scholarly journals Association of brain age with smoking, alcohol consumption, and genetic variants

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaida Ning ◽  
Lu Zhao ◽  
Will Matloff ◽  
Fengzhu Sun ◽  
Arthur W. Toga

AbstractThe association of the degree of aging based on the whole-brain anatomical characteristics, or brain age, with smoking, alcohol consumption, and individual genetic variants is unclear. Here, we investigated these associations through analyzing data collected for UK Biobank subjects with an age range of 45 to 79 years old. We first trained a statistical model for obtaining relative brain age (RBA), a metric describing a subject’s brain age relative to peers, based on a randomly selected training set subjects (n=2,679). We then applied this model to the evaluation set subjects (n=6,252) and further tested the association of RBA with tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and 529,098 genetic variants. We found that daily or almost daily consumption of smoking or alcohol was significantly associated with increased RBA (P<0.05). Interestingly, there was no significant difference of RBA among subjects who smoked occasionally, only tried once or twice, or abstained from smoking. Further, there was no significant difference of RBA among subjects who consumed alcohol 1 to 3 times a month, at special occasions only, or abstained from alcohol consumption. Among the subjects who smoked on most or all days and did not abstain from alcohol drinking, RBA increased by 0.021 years for each addition pack-year of smoking (P<0.05) and by 0.014 years for each additional gram of alcohol consumed (P<0.05). We did not identify individual genetic variation significantly associate with RBA. Further exploration of genetic variation-brain aging association is warranted, where our current genetic association statistics may serve as prior knowledge.

2004 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Nishida ◽  
M. Tanaka ◽  
N. Hayashi ◽  
H. Nagata ◽  
T. Takeshita ◽  
...  

There is little information regarding the association between alcohol consumption and periodontitis risk. We assessed whether alcohol consumption and ALDH2 genotypes were associated with periodontitis. Subjects’ lifestyle was examined by a self-administered questionnaire, and the percentage of pocket depths ≥ 3.5 mm was used as a periodontal parameter. ALDH2 genotypes were determined with the use of a PCR/RFLP method. Multiple logistic analyses showed that alcohol consumption was significantly associated with periodontitis, and its odds ratio was 1.98. There was no significant relationship between periodontal status and ALDH2 genotypes. However, ALDH2*1/*2 subjects who consumed ≥ 33 g/day of alcohol had a significantly greater percentage of pocket depths ≥ 3.5 mm than those whose daily consumption was lower, while there was no significant difference in periodontal status associated with alcohol consumption in ALDH2*1/*1 subjects. Our results suggest that alcohol consumption may be a risk indicator for periodontitis in ALDH2*1/*2 subjects who consume larger amounts of alcohol.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol E. Franz ◽  
Sean N. Hatton ◽  
Jeremy A. Elman ◽  
Teresa Warren ◽  
Nathan A. Gillespie ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTImportanceBoth cognitive reserve and modifiable lifestyle behaviors are associated with dementia risk. The effect of early lifestyle behaviors and cognitive reserve on late midlife brain aging could inform early identification and risk reduction of future dementia.ObjectiveDetermine associations of young adult cognitive reserve, early midlife lifestyle behaviors, and the reserve-by-lifestyle interaction on late midlife brain age. Examine the relationship between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and brain age.DesignParticipants were from the nationally representative Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA). Cognitive reserve was assessed at median age 20 years (IQR=1.38) with the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT). Lifestyle behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, and social engagement) were assessed at median age 41 (IQR=5.00). Structural brain imaging conducted at median age 69 (IQR=4.74) was used to construct predicted brain age difference scores (PBAD=chronological age minus predicted brain age) and MCI was ascertained.SettingIn-person cognitive testing (ages 20 and 69); mailed survey (age 41); structural MRI, MCI diagnosis at University of California, San Diego (age 69).Participants431 community-dwelling men.ExposuresAFQT; self-reported health and lifestyle behaviors.Main outcomes and measuresPBAD scores; MCI.ResultsIn fully adjusted mixed linear models, age 20 cognitive reserve and the age 41 lifestyle composite were associated with age 69 PBAD [t (104)=2.62, p=0.01, 95%CI 0.874, 6.285; t (104)=3.37, p=0.001, 95%CI 0.583, 2.249 respectively] as was the reserve-by-lifestyle interaction [t (104) = −2.29, p=0.02, 95%CI −2.330, −0.167]. Unfavorable lifestyle predicted more advanced brain age, but only for those with lower young adult cognitive reserve. The MCI group had more advanced brain age (F (2,130) = 3.13; p=0.05).Conclusions and relevanceFavorable lifestyle behaviors promoted resistance to accelerated brain aging 3 decades later for those with lower young adult cognitive reserve. High reserve appeared to be protective regardless of lifestyle. The association with MCI suggests that advanced PBAD scores reflect poorer brain integrity, although it is unclear if PBAD is related to Alzheimer’s dementia specifically. Lower cognitive reserve increases risk for dementia, but early lifestyle modification may promote healthier brain aging and dementia risk reduction, particularly in those with lower reserve.Study TypeCohort StudyKey PointsQuestionDo modifiable lifestyle behaviors in early midlife predict later accelerated brain aging and is that association moderated by cognitive reserve?FindingsA lifestyle composite of smoking, alcohol consumption and social engagement at age 41 was associated with estimated brain age in late midlife. There was a significant moderation effect whereby more unfavorable lifestyle behaviors predicted more advanced brain aging, but only in those with low-to-moderate cognitive reserve.MeaningFavorable lifestyle behaviors appear to be protective for brain integrity especially among those with lower cognitive reserve. Early midlife efforts at prevention could be prioritized among those with lower cognitive reserve.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (S1) ◽  
pp. 171-171

