Circulating cortisol and cognitive and structural brain measures
The Framingham Heart Study
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective To assess the association of early morning serum cortisol with cognitive performance and brain structural integrity in community-dwelling young and middle-aged adults without dementia.
Methods We evaluated dementia-free Framingham Heart Study (generation 3) participants (mean age 48.5 years, 46.8% men) who underwent cognitive testing for memory, abstract reasoning, visual perception, attention, and executive function (n = 2,231) and brain MRI (n = 2018) to assess total white matter, lobar gray matter, and white matter hyperintensity volumes and fractional anisotropy (FA) measures. We used linear and logistic regression to assess the relations of cortisol (categorized in tertiles, with the middle tertile as referent) to measures of cognition, MRI volumes, presence of covert brain infarcts and cerebral microbleeds, and voxel-based microstructural white matter integrity and gray matter density, adjusting for age, sex, APOE, and vascular risk factors.
Results Higher cortisol (highest tertile vs middle tertile) was associated with worse memory and visual perception, as well as lower total cerebral brain and occipital and frontal lobar gray matter volumes. Higher cortisol was associated with multiple areas of microstructural changes (decreased regional FA), especially in the splenium of corpus callosum and the posterior corona radiata. The association of cortisol with total cerebral brain volume varied by sex (p for interaction = 0.048); higher cortisol was inversely associated with cerebral brain volume in women (p = 0.001) but not in men (p = 0.717). There was no effect modification by the APOE4 genotype of the relations of cortisol and cognition or imaging traits.
Conclusion Higher serum cortisol was associated with lower brain volumes and impaired memory in asymptomatic younger to middle-aged adults, with the association being evident particularly in women.
Glossary
- BP=
- blood pressure;
- CES-D=
- Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale;
- DTI=
- diffusion tensor imaging;
- FA=
- fractional anisotropy;
- FLAIR=
- fluid-attenuated inversion recovery;
- HPA=
- hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal;
- HRT=
- hormone replacement therapy;
- HVOT=
- Hooper Visual Organization Test;
- OCP=
- oral contraceptive pill;
- SE=
- standard error;
- TrA=
- Trails A;
- TrB=
- Trails B;
- WMH=
- white matter hyperintensities
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
- Received March 6, 2018.
- Accepted in final form August 10, 2018.
- © 2018 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
For assistance, please contact:
AAN Members (800) 879-1960 or (612) 928-6000 (International)
Non-AAN Member subscribers (800) 638-3030 or (301) 223-2300 option 3, select 1 (international)
Sign Up
Information on how to subscribe to Neurology and Neurology: Clinical Practice can be found here
Purchase
Individual access to articles is available through the Add to Cart option on the article page. Access for 1 day (from the computer you are currently using) is US$ 39.00. Pay-per-view content is for the use of the payee only, and content may not be further distributed by print or electronic means. The payee may view, download, and/or print the article for his/her personal, scholarly, research, and educational use. Distributing copies (electronic or otherwise) of the article is not allowed.
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
- Author response: Circulating cortisol and cognitive and structural brain measures: The Framingham Heart Study
- Justin Echouffo-Tcheugui, Physician, Johns Hopkins University
- Sarah C. Conner, Biostatistician, Boston University
- Jayandra J. Himali, Biostatistician, Boston University
- Alexa S. Beiser, Biostatistician, Boston University
- Sudha Seshadri, Physician, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio
Submitted May 10, 2019 - Author response: Circulating cortisol and cognitive and structural brain measures: The Framingham Heart Study
- Jutsin B. Echouffo-Tcheugui, Physician, Johns Hopkins University
- Sarah C. Conner, Biostatistician, Boston University
- Jayandra J. Himali, Biostatistician, Boston University
- Alexa S. Beiser, Biostatistician, Boston University
- Sudha Seshadri, Physician, UT Health San Antonio
Submitted May 10, 2019 - Reader response: Circulating cortisol and cognitive and structural brain measures: The Framingham Heart Study
- Breno J.A.P. Barbosa, Neurologist, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo
- Juliana N. de Souza-Talarico, Associate Professor, Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, Universidade de São Paulo
- Ricardo Nitrini, Department director, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo
- Sônia M.D. Brucki, Neurologist, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo
Submitted December 14, 2018 - Reader response: Circulating cortisol and cognitive and structural brain measures: The Framingham Heart Study
- David Jiménez-Pavón, "Ramón & Cajal" Researcher in exercise physiology, physical activity and health, MOVE-IT Research group, University of Cádiz (Cádiz, Spain)
- Ana Carbonell-Baeza, Senior Researcher in Physical Activity and Health, MOVE-IT Research group, University of Cádiz (Cádiz, Spain)
Submitted October 29, 2018
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Dr. Dennis Bourdette and Dr. Lindsey Wooliscroft
► Watch
Related Articles
- No related articles found.
Topics Discussed
Alert Me
Recommended articles
-
Article
Salivary cortisol, brain volumes, and cognition in community-dwelling elderly without dementiaMirjam I. Geerlings, Sigurdur Sigurdsson, Gudny Eiriksdottir et al.Neurology, August 19, 2015 -
Article
Glucose indices are associated with cognitive and structural brain measures in young adultsGalit Weinstein, Pauline Maillard, Jayandra J. Himali et al.Neurology, May 06, 2015 -
Articles
Contrasting gray and white matter changes in preclinical Huntington diseaseAn MRI studyD. Stoffers, S. Sheldon, J.M. Kuperman et al.Neurology, April 12, 2010 -
Articles
Impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in patients with multiple sclerosisMaría C. Ysrraelit, María I. Gaitán, Analía S. Lopez et al.Neurology, December 08, 2008