Adiposity measures in relation to cognitive screening performance and MRI-derived brain age gap in middle-aged and older adults.
Authors
Affiliations (9)
Affiliations (9)
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America; Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.
- Department of Radiation Oncology & CTSI Human Imaging Core, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.
- Department of Rheumatology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.
- Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, United States of America; Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
- Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America; Department of Community of Dentistry and Behavioral Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America; Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America; Department of Anesthesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
Adiposity has pernicious health implications, notably contributing to cognitive decline and neuroanatomical alterations. Research regarding which measures of adiposity are most related to cognition and the brain is inconsistent. This study explores the relationships between 1) multiple adiposity measures, 2) adiposity measures and cognitive screening performance, and 3) adiposity measures and a machine-learning predicted brain age gap (BAG). Cross-sectional data were combined from two multi-site studies, including 641 non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white adults (45-85 years old). Adiposity measures included Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHpR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and A Body Shape Index (ABSI) z-score. Cognition was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). MoCA scores were converted to equivalent MMSE scores. The predicted BAG was obtained using DeepBrainNet (n = 204) from T1-weighted brain MRI. Adiposity measures were significantly correlated, except for BMI and ABSI. After covariate adjustment, cognitive screening associations were small and inconsistent, with a linear association for BMI and nonlinear associations for WC and WHtR. BAG associations depended on model form, with nonlinear patterns for BMI, WC, and WHtR and higher predicted BAG at higher versus intermediate adiposity levels. Combining adiposity measures showed little additional predictive value. Anthropometric adiposity measures, particularly BMI, WC, and WHtR, were more consistently related to MRI-derived brain age gap than to brief cognitive screening performance in a cohort of middle-aged and older adults. These findings describe cross-sectional associations with older predicted brain age, especially at higher adiposity levels.