Lifestyle

Midlife high blood pressure may impact the brain years later

Blood pressure data from 378 participants in the Framingham Heart Study has revealed that those who had high systolic blood pressure when they were 50-60 years old scored worse on a working memory test 30 years later. However, an association with verbal fluency was only significant for those with the 'Alzheimer's' APOe4 gene.

The finding adds to increasing evidence that managing health conditions such as cardiovascular health, diabetes, and hypertension, in midlife is important for cognitive health in old age, but tempers the message by suggesting that effects may be quite specific, with some applying mainly to those who are genetically vulnerable.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/bumc-mhb071615.php

Reference: 

Nishtala A, Himali JJ, Beiser A, Murabito JM, Seshadri S, Wolf PA, Au R (2015) Midlife Hypertension Risk and Cognition in the Non-Demented Oldest Old: Framingham Heart Study. J Alzheimers Dis 47, 197-204.

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Aerobic exercise improves cognition in healthy older adults

A six-month pilot study involving 101 healthy older adults (65+), who were randomly put into one of three exercise interventions or a no-change control, has found that the exercise groups all showed significant improvement in visual-spatial processing and attention, with more improvement in visual-spatial processing occurring in those with higher levels of exercise.

The benefits of increasing exercise for visual-spatial processing, however, were fully accounted for by improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, suggesting that exercise intensity may be more important than exercise duration.

The researchers suggest that individualized exercise programs designed to maximize cardiorespiratory fitness will be of greatest benefit.

The three exercise levels were: 150 minutes per week (the recommended level); 75 minutes per week; 225 minutes per week. Exercise was supervised, and mainly consisted of treadmill walking of moderate intensity. Participants exercised 3-5 days a week. Performance in five cognitive domains were tested: Verbal Memory, Visuospatial Processing, Simple Attention, Set Maintenance and Shifting, and Reasoning.

Note that only 77 individuals made it through the trial, and also adhered to at least 80% of the alloted amount of exercise. Unsurprisingly, the 225-minute group had the most trouble meeting the allotment: 70% of the group managed it, compared to 82% of the 75-minute group, and 85% of the 150-minute group. It's worth noting that, of those who met the 80% requirement, almost all (>95%) fully adhered to the prescription, and this was true across all exercise prescriptions.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/uokm-eci071515.php

Reference: 

Vidoni ED, Johnson DK, Morris JK, Van Sciver A, Greer CS, Billinger SA, et al. (2015) Dose-Response of Aerobic Exercise on Cognition: A Community-Based, Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0131647. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131647

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Diabetes & cognitive impairment

A review and a large study have recently added to the growing evidence that type 2 diabetes is not only a risk factor for Alzheimer's, but is also linked to poorer cognitive function and faster age-related cognitive decline. The amount of this also seems to be related to glucose control in a dose-dependent manner.

Somewhat surprisingly, there is evidence that the association is not linked to vascular factors, but is in significant part explained by neuron loss. That part is not surprising — brains 'naturally' shrink with age, and growing evidence points to the importance of exercise (which promotes the growth of new neurons) in combating that loss. If diabetics are less likely to exercise (which seems likely, given the strong association with obesity), this may, at least in part, account for the greater brain atrophy.

Type 2 diabetes linked to poorer executive function

A meta-analysis of 60 studies involving a total of 9815 people with Type 2 diabetes and 69,254 control individuals, has found a small but reliable association between diabetes and poorer executive function. This was true across all aspects of executive function tested: verbal fluency, mental flexibility, inhibition, working memory, and attention.

Unfortunately, effective diabetes management does depend quite heavily on executive function, making this something of a negative feedback cycle.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/uow-t2d021315.php

Diabetes in midlife linked to greater age-related cognitive decline

A long-running U.S. study involving 13,351 adults, has found that cognitive decline over 19 years was 19% greater among those who had diabetes in midlife. Moreover, cognitive decline increased with higher hemoglobin A1c level and longer duration of diabetes.

At the beginning of the study, participants were aged 48-67 (median: 57), and 13% of participants were diagnosed as diabetic. Cognition was tested using delayed word recall, digit symbol substitution, and word fluency tests.

