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Correlational structure of 'frontal' tests and intelligence tests indicates two components with asymmetrical neurostructural correlates in old age.

ABSTRACT: Both general fluid intelligence (gf) and performance on some 'frontal tests' of cognition decline with age. Both types of ability are at least partially dependent on the integrity of the frontal lobes, which also deteriorate with age. Overlap between these two methods of assessing complex cognition in older age remains unclear. Such overlap could be investigated using inter-test correlations alone, as in previous studies, but this would be enhanced by ascertaining whether frontal test performance and gf share neurobiological variance. To this end, we examined relationships between gf and 6 frontal tests (Tower, Self-Ordered Pointing, Simon, Moral Dilemmas, Reversal Learning and Faux Pas tests) in 90 healthy males, aged ~ 73 years. We interpreted their correlational structure using principal component analysis, and in relation to MRI-derived regional frontal lobe volumes (relative to maximal healthy brain size). gf correlated significantly and positively (.24 ? r ? .53) with the majority of frontal test scores. Some frontal test scores also exhibited shared variance after controlling for gf. Principal component analysis of test scores identified units of gf-common and gf-independent variance. The former was associated with variance in the left dorsolateral (DL) and anterior cingulate (AC) regions, and the latter with variance in the right DL and AC regions. Thus, we identify two biologically-meaningful components of variance in complex cognitive performance in older age and suggest that age-related changes to DL and AC have the greatest cognitive impact.

SUBMITTER: Cox SR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4175012 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Correlational structure of 'frontal' tests and intelligence tests indicates two components with asymmetrical neurostructural correlates in old age.

Cox Simon R SR MacPherson Sarah E SE Ferguson Karen J KJ Nissan Jack J Royle Natalie A NA MacLullich Alasdair M J AM Wardlaw Joanna M JM Deary Ian J IJ

Intelligence 20140901

Both general fluid intelligence (<i>g</i><sub>f</sub>) and performance on some 'frontal tests' of cognition decline with age. Both types of ability are at least partially dependent on the integrity of the frontal lobes, which also deteriorate with age. Overlap between these two methods of assessing complex cognition in older age remains unclear. Such overlap could be investigated using inter-test correlations alone, as in previous studies, but this would be enhanced by ascertaining whether front ...[more]

PMID: 25278641

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Project description:ObjectivesVascular-brain associations are well established in adults but neglected in youth and psychiatric populations, who are at greater cardiovascular risk. We therefore examined the association of retinal vascular caliber with regional brain structure in adolescents with and without bipolar disorder (BD).MethodsOne hundred and three adolescents (n = 51 BD, n = 52 healthy control [HC]) completed retinal fundus imaging, yielding arteriolar and venular diameters, followed by T1-weighted 3-Tesla MRI. Region of interest (ROI) analyses examined ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, and hippocampus, complemented by vertex-wise analyses. Linear regression assessed the association between retinal measures and brain structure, adjusting for covariates including age, sex, BMI, and intracranial volume (ICV).ResultsIn the overall sample, arteriolar caliber was negatively associated with ACC volume (β = -0.20, p uncorrected = .046) and surface area (β = -0.19, p uncorrected = .049). There were no other significant ROI findings. Vertex-wise analyses detected several significant positive bilateral associations of arteriovenous ratio (AVR) with volume and surface area in regions including rostral middle frontal gyrus (left p = .001; right p = .006), isthmus cingulate cortex (left and right p < .001), and left precuneus (p < .001). Significant negative associations were also observed for AVR (p = .03) and arteriolar caliber (p = .01), including a cluster encompassing the left rostral middle frontal gyrus and orbitofrontal cortical thickness. In the sole retinal-by-diagnosis interaction, greater AVR was more strongly associated with lower volume in the left middle temporal and fusiform gyri in BD versus HC (p = .004).ConclusionThis study provides evidence that vascular-brain associations are already evident in adolescence, suggesting that optimizing cardiovascular health may benefit the brain. This may be particularly relevant in BD and other brain disorders. Future research focusing on subpopulations where vascular-brain associations may be especially strong, for whom vascular-related interventions may be most indicated, is warranted.

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Correlational structure of 'frontal' tests and intelligence tests indicates two components with asymmetrical neurostructural correlates in old age.

Publications

Correlational structure of 'frontal' tests and intelligence tests indicates two components with asymmetrical neurostructural correlates in old age.

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