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Thermal Psychophysics and Associated Brain Activation Patterns Along a Continuum of Healthy Aging.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To examine psychophysical and brain activation patterns to innocuous and painful thermal stimulation along a continuum of healthy older adults. DESIGN:Single center, cross-sectional, within-subjects design. METHODS:Thermal perceptual psychophysics (warmth, mild, and moderate pain) were tested in 37 healthy older adults (65-97?years, median = 73 years). Percept thresholds (oC) and unpleasantness ratings (0-20 scale) were obtained and then applied during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. General linear modeling assessed effects of age on psychophysical results. Multiple linear regressions were used to test the main and interaction effects of brain activation against age and psychophysical reports. Specifically, differential age effects were examined by comparing percent-signal change slopes between those above/below age 73 (a median split). RESULTS:Advancing age was associated with greater thresholds for thermal perception (z?=?2.09, P?=?0.037), which was driven by age and warmth detection correlation (r?=?0.33, P?=?0.048). Greater warmth detection thresholds were associated with reduced hippocampal activation in "older" vs "younger" individuals (>/<73?years; beta??0.44, P?

SUBMITTER: Beach PA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7553022 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Thermal Psychophysics and Associated Brain Activation Patterns Along a Continuum of Healthy Aging.

Beach Paul A PA Cowan Ronald L RL Dietrich Mary S MS Bruehl Stephen P SP Atalla Sebastian W SW Monroe Todd B TB

Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) 20200901 9

<h4>Objective</h4>To examine psychophysical and brain activation patterns to innocuous and painful thermal stimulation along a continuum of healthy older adults.<h4>Design</h4>Single center, cross-sectional, within-subjects design.<h4>Methods</h4>Thermal perceptual psychophysics (warmth, mild, and moderate pain) were tested in 37 healthy older adults (65-97 years, median = 73 years). Percept thresholds (oC) and unpleasantness ratings (0-20 scale) were obtained and then applied during functional ...[more]

PMID: 31769853

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Project description:BackgroundNeuronal and glial cell interaction is essential for synaptic homeostasis and may be affected in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We measured cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neuronal and glia markers along the AD continuum, to reveal putative protective or harmful stage-dependent patterns of activation.MethodsWe included healthy controls (n = 36) and Aβ-positive (Aβ+) cases (as defined by pathological CSF amyloid beta 1-42 (Aβ42)) with either subjective cognitive decline (SCD, n = 19), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 39), or AD dementia (n = 27). The following CSF markers were measured: a microglial activation marker-soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (sTREM2), a marker of microglial inflammatory reaction-monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), two astroglial activation markers-chitinase-3-like protein 1 (YKL-40) and clusterin, a neuron-microglia communication marker-fractalkine, and the CSF AD biomarkers (Aβ42, phosphorylated tau (P-tau), total tau (T-tau)). Using ANOVA with planned comparisons, or Kruskal-Wallis tests with Dunn's pairwise comparisons, CSF levels were compared between clinical groups and between stages of biomarker severity using CSF biomarkers for classification based on amyloid pathology (A), tau pathology (T), and neurodegeneration (N) giving rise to the A/T/N score.ResultsCompared to healthy controls, sTREM2 was increased in SCD (p < .01), MCI (p < .05), and AD dementia cases (p < .001) and increased in AD dementia compared to MCI cases (p < .05). MCP-1 was increased in MCI (p < .05) and AD dementia compared to both healthy controls (p < .001) and SCD cases (p < .01). YKL-40 was increased in dementia compared to healthy controls (p < .01) and MCI (p < .05). All of the CSF activation markers were increased in subjects with pathological CSF T-tau (A+T-N+ and A+T+N+), compared to subjects without neurodegeneration (A-T-N- and A+T-N-).DiscussionMicroglial activation as indicated by increased sTREM2 is present already at the preclinical SCD stage; increased MCP-1 and astroglial activation markers (YKL-40 and clusterin) were noted only at the MCI and AD dementia stages, respectively, and in Aβ+ cases (A+) with pathological T-tau (N+). Possible different effects of early and later glial activation need to be explored.

Dataset Information

Thermal Psychophysics and Associated Brain Activation Patterns Along a Continuum of Healthy Aging.

Publications

Thermal Psychophysics and Associated Brain Activation Patterns Along a Continuum of Healthy Aging.

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