Publications

2 Publications matching the given criteria: (Clear all filters)
Human disease: cognitive disorder2

Abstract (Expand)

Background: Hippocampal volume, assessed via high-resolution MRI, is associated with memory and visuospatial performance in humans (Squire, 2004) and specifically prone to develop atrophy with age (Apostolova,2015). This process has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (Apostolova,2015) and a decline of cognitive functions (Bruno,2016). However, due to differences in study-design and characteristics certain heterogeneity in results remains, in particular considering subfieldspecific effects (deFlores,2015). Therefore, we aim to determine the association of volumes of the whole hippocampus and its subfields on cognition in a large population-based cohort. Methods: Subjects: 1956 healthy participants from the Leipzig Research-Center-for-Civilization-Disease, aged 19-82years with MRI and neuropsychological tests (mean-age=57.61,±15.08SD). Exclusion: stroke, major-brain-pathologies, central-nervous-medication. Independent Variables: Volume of hippocampus and its subfields (CornuAmmonis1, 2-3, 4-DentateGyrus,(Pre-)subiculum). Dependent Variables: Verbal word-list learning, verbal-fluency, TrailMakingTask-(TMT)-A&B. Covariates: sex, age, years-of-education, total grey-mattervolume Image Analysis on high-resolution T1-images assessed at 3T. Hippocampal volumes were estimated using automatic segmentation analysis implemented in FreeSurfer (www.freesurfer.net). Statistical Analysis: Independent and dependent variables were first entered into Pearson Correlations. Variables with a correlation coefficient of r>0.1 were entered into multiple linear-regressions and adjusted for potential confounding(forward inclusion-model). Results: According to bivariate correlations, better performance in verbal-learning, verbal-fluency and TMT-A&B correlated moderately with larger whole-hippocampal volume and the volumes of all subfields(all |r|>0.102, all p0.046, all p0.5). Conclusions: Using a large cross-sectional cohort of healthy adults we found that volumes of the whole-hippocampus and subfields covering the CA4/dentate-gyrus region were weakly, yet specifically associated with verbal-learning and spatial processing-speed. Our preliminary results are in line with previous studies presuming a differential involvement of the hippocampus in tasks of verbal-learning and spatial processing (Oosterman,2010). Upcoming analyses implementing parcellation along the anteriorposterior- axis and random-effect-models might help to further disentangle these effects.

Authors: S. Huhn, R. Zhang, Frauke Beyer, L. Lampe, T. Luck, S. G. Riedel-Heller, M. L. Schroeter, Markus Löffler, M. Stumvoll, A. Villringer, A. V. Witte

Date Published: 1st Jul 2017

Publication Type: Not specified

Human Diseases: cognitive disorder, dementia

Abstract (Expand)

Background: Previous studies have shown that individuals with poor social relationships have an increased risk for dementia. Dementia risk, however, can also be positively influenced by lifestyle factors such as high mental demands at work (in particular as the work environment affects a very long lifetime period). Thus, our objective was to investigate whether the cognitive functioning of socially isolated individuals may profit from high mental work demands. Methods: Analyses were based on n=10,000 participants (aged 40-80 years) of the population-based German LIFE-Adult-Study. All participants underwent medical examinations and filled out standardized questionnaires. Cognitive functioning was assessed via the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT) and the Trail-Making Test (TMT). Social relationships were assessed via the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6). Results: The difference in cognitive func- tioning between high and low mental work demand conditions was larger in socially isolated individuals (VFT: 2.7 words, TMT-B: 26 seconds) compared to socially well integrated individuals (VFT: 2.1 words, TMT-B: 9 seconds). Multivariate regression analyses – adjusted for age, gender, and education – indicated that both mental work demands as well as social relationships are significantly asso- ciated with the level of cognitive functioning

Authors: F. S. Then, M. L. Schroeter, A. V. Witte, Christoph Engel, Markus Löffler, J. Thiery, A. Villringer, T. Luck, S. G. Riedel-Heller

Date Published: 1st Sep 2016

Publication Type: Not specified

Human Diseases: cognitive disorder

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