in strengthening neural networks. A common variation in the gene, a valine to methionine substitution at codon 66 (Val66Met), has been linked to differential expression of BDNF associated with experience-dependent plasticity.

Impact of APOE and BDNF Val66Met Gene Polymorphisms on Cognitive Functions in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Apolipoprotein (APOE) ɛ4 is a well-known risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), but other AD-related gene polymorphisms might also be important, such as the polymorphism within the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. Carriage of BDNF Val66Met has been associated with faster cognitive decline and greater hippocampal atrophy in cognitively normal elderly. Thus, we examined the effects of the concurrent presence of APOE and BDNF polymorphisms on cognitive functions and brain morphometry in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients.

The Influence of Genetic Factors and Cognitive Reserve on Structural and Functional Resting-State Brain Networks in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers significant insight into the complex organization of neural networks within the human brain. Using resting-state functional MRI data, topological maps can be created to visualize changes in brain activity, as well as to represent and assess the structural and functional connections between different brain regions. Crucially, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with progressive loss in this connectivity, which is particularly evident within the default mode network.

Age is no barrier: predictors of academic success in older learners.

Although predictors of academic success have been identified in young adults, such predictors are unlikely to translate directly to an older student population, where such information is scarce. The current study aimed to examine cognitive, psychosocial, lifetime, and genetic predictors of university-level academic performance in older adults (50-79 years old). Participants were mostly female (71%) and had a greater than high school education level ( = 14.

The Val66Met polymorphism moderates the effect of cognitive reserve on 36-month cognitive change in healthy older adults.

Introduction: Cognitive reserve (CR) and Val66Met are independently associated with the rate of cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. This study was designed to investigate the interactive effects of these variables on 36-month cognitive change in cognitively intact older adults.

Methods: Data for this investigation were obtained from 445 community-residing participants of the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project, who underwent genetic screening and annual assessment of neuropsychological, health, and psychosocial function.

Validation of a Dynamic Measure of Current Cognitive Reserve in a Longitudinally Assessed Sample of Healthy Older Adults: The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project.

Cognitive reserve (CR) is a theoretical construct describing the underlying cognitive capacity of an individual that confers differential levels of resistance to, and recovery from, brain injuries of various types. To date, estimates of an individual's level of CR have been based on single proxy measures that are retrospective and static in nature. To develop a measure of dynamic change in CR across a lifetime, we previously identified a latent factor, derived from an exploratory factor analysis of a large sample of healthy older adults, as current CR (cCR).

Sending your grandparents to university increases cognitive reserve: The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project.

Objective: Increasing an individual's level of cognitive reserve (CR) has been suggested as a nonpharmacological approach to reducing the risk for Alzheimer's disease. We examined changes in CR in older adults participating over 4 years in the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project.

Method: A sample of 459 healthy older adults between 50 and 79 years of age underwent a comprehensive annual assessment of current CR, neuropsychological function, and psychosocial factors over a 4-year period.

Modeling cognitive reserve in healthy middle-aged and older adults: the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project.

Background: Cognitive reserve (CR) is a protective factor that supports cognition by increasing the resilience of an individual's cognitive function to the deleterious effects of cerebral lesions. A single environmental proxy indicator is often used to estimate CR (e.g.

APOE and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms combine to influence episodic memory function in older adults.

Genetic polymorphisms of apolipoprotein E (APOE) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have shown inconsistent associations with healthy adult cognitive functions. Recent investigations have suggested that APOE polymorphisms do not contribute to non-pathological cognitive function and that any effect is likely due to prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD). Similarly, although BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms affect hippocampal morphology and function, associations with learning and/or memory have not always been found.