Dataset Information

Salivary cortisol, brain volumes, and cognition in community-dwelling elderly without dementia.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We investigated the associations of morning and evening salivary cortisol levels with regional brain volumes and cognitive functioning in community-dwelling older persons without dementia.

Method

From the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility (AGES)-Reykjavik Study, we included 4,244 persons without dementia (age 76 ± 5 years, 58% women) who had 1.5T brain MRI, assessment of cognitive functioning, and saliva collected at home 45 minutes after awakening and at night. Linear regression analysis was used to estimate the cross-sectional relationship among cortisol levels, brain volumes, and cognitive functioning, adjusting for covariates.

Results

Higher evening cortisol was associated with smaller total brain volume (highest vs lowest tertile -16.0 mL; 95% confidence interval -19.7 to -12.2 mL, adjusted for age, sex, education, intracranial volume, smoking, steroid use, white matter lesions, and brain infarcts on MRI). The smaller volumes were observed in all brain regions, but were significantly smaller in gray matter than in white matter regions. Poorer cognitive functioning across all domains was also associated with higher evening cortisol. Higher levels of morning cortisol were associated with slightly greater normal white matter volume and better processing speed and executive functioning, but not with gray matter volume or with memory performance.

Conclusions

In older persons, evening and morning cortisol levels may be differentially associated with tissue volume in gray and white matter structures and cognitive function. Understanding these differential associations may aid in developing strategies to reduce the effects of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction on late-life cognitive impairment.

SUBMITTER: Geerlings MI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4567466 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Salivary cortisol, brain volumes, and cognition in community-dwelling elderly without dementia.

Geerlings Mirjam I MI Sigurdsson Sigurdur S Eiriksdottir Gudny G Garcia Melissa E ME Harris Tamara B TB Gudnason Vilmundur V Launer Lenore J LJ

Neurology 20150819 11

<h4>Objective</h4>We investigated the associations of morning and evening salivary cortisol levels with regional brain volumes and cognitive functioning in community-dwelling older persons without dementia.<h4>Method</h4>From the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility (AGES)-Reykjavik Study, we included 4,244 persons without dementia (age 76 ± 5 years, 58% women) who had 1.5T brain MRI, assessment of cognitive functioning, and saliva collected at home 45 minutes after awakening and at night. Linea ...[more]

PMID: 26291281

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Project description:Background and objectivesMild hyponatremia is a common finding in older adults; however, the association of lower serum sodium with cognition in older adults is currently unknown. We determined whether lower normal serum sodium is associated with cognitive impairment and risk of cognitive decline in community-dwelling older men.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsFive thousand four hundred thirty-five community-dwelling men aged ≥65 years who participated in Osteoporotic Fractures in Men, a cohort study with a median follow-up for cognitive function of 4.6 years, were included in this analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between baseline fasting serum sodium levels and the odds of prevalent cognitive impairment (cross-sectional analysis; modified Mini-Mental Status [3MS] score <1.5 SD [<84] below or Trail Making Test Part B time >1.5 SD above the mean [>223 seconds]) and cognitive decline (prospective analysis [n=3611]; decrease in follow-up 3MS score or increase in Trails B time >1.5 SD of the mean score/time change [>9 or >67 seconds]).ResultsParticipants were aged 74±6 years with a fasting mean serum sodium level of 141±3 mmol/L. Fifteen percent (n=274), 12% (n=225), and 13% (n=242) had prevalent cognitive impairment in tertiles 1, 2, and 3, respectively. After adjustment, lower serum sodium was associated with prevalent cognitive impairment (tertile 1 [126-140 mmol/L] versus tertile 2 [141-142 mmol/L], odds ratio [OR], 1.30; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.06 to 1.61). Fourteen percent (n=159), 10% (n=125), and 13% (n=159) had cognitive decline in tertiles 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Lower serum sodium was also associated with cognitive decline (tertile 1 versus tertile 2, OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.77). Tertile 3 (143-153 mmol/L) was additionally associated with cognitive decline. Results were similar in sensitivity analyses according to clinical cut-offs and by quartiles.ConclusionsIn community-dwelling older men, serum sodium between 126-140, and 126-140 or 143-153 mmol/L, are independently associated with prevalent cognitive impairment and cognitive decline, respectively.

Dataset Information

Salivary cortisol, brain volumes, and cognition in community-dwelling elderly without dementia.

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Salivary cortisol, brain volumes, and cognition in community-dwelling elderly without dementia.

Similar Datasets

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