Cognition and brain health among older adults in Iceland : the AGES-Reykjavik study

• Published in: GeroScience
• Main Authors: Valsdóttir, Vaka, Magnúsdóttir, Brynja Björk, Chang, Milan, Sigurdsson, Sigurdur, Guðnason, Vilmundur G, Launer, Lenore J., Jónsdóttir, María Kristín
• Other Authors: Department of Psychology, Mental Health Services, Faculty of Medicine
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Sálfræði; AGES-Reykjavik study; Brain health; Brain pathology; Cognitive aging; Cognitive performance; Cognitive reserve; Cognitive Dysfunction/epidemiology; Humans; Brain/diagnostic imaging; Aged; 80 and over; Iceland/epidemiology; Cognition/physiology; Dementia; Geriatrics and Gerontology; Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine; Aging; Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Veterinary (miscellaneous); Iceland; Reykjavik University
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/3849; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-022-00642-z

Funding Information: This work was supported by The Foundation of St. Josef’s Hospital in cooperation with The Icelandic Gerontological Research Center, National University Hospital of Iceland. The AGES-Reykjavik study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Intramural Research Programs of the National Institute of Aging and the National Eye Institute, ZIAEY00401), National Institutes of Health contract number N01-AG-1–2100, the Icelandic Heart Association, and the Icelandic Parliament. Funding Information: Additional grants were provided by Landspítali – University Hospital Research Fund, the Icelandic Gerontological Society, the Council on Aging in Iceland, Helga Jónsdóttir and Sigurliði Kristjánsson Memorial Fund, and the Sustainability Institute and Forum (SIF) at Reykjavik University. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to American Aging Association. © 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to American Aging Association. The paper aimed to compare how factors previously identified as predictive factors for cognitive decline and dementia related to cognitive performance on the one hand and brain health on the other. To that aim, multiple linear regression was applied to the AGES-Reykjavik study epidemiological data. Additionally, a regression analysis was performed for change in cognition over 5 years, using the same exposure factors. The study ran from 2002 to 2011, and the sample analyzed included 1707 participants between the ages of 66 and 90. The data contains MR imaging, cognitive testing, background data, and physiological measurements. Overall, we conclude that risk factors linked to dementia relate differently to cognition and brain health. Mobility, physical strength, alcohol consumption, coronary artery disease, and hypertension were associated with cognition and brain volume. Smoking, depression, diabetes, and body fat percentage were only associated with brain volume, not cognitive performance. Modifiable factors previously linked to cognitive ...