The findings support the view that glucose control in midlife is important to protect against cognitive decline later in life.

http://www.jwatch.org/na36497/2014/12/31/diabetes-midlife-associated-with-accelerated-cognitive

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141201191253.htm

http://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/diabetes-may-accelerate-cognitive-decline/article/386208/

Brain atrophy linked with cognitive decline in diabetes

A 2013 study showed that almost half of the cognitive impairment seen among diabetics was explained by their loss of gray matter.

Brain scans and cognitive tests of 350 people with Type 2 diabetes and 363 people without diabetes revealed that those with diabetes had more cerebral infarcts and greater shrinkage in specific regions of the brain. Diabetes was associated with poorer visuospatial memory, planning, visual memory, and processing speed. These associations were independent of vascular risk factors, cerebrovascular lesions, or white matter volume, but almost half of the associations were explained by the shrinkage of gray matter in the hippocampus and across the brain.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-09/mu-bal091113.php

Reference: 

Vincent, C. & Hall, P.A. 2015. Executive Function in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analytic Review. Psychosomatic Medicine, doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000103

[3910] Rawlings, A. M., A. Sharrett R., Schneider A. L. C., Coresh J., Albert M., Couper D., et al.
(2014).  Diabetes in midlife and cognitive change over 20 years: a cohort study.
Annals of Internal Medicine. 161(11), 785 - 793.

[3909] Moran, C., Phan T. G., Chen J., Blizzard L., Beare R., Venn A., et al.
(2013).  Brain Atrophy in Type 2 Diabetes Regional distribution and influence on cognition.
Diabetes Care. 36(12), 4036 - 4042.

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These 5 healthy habits reduce dementia risk

There are five healthy behaviors that appear to significantly reduce the risk of dementia,

A 35-year study that monitored the healthy behaviors of 2,235 Welsh men aged 45 to 59 at the beginning of the study has found that those who consistently followed at least four of these five healthy behaviors — regular exercise, no smoking, acceptable BMI, high fruit and vegetable intake, and low/moderate alcohol intake — experienced a 60% reduction in dementia and cognitive decline compared with people who followed none. They also had 70% fewer instances of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke,.

Exercise was the most important of these factors.

Only 5% of the men were living a healthy lifestyle (i.e., following at least 4 of these healthy behaviors). Just under half of the 2235 men were non-smokers (46%), and around a third (35%) had an acceptable BMI. Only 15 men ate their “5+” daily (!!), so the requirement was reduced to only three or more portions of fruit and vegetables, enabling 18% to reach it. 39% exercised regularly and 59% reported alcohol intake within the guidelines. Only two men managed five healthy behaviors, and 109 managed four; 19% managed three; 36% two; 31% one; 8% couldn’t manage any.

http://www.futurity.org/five-healthy-behaviors-can-reduce-dementia-risk/

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-12/cu-3ys120913.php

Reference: 

Elwood, P., Galante, J., Pickering, J., Palmer, S., Bayer, A., Ben-Shlomo, Y., … Gallacher, J. (2013). Healthy Lifestyles Reduce the Incidence of Chronic Diseases and Dementia: Evidence from the Caerphilly Cohort Study. PLoS ONE, 8(12), e81877. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0081877

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Healthy midlife diet may prevent dementia later

Data from the population-based Finnish Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE) study has revealed that healthy dietary choices in midlife may prevent dementia in later years. Out of 2,000 participants, 1,449 took part in the follow-up. The participants were 39 to 64 years old at baseline and 65 to 75 years old at follow-up.

Those who ate the healthiest diet at around age 50 had an almost 90% lower risk of dementia in a 14-year follow-up study than those whose diet was the least healthy.

Healthy foods included vegetables, berries and fruits, fish and unsaturated fats from milk products and spreads; unhealthy foods included sausages, eggs, sweets, sugary drinks, salty fish and saturated fats from milk products and spreads.

Consistent with other research, a high intake of saturated fats was also linked to poorer cognition and an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment 21 years later. A higher saturated fat intake was also associated with an increased risk of dementia among those carrying the “Alzheimer's gene”, ApoE4.