Introduction:A single moderate or severe TBI is associated with accelerated brain aging and increased risk for dementia. Despite the high rate of falls that result in brain injury in older adults, numerous factors such as genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, sex, education, age are also known to affect multiple age-sensitive neuroimaging markers.METHODS:Here we use the “brain age” metric being tested by the global consortium, Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA), that employs machine learning to predict a person’s age from multiple age-sensitive imaging markers (e.g., hippocampal volume, regional cortical gray matter thickness, intracranial volume (ICV)), while also taking into account their sex and educational level. We will discuss results from brain injured patients ( n = 60; age range: 20-75 years) and healthy age-matched controls (n = 20 (20-75 years). We will compute the “brain age gap” – between a person’s actual chronological age and that predicted from their brain scan – and test relations between this measure and injury characteristics.RESULTS:In our pilot work, we predicted a person’s age from their MRI scan with a mean absolute error of about 5 years. ENIGMA’s current best model includes: (1) non-normalized brain volumetric measures as predictors including ICV, (2) separate models for males and females, (3) use of a large age range (12-80), and (4) Gaussian process regression (GPR).CONCLUSION:This “overall” marker of accelerated brain aging offers a metric that taps diverse sources of information, weighted by their relevance to brain aging, and is associated with decreased functionality in older adults.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S911-S911
Author(s):  
Riki E Slayday ◽  
Carol E Franz ◽  
Sean N Hatton ◽  
Linda K McEvoy ◽  
Michael J Lyons ◽  
...  

Abstract Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with cognitive decline, exacerbated brain atrophy, and dementia in older adults, but associations with midlife brain health are less well understood. We hypothesized that heavy drinkers would have older-looking brains in late midlife. We examined alcohol consumption at mean age 56 (range 51-59) in 364 men from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA) and their predicted brain age at mean age 62 (range 56-67). We created five midlife alcohol consumption groups based on drinks consumed over the past two weeks: never, former, light (1-14), moderate (15-28), and heavy (&gt;28). Participants underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging at mean age 62. Predicted brain age was measured using the Brain-Age Regression Analysis and Computation Utility software (BARACUS). Models adjusted for age, scanner, race/ethnicity, SES, smoking, health, depressive symptoms, alcohol dependence, general cognitive ability at age 20, and non-independence of twins within pairs. Heavy drinkers had a significantly older predicted than chronological brain age (M= 5.93, SE= 0.88) compared to each of the other four groups (p’s &lt; 0.05). There were no significant differences among the never (M= 2.88, SE= 0.98), former (M= 2.76, SE= 0.74), light (M= 3.00, SE= 0.94), or moderate (M= 5.93, SE= 0.88) consumption groups. Heavy alcohol consumption at age 56 was associated with an approximately 3-year greater predicted brain age difference at age 62. There was no evidence of protective effects of light/moderate drinking over non-drinking. The neurotoxic effects of excessive alcohol may exacerbate brain aging in late midlife.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaida Ning ◽  
Lu Zhao ◽  
Will Matloff ◽  
Fengzhu Sun ◽  
Arthur W. Toga

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Salih ◽  
Ilaria Boscolo Galazzo ◽  
Zahra Raisi-Estabragh ◽  
Elisa Rauseo ◽  
Polyxeni Gkontra ◽  
...  

Abstract Brain age can be estimated using different MRI modalities including diffusion MRI. Recent studies demonstrated that white matter (WM) tracts that share the same function might experience similar alterations. Therefore, in this work, we sought to investigate such issue focusing on five WM bundles holding that feature that is Association, Brainstem, Commissural, Limbic and Projection fibers, respectively. For each tract group, we estimated brain age for 15335 healthy participants from United Kingdom Biobank relying on diffusion MRI image derived endophenotypes, Bayesian ridge regression modeling and 10 fold-cross validation. Furthermore, we estimated brain age for an ensemble model that gathers all the considered white matter bundles. Association analysis was subsequently performed between the estimated brain age delta as resulting from the six models, that is for each tract group as well as for the ensemble model, and 38 daily life style measures, 14 cardiac risk factors and cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging features and genetic variants. Our study revealed that the limbic tracts experience less brain aging compared to other tract groups, Brainstem tracts ages relatively faster while the other tract groups present similar brain aging patterns. The model achieved 5.86 mean absolute error (MAE) for brainstem, 5.08 for limbic tracts and around 5.2 for the other three tract groups while, the ensemble model 4.55. Moreover, the results suggest that limbic tracts are more affected by daily lifestyle factors than the other tract groups. Lastly, two SNPs were significantly (p-value < 5E-8) associated with brain age delta in projection fibers. Those SNPs are mapped to HIST1H1A and SLC17A3 genes.


