Dataset Information

Childhood cognitive ability moderates later-life manifestation of type 2 diabetes genetic risk.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The study investigated whether childhood cognitive ability moderates Type 2 diabetes polygenic risk manifestation in older age.

Method

In 940 relatively healthy people (mean age 69.55 ± 0.85), we tested whether self-reported diabetes and hemoglobin HbA1c (HbA1c) levels were predicted by diabetes polygenic risk, cognitive ability measured about 60 years earlier, and their interaction. Polygenic risk scores aggregated the small effects of up to nearly 121,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Participants' cognitive ability was measured at age 11.

Results

Both polygenic risk and low childhood cognitive ability significantly predicted diabetes diagnosis. Polygenic risk interacted with cognitive ability (p = .02), predicting HbA1c levels more strongly in people with below-median cognitive ability (effect r = .21) than in people with above-median cognitive ability (effect r = .10). The interaction term was not significant for self-reported diabetes (p = .34), although the genetic risk-diabetes association showed a tendency of being stronger among those with below-median cognitive ability.

Conclusions

Higher premorbid cognitive ability may provide some environmental protection against the manifestation of Type 2 diabetes genetic risk. This information may improve early identification of diabetes risk and inform intervention development.

SUBMITTER: Mottus R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4562329 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Childhood cognitive ability moderates later-life manifestation of type 2 diabetes genetic risk.

Mõttus René R Luciano Michelle M Sarr John M JM McCarthy Mark I MI Deary Ian J IJ

Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association 20150119 9

<h4>Objective</h4>The study investigated whether childhood cognitive ability moderates Type 2 diabetes polygenic risk manifestation in older age.<h4>Method</h4>In 940 relatively healthy people (mean age 69.55 ± 0.85), we tested whether self-reported diabetes and hemoglobin HbA1c (HbA1c) levels were predicted by diabetes polygenic risk, cognitive ability measured about 60 years earlier, and their interaction. Polygenic risk scores aggregated the small effects of up to nearly 121,000 single-nucleo ...[more]

PMID: 25603418

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Project description:IntroductionThe hippocampus plays an important role in cognitive abilities which often decline with advancing age.MethodsIn a longitudinal study of community-dwelling adults, we investigated whether there were coupled changes in hippocampal structure and verbal memory, working memory, and processing speed between the ages of 73 (N = 655) and 76 years (N = 469). Hippocampal structure was indexed by hippocampal volume, hippocampal volume as a percentage of intracranial volume (H_ICV), fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and longitudinal relaxation time (T1).ResultsMean levels of hippocampal volume, H_ICV, FA, T1, and all three cognitive abilities domains decreased, whereas MD increased, from age 73 to 76. At baseline, higher hippocampal volume was associated with better working memory and verbal memory, but none of these correlations survived correction for multiple comparisons. Higher FA, lower MD, and lower T1 at baseline were associated with better cognitive abilities in all three domains; only the correlation between baseline hippocampal MD and T1, and change in the three cognitive domains, survived correction for multiple comparisons. Individuals with higher hippocampal MD at age 73 experienced a greater decline in all three cognitive abilities between ages 73 and 76. However, no significant associations with changes in cognitive abilities were found with hippocampal volume, FA, and T1 measures at baseline. Similarly, no significant associations were found between cognitive abilities at age 73 and changes in the hippocampal MRI biomarkers between ages 73 and 76.ConclusionOur results provide evidence to better understand how the hippocampus ages in healthy adults in relation to the cognitive domains in which it is involved, suggesting that better hippocampal MD at age 73 predicts less relative decline in three important cognitive domains across the next 3 years. It can potentially assist in diagnosing early stages of aging-related neuropathologies, because in some cases, accelerated decline could predict pathologies.

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Dataset Information

Childhood cognitive ability moderates later-life manifestation of type 2 diabetes genetic risk.

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Childhood cognitive ability moderates later-life manifestation of type 2 diabetes genetic risk.

Similar Datasets

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