Those consuming 3 to 5 cups of coffee daily had a smaller risk of dementia than those consuming less or more.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-03/uoef-hmd031014.php

Reference: 

Eskelinen, Marjo: The effects of midlife diet on late-life cognition: an epidemiological approach. Publications of the University of Eastern Finland. Dissertations in Health Sciences., no 220. http://epublications.uef.fi/pub/urn_isbn_978-952-61-1394-4/

Eskelinen MH, Ngandu T, Helkala E-L, Tuomilehto J, Nissinen A, Soininen H, Kivipelto M. Fat intake at midlife and cognitive impairment later in life: a population-based CAIDE study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 23(7): 741, 2008.

Laitinen MH, Ngandu T, Rovio S, Helkala E-L, Uusitalo U, Viitanen M, Nissinen A, Tuomilehto J, Soininen H, Kivipelto M. Fat Intake at Midlife and Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease: A Population-Based Study. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 22(1): 99, 2006.

Eskelinen MH, Ngandu T, Tuomilehto J, Soininen H, Kivipelto M. Midlife Coffee and Tea Drinking and the Risk of Late-Life Dementia: A Population-based CAIDE Study. J Alzheimers Dis 16(1): 85-91, 2009.

Eskelinen MH, Ngandu T, Tuomilehto J, Soininen H, Kivipelto M. Midlife Healthy Diet Index and Late-Life Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord Extra 1(1): 103-112, 2011.

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Chronic sleep disturbance could trigger onset of Alzheimer's

A mouse study has found that mice (genetically engineered for Alzheimer’s) who were sleep deprived for eight weeks, not only showed significant cognitive impairment, but also showed a significant increase in the amount of tau protein that became phosphorylated and formed tangles. The other main characteristic of Alzheimer’s, amyloid-beta plaques, was not affected.

The findings are consistent with growing evidence of a link between sleep disturbance and Alzheimer’s, and suggests that chronic sleep disturbance accelerates Alzheimer’s pathology, and should be treated.

The sleep-deprived mice were given 20 hours of light each day, while the control mice were kept on a schedule of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-03/tu-csd031714.php

Reference: 

[3568] Di Meco, A., Joshi Y. B., & Praticò D.
(2014).  Sleep deprivation impairs memory, tau metabolism, and synaptic integrity of a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease with plaques and tangles.
Neurobiology of Aging. 35(8), 1813 - 1820.

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Nature

Older news items (pre-2010) brought over from the old website

A walk in the park a day keeps mental fatigue away

Many of us who work indoors are familiar with the benefits of a walk in the fresh air, but a new study gives new insight into why, and how, it works. In two experiments, researchers found memory performance and attention spans improved by 20% after people spent an hour interacting with nature. The intriguing finding was that this effect was achieved not only by walking in the botanical gardens (versus walking along main streets of Ann Arbor), but also by looking at photos of nature (versus looking at photos of urban settings). The findings are consistent with a theory that natural environments are better at restoring attention abilities, because they provide a more coherent pattern of stimulation that requires less effort, as opposed to urban environments that are provide complex and often confusing stimulation that captures attention dramatically and requires directed attention (e.g., to avoid being hit by a car).

Berman, M.G., Jonides, J. & Kaplan, S. 2008. The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature. Psychological Science, 19 (12), 1207-1212.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-12/afps-awi121808.php
http://www.physorg.com/news148663388.html

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Environment

Older news items (pre-2010) brought over from the old website

Aircraft noise may affect children's reading and memory

A large study involving 2844 children aged 9-10 has found exposure to aircraft noise impaired reading comprehension. The children were selected from primary schools located near three major airports — Schiphol in the Netherlands, Barajas in Spain, and Heathrow in the UK. Reading age in children exposed to high levels of aircraft noise was delayed by up to 2 months in the UK and by up to 1 month in the Netherlands for each 5 decibel change in noise exposure. On the other hand, road traffic noise did not have an effect on reading and indeed was unexpectedly found to improve recall memory. An earlier German study found children attending schools near the old Munich airport improved their reading scores and cognitive memory performance when the airport shut down, while children going to school near the new airport experienced a decrease in testing scores.

Stansfield, S.A., Berglund, B., Clark, C., Lopez-Barrio, I., Fischer, P., Öhrstrom, E., Haines, M.M., Head, J., Hygge, S., van Kamp, I. & Berry, B.F. 2005. Aircraft and road traffic noise and children's cognition and health: a cross-national study. The Lancet, 365, 1942-1949.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-06/l-eta060105.php

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