Cognitive and Physiologic Correlates of Subclinical Structural Brain Disease in Elderly Healthy Control Subjects

Abstract

Modest volumes of SSBD were associated with decrements in cognitive performance within the normal range in healthy subjects. Lower coherence was associated with greater volumes of SSBD and increasing age. Path analysis models suggest that brain functional connectivity mediates some effects of SSBD on cognition.

Aging and brain activation with working memory tasks: an fMRI study of connectivity

“…Prior investigations of functional connectivity across the age spectrum (e.g. Duffy et al, 1996;Kikuchi et al, 2000;Cook et al, 2002) found that older subjects had lower measures of connectivity at rest, so that our finding of lower connectivity measures in the older subjects in the amygdala/OPFC circuit with the semantic WM task activation is consistent with these earlier reports. Several factors have been suggested as potential causes for decreases in connectivity, including macroscopic and microscopic damage to structural elements (e.g.…”

Aging and brain activation with working memory tasks: an fMRI study of connectivity

“…Prior investigations of functional connectivity across the age spectrum (e.g. Duffy et al, 1996;Kikuchi et al, 2000;Cook et al, 2002) found that older subjects had lower measures of connectivity at rest, so that our finding of lower connectivity measures in the older subjects in the amygdala/OPFC circuit with the semantic WM task activation is consistent with these earlier reports. Several factors have been suggested as potential causes for decreases in connectivity, including macroscopic and microscopic damage to structural elements (e.g.…”

Cortisol, depression and reduced cortico-cortical cross-talk in Cushing’s syndrome

“…These reported volume reductions were explained in terms of catabolic effects on proteins and diminished glucose metabolism. Reductions in functional cortico-cortical cross-talk as observed here in the patients with moderate and severe hypercortisolism, have concordantly been associated with cortical atrophy (14). Nevertheless, evidence for at least partial reversibility of brain-volume loss following remission of hypercortisolism has recently been provided by Bourdeau et al (15).…”

Partial clinical response to 2 weeks of 2 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the right parietal cortex in depression

“…Interestingly, basic neuroscientific research has shown increased functional connectivity between the left prefrontal and right parietal cortex following fastfrequency rTMS over the left PFC (Jing and Takigawa, 2000). This series of studies coincides with research on the relation between hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction and depression, and with observations of functional cortico-cortical connectivity breakdown in depression (Belanoff et al, 2002 ;Cook et al, 2000 ;Gold et al, 2002). Additional support comes from vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of depression.…”

Aging and brain activation with working memory tasks: an fMRI study of connectivity

“…Prior investigations of functional connectivity across the age spectrum (e.g. Duffy et al, 1996;Kikuchi et al, 2000;Cook et al, 2002) found that older subjects had lower measures of connectivity at rest, so that our finding of lower connectivity measures in the older subjects in the amygdala/OPFC circuit with the semantic WM task activation is consistent with these earlier reports. Several factors have been suggested as potential causes for decreases in connectivity, including macroscopic and microscopic damage to structural elements (e.g.…”

Cortisol, depression and reduced cortico-cortical cross-talk in Cushing’s syndrome

“…These reported volume reductions were explained in terms of catabolic effects on proteins and diminished glucose metabolism. Reductions in functional cortico-cortical cross-talk as observed here in the patients with moderate and severe hypercortisolism, have concordantly been associated with cortical atrophy (14). Nevertheless, evidence for at least partial reversibility of brain-volume loss following remission of hypercortisolism has recently been provided by Bourdeau et al (15).…”

Partial clinical response to 2 weeks of 2 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the right parietal cortex in depression

“…Interestingly, basic neuroscientific research has shown increased functional connectivity between the left prefrontal and right parietal cortex following fastfrequency rTMS over the left PFC (Jing and Takigawa, 2000). This series of studies coincides with research on the relation between hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction and depression, and with observations of functional cortico-cortical connectivity breakdown in depression (Belanoff et al, 2002 ;Cook et al, 2000 ;Gold et al, 2002). Additional support comes from vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of depression.…”

Aging and brain activation with working memory tasks: an fMRI study of connectivity

“…Prior investigations of functional connectivity across the age spectrum (e.g. Duffy et al, 1996;Kikuchi et al, 2000;Cook et al, 2002) found that older subjects had lower measures of connectivity at rest, so that our finding of lower connectivity measures in the older subjects in the amygdala/OPFC circuit with the semantic WM task activation is consistent with these earlier reports. Several factors have been suggested as potential causes for decreases in connectivity, including macroscopic and microscopic damage to structural elements (e.g.…”

Cortisol, depression and reduced cortico-cortical cross-talk in Cushing’s syndrome

“…These reported volume reductions were explained in terms of catabolic effects on proteins and diminished glucose metabolism. Reductions in functional cortico-cortical cross-talk as observed here in the patients with moderate and severe hypercortisolism, have concordantly been associated with cortical atrophy (14). Nevertheless, evidence for at least partial reversibility of brain-volume loss following remission of hypercortisolism has recently been provided by Bourdeau et al (15).…”

Partial clinical response to 2 weeks of 2 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the right parietal cortex in depression

“…Interestingly, basic neuroscientific research has shown increased functional connectivity between the left prefrontal and right parietal cortex following fastfrequency rTMS over the left PFC (Jing and Takigawa, 2000). This series of studies coincides with research on the relation between hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction and depression, and with observations of functional cortico-cortical connectivity breakdown in depression (Belanoff et al, 2002 ;Cook et al, 2000 ;Gold et al, 2002). Additional support comes from vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of depression.…”