2019 ◽  
pp. 39-55
Author(s):  
Osman Kusan ◽  
Hasan Erdem Mumcu ◽  
Abdulkerim Çeviker ◽  
Ömer Zambak ◽  
Onur Öztürk

This study was conducted to investigate the sub-scales of sports instructions of elite athletes with hearing impairment or hearing loss due to different reasons. A total of 173 hearing-impaired athletes constituted of 54 female and 119 male athletes who are active national team athletes in the age range of 15-25 years. The study was conducted based on Self Determination Theory of Deci and Ryan [9] and on the developed Sports Motivation Scale, Pelletier et al. [24] Kazak [18] applied the validity and reliability of the scale for Turkish athletes. Accordingly, since the p_values calculated for the inner motivation sub-scale and its sub-scales are less than the value of α = .05 which is taken as the level of significance, there is a statistically significant difference in the average scores of the hearing-impaired athletes in their internal motivations and sub-scales. According to gender and educational status, there was no difference in the motivation of the hearing-impaired athletes. According to the age variable, it was seen that older athletes had more external connections. Considering the general motivation scores, the athletes in tennis and swimming were less motivated than others. Elite hearing-impaired athletes are affected by both internal and external impulses. However, internal motivation scores are higher than the external. Internal motivation scores are seen as the lowest in the branch swimming area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 890-890
Author(s):  
Andrei Irimia ◽  
Jun Kim ◽  
Shania Wang ◽  
Hyung Jun Lee ◽  
Van Ngo ◽  
...  

Abstract Estimating biological brain age (BA) has the potential of identifying individuals at relatively high risk for accelerated neurodegeneration. This study compares the brain’s chronological age (CA) to its BA and reveals the BA rate of change after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in an aging cohort. Using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumes and cortical thickness, volume, surface area, and Gaussian curvature obtained using FreeSurfer software; we formulated a multivariate linear regression to determine the rate of BA increase associated with mTBI. 95 TBI patients (age in years (y): μ = 41 y, σ = 17 y; range = 18 to 83) were compared to 462 healthy controls (HCs) (age: μ = 69 y, σ = 18 y; range = 25 to 95) over a 6-month time period following mTBI. Across the initial ~6 months following injury, patients’ BAs increased by ~3.0 ± 1.2 years due to their mTBIs alone, i.e., above and beyond typical brain aging. The superior temporal and parahippocampal gyri, two structures involved in memory formation and retrieval, exhibited the fastest rates of TBI-related BA. In both hemispheres, the volume of the hippocampus decreased (left: μ=0.28%, σ=4.40%; right: μ=0.12%, σ=4.84%). These findings illustrate BA estimation techniques’ potential to identify TBI patients with accelerated neurodegeneration, whose rate is strongly associated with the risk for dementia and other aging-related neurological conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ruiz-Sánchez ◽  
Janet Jiménez-Genchi ◽  
Yessica M. Alcántara-Flores ◽  
Carlos J. Castañeda-González ◽  
Carlos L. Aviña-Cervantes ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cognitive functions represent useful endophenotypes to identify the association between genetic variants and schizophrenia. In this sense, the NR4A2 gene has been implicated in schizophrenia and cognition in different animal models and clinical trials. We hypothesized that the NR4A2 gene is associated with working memory performance in schizophrenia. This study aimed to analyze two variants and the expression levels of the NR4A2 gene with susceptibility to schizophrenia, as well as to evaluate whether possession of NR4A2 variants influence the possible correlation between gene expression and working memory performance in schizophrenia. Methods The current study included 187 schizophrenia patients and 227 controls genotyped for two of the most studied NR4A2 genetic variants in neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. Genotyping was performed using High Resolution Melt and sequencing techniques. In addition, mRNA expression of NR4A2 was performed in peripheral mononuclear cells of 112 patients and 118 controls. A group of these participants, 54 patients and 87 controls, performed the working memory index of the WAIS III test. Results Both genotypic frequencies of the two variants and expression levels of the NR4A2 gene showed no significant difference when in patients versus controls. However, patients homozygous for the rs34884856 promoter variant showed a positive correlation between expression levels and auditory working memory. Conclusions Our finding suggested that changes in expression levels of the NR4A2 gene could be associated with working memory in schizophrenia depending on patients’ genotype in a sample from a Mexican population